I did make one mistake. I was making it at night and then forgot to put it into a cheese cloth to drain the whey after the rennet was in for an hour-I left it in all night. Oops. So far cheese making seems pretty forgiving. (I did have one batch where the recipe was weird and called for an egg that I made and it was AWFUL-the chickens however had a feast.)
Here the Feta is in an olive oil, salt and oregano/basil brine. I did end up dumping most the olive oil brine out and adding a salt water brine as the cheese was not salty enough and had a very strong olive oil taste as I used extra virgin olive oil. That did the trick. The cheese tastes almost as good as some imported Greek goat Feta. (This is Jersey cow Feta.)
Here is the Feta after I drained it on paper towels.
Cool Laura! I've never tried making Feta. Neat trick on the soaking in oil first then the brine.
ReplyDeleteAre your cheeses as strong with the Jersey milk vs the goat milk? Or is the Jersey milder? Are you making lots of butter and ice cream? Tori would love to have a Jersey instead of goats just so she could make butter.
Hi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteWhen I had the dairy goats I only made lemon juice cheese, and Feta. The Feta that I made from the goat milk did not turn out the best.It was kind of rubbery and had a very bland flavor, but was salty. I also had tried making a couple other kinds of goat cheese, but they did not turn out.
The cheese book that I have says that goat's milk curd is softer and more delicate than cow's milk curd, therefor cow cheese is easier to make.
I do like cow milk and cow cheese better. Actually I can't stand the "goaty" taste of goat milk. I do like aged goat cheese, but not fresh. (I have had store bought aged goat cheese.)
We have made ice cream, but never butter. (We like whole milk and a lot of cheese recipes call for whole milk.)
As far as the animals them selves cows are very easy to keep in fences-a single hot wire works for subdividing pastures. I had lots of escapes when I had the dairy goats. (Angoras aren't as bad about getting out.) Cows do however need cattle panels or eclectic fences for their winter pens. I use cattle panels.
I so wish I had the ability to make cheese. That looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the ability to make cheese too, my youngest is lactose intolerrant and does really well on goat milk. I feel like he's missing out on a lot since I haven't been able to find any goat cheese in my area. :o(
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your feta cheese though, let us know how it compares when you cook with it, opposed to store bought. :o)
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI don't think Feta is used in cooking. I did make some ricotta and that was used in lasagna and tasted great. Right now I am making Derby cheese (it is very similar to Cheddar, but ages faster. The only bad thing is I have to wait 3 months to see how it turned out!)