We’ve been looking for different ways to make fresh cheese and finally decided to try it with goat’s milk for a lactose free option. Found several recipes online, but they all basically revolve around fresh goat’s milk, lemon juice and salt. Here’s how we made it, which produced a very smooth spreadable cheese with nice lemon tones:
Heat a quart of fresh goat’s milk in a stainless steel pot on medium heat until foamy but not boiling. If you have a thermometer, that’s about 185 F.
While the milk is heating up, squeeze and strain the juice from one good size lemon. You’ll need about a 1/4 cup.
When the milk reaches temperature, remove from heat and gently stir in the lemon juice. Let sit to curdle uncovered and off heat for 10-15 minutes.
To separate the the cheese curds from the whey, strain through multiple layers of cheese cloth layered over a colander. After a few minutes, most of the initial whey will have drained through and then you can tie up the cheese cloth to hang and finish draining.
After a couple hours, squeeze out any remaining whey and empty the resulting cheese onto a plate, scraping any remnants from the cheese cloth with a spoon. Sprinkle the cheese with salt and mix thoroughly to make a smooth even texture.
Cheese can be eaten right away or refrigerated for up to 5 days. Flavor will change with time.
Try mixing in pepper, herbs or other spices at the salting stage to make different variations.