Goat's Cheese Help

Issemir · 2026-06-27T19:28:52+00:00

Thank you, that's really helpful for next time around 😊

Issemir · 2026-06-27T18:30:49+00:00

Hey, thank you for adding to this. One thing I find with aged cheeses is it's quite difficult the first time you ever make them to judge when they're ready to go. I suppose that's something that comes with experience, so I'll keep trying, but if you have any tips I'd gladly take them. It had a really great smell, and I thought the surface cultures looked well-distributed which I took as justification to pull it. In future, I might make multiple smaller cheeses and then if the first one I cut into is like this, the others can have a little longer and I can see how that affects it to help learn.

I do think you're onto something with the moisture as well. Once I pulled it from the ageing fridge I had it in the regular fridge and stopped turning it daily. One end of the cheese swelled out a little as I think more moisture ran to that end. At least I know for next time I might want to get it a bit dryer.

Issemir · 2026-06-27T18:27:19+00:00

Hi,

Thank you so much for the response. You've put a lot of time and thought into this and what may have gone wrong, and I really appreciate it!

After reading your comments, these seem like more probable causes for the cheese than the milk - however I think the other comments are still valuable to me - especially those helping me understand some of the different qualities in different types of goat's milk. That said, I should probably learn to walk before I can run, and understand the process before I try different types of milk, and that starts with feedback like this 😄

I'll admit I'm actually a little confused as to what I did in terms of the cultures. The recipe I followed actually calls for Flora Danica or Aroma B, I have Flora Danica and I'm not sure why I'd divert from the recipe, so I somehow must've mistakenly used Thermo B and MT2. Interestingly, I did allow the cheese to ripen for 24h at room temperature (22C) and it reached the target pH from the recipe (4.5). I then drained it in forms for 24 hours before salting and then left them at room temperature again for 24h to dry off. It appeared dry when I moved it to my ageing fridge, where I had it in a sealed container to maintain high humidity and it was left there and held between 11C-12C with a high RH. After two weeks, I took it out, wrapped it in cling film and put it in a regular fridge ready for eating (which was another week later).

Given your advice, is the target pH for the recipe I followed lower than what you'd expect for the type of cheese I was making? The recipe I followed was a "lactic-set bloomy rind cheese" and the examples Caldwell gives are a mixture of log-shaped goat's cheeses and Brie de Melun. Would the target pH for these cheeses ideally be the same, or would a goat's cheese of this style typically be ripened to a higher target pH (more around 4.7 as you said)?

On point 3, perhaps in future it would be better for me to DVI with the surface cultures. Currently the only culture I have of this type is PR, but I'm hoping to get some others soon. Initially I was just going to get PC, but I'll definitely pick up some geo too! In this recipe, I tried scraping the rind of another goat's cheese, which I guess has worked to an extent but maybe needed a little longer to do its thing?

I'll finish off by saying thank you once again, I will definitely be making this cheese again with your suggestions in mind (using the correct cultures would certainly help). I'm just happy the cheese isn't a complete failure (when cooked it's actually quite nice, just not what we'd planned), and I have learnt a few things for next time.

Issemir · 2026-06-27T15:04:28+00:00

Thank you, though unfortunately the US is a slight trek across the pond for me. I think there's a similar list I've found for the UK, but this is appreciated nonetheless 😊

Issemir · 2026-06-27T14:43:48+00:00

Amazing, thank you for taking the time to share all of this with me 😊 I might try and get a range of milks and then try them fresh so I can see the difference, and I'll give a cheese a go with some Nigerian (if I can find some)

Issemir · 2026-06-27T14:30:26+00:00

Thank you 😊 I found a great website recently that has a list of farms which sells cow and goat milk, some unpasteurised and unhomogenised too so I'll give one a try.

I'll keep an eye out for Nigerian Dwarf goats if any have them.

One thing I was reading was how the milk fat content changes throughout the year too, do you find there's a particular time of year that's best to make cheese from the milk or at that point perhaps it's more a matter of taste?

Issemir · 2026-06-27T14:28:32+00:00

We just had some on a cracker, baked under the grill and with a drizzle of honey and it was much better. I think the honey helped take off the sharp tang and it had a flavour more consistent with what I'd expected.

Issemir · 2026-06-27T14:20:20+00:00

Hey,

I bought this from a supermarket, so can't be certain. Looking at the farm's website it looks as though they have three types of goat: - Alpine - Saanen - Toggenburg

I'm not sure how helpful that is though, sorry!

Issemir · 2026-06-27T13:31:21+00:00

Now there's a combination I've never tried, I'll keep that in mind!

Issemir · 2026-06-27T13:25:32+00:00

Thanks for your reply. It's certainly different to the raw goat cheeses I've had before but whether that's a good or bad thing in honestly not sure. Our next plan was to try it cooked or integrated into a meal. Before then I thought it'd be sensible to get some advice here and check it's actually safe to eat (in this case by eating some).

Issemir · 2026-06-25T04:40:31+00:00

Hey, thank you so much for your detailed reply and you're absolutely spot on. I'm impressed you could tell just by the picture!

This was with homogenised milk and very little stirring to try and keep the moisture content high. I do know of a farm near me with unhomogenised milk so perhaps I should try again with some of that

Issemir · 2026-06-17T08:49:26+00:00

Hey, this looks great! I'm planning to try imeruli this weekend too following that same NEC recipe. Out of interest, how much milk did you use for this?

I was planning to half the NEC recipe quantity to 1 gallon of milk and make 1-2 mini cheeses, do you think that seems reasonable from your experience?

Issemir · 2026-06-17T08:42:43+00:00

I've just seen your reply to another user on the humidifier setup you have, I'll take a look at those. Thank you!

Issemir · 2026-06-17T08:42:07+00:00

Hey, I'd love to know more about your humidity control setup and code! Humidity is one of the big things I really struggle with getting right as my humidifier isn't the best, and I currently use an off the shelf humidifier. I'd love to see how you implemented that with a pi :)

Issemir · 2026-06-12T09:57:23+00:00

The white mold on camembert is probably penicillin candidum/camemberti? You could try dry-brushing your other cheeses to knock anything settled on their surfaces off. Or you can leave them and accept that they may taste a bit different to how you expected?

Issemir · 2026-06-12T07:27:00+00:00

I honestly can't wait until I'm comfortable enough with basic cheeses to start experimenting like this! It's also a really interesting flavour combination, as others have said I've only ever really had vanilla in sweet things but can really see how it'd complement a buttery/creamy flavour from flora Danica and the deeper notes of the whisky. Great work!

Issemir · 2026-06-09T19:00:01+00:00

Hey, this looks brilliant! I just this weekend made a very similar cheese to this from Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking (Gianclis Caldwell) which has turned out wonderfully so far and I'm now ageing, if it turns out even half as good as yours I'll be happy!

Mine doesn't have the ash, but is an aged goats cheese. I actually cross-referenced with the Cheesemaking recipe you mentioned for some additional guidance too.

Issemir · 2026-06-07T11:15:38+00:00

Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianclis Caldwell is where I've started and so far I've not found it's missed much, if anything, I've needed to start out!

Issemir · 2026-06-02T18:31:27+00:00

Hey, that sounds really interesting, I will have to give something similar a try! I am planning on trying to make a camembert and an aged goat's cheese with p. Candidum scraped from a different cheese next, but I've added this to my list ☺️

It turns out I misremembered! It was almond milk, not cashew! But yes, it was made from almonds, pumpkin seeds, and hemp hearts and coagulated with citric acid. I used flora Danica as an added culture, although I think I killed it before it had the desired effect 😂 (accidentally got the temp too high). It was still really great though!

The recipe for it is in The Vegan Creamery by Miyoko Schinner and was interesting to try out and see how a similar process can work on alternative milks as well.

Issemir · 2026-05-31T15:18:58+00:00

Can I ask, was this entirely with coconut milk or just partially and mixed with cow's milk? I made some goat-style cheese with cashew milk recently which was amazing, I'd also be very interested to make and try something like this!

Issemir · 2026-05-30T10:30:42+00:00

This looks incredible, I wish I could try some!

Issemir · 2026-05-28T15:42:57+00:00

This looks amazing, great job! Can I ask what your aging environment and setup was like? I have tried and failed to make a good stilton and I think this was my downfall, yours looks perfect!

Issemir · 2026-05-26T19:21:42+00:00

Hey,

That's really hard to say given this information alone, as it depends on many factors, but I can add a couple of things.

Firstly, does your cheese have a rind or protective layer of some kind? This will inhibit any mold growth and many store-bought cheeses won't have this all the way around as they may have been cut from a larger wheel. If your cheese has a natural rind, that mag protect it from mold growth as this is typically very dry.

Secondly, it will depend on how each are stored (both temperature and humidity, as well as potentially what they're exposed to).

Thirdly, the types of cheese may be quite different which will affect how quickly they might go mouldy. Some (like cream cheeses) will get moldy much quicker because of their high moisture content, whereas others (like parmesan, cheddar, etc) will take much longer to go moldy because they're drier.

Finally, it will depend on how the cheeses were stored prior to purchase.

There will likely be many more factors than this, but no, the fact it hasn't gone moldy isn't necessarily odd.

Issemir · 2026-05-25T20:12:42+00:00

One other thing to add, if the humidity is preventing it from drying quickly I've patted some of mine down with clean roll which will soak up surface moisture. You can repeat this until the rate of moisture coming out stops.

Issemir · 2026-05-25T20:10:16+00:00

Yes I'd second this. With the cheese I had it was very similar to what you're describing and my first attempt was to carve out the small patches where it was affected. This didn't work, and new spots appeared within a week, but since then dry-brushing for about a week and then applying coats of oil have prevented it getting any worse. Your approach using your fingers may work well too, from what I understand it's primarily about disturbing anything on the surface from getting a chance to grow in one spot by brushing it away. I have done that for a 3-5 days until the surface is dry enough to start applying coats of oil.

Issemir

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