FACTS: Goat milk

By Erica

Last week, we tasted a cheese from Capri Cheesery that was made with "Amish goat milk." This ingredient puzzled our pseudo-cheese-connoisseur minds (you can see this confusion unfold in real time in our tasting video), and it led me on a hunt for more information about goat milk. Here is what I learned:

1) Male goats, like male people, are stinky: If a smelly buck (male goat) is not separated from milk-producing does (female goats), his scent will somehow rub off on the milk's taste. Apparently, people sometimes object to the goaty flavor of goat milk (to which I say, what do you expect! It's from GOATS), but this strong flavor only comes out if the bucks aren't taken away. I am curious: could one create a line of goat cheeses named after the various bucks that are around the barn when the doe is lactating?

2) Fat matters: Because of the size of the fat globules in goat milk, the cream does not separate out, and thus the milk does not need to be homogenized. Less processing is always a good thing, in cheese and in life.

3) Fatty acids matter: The higher proportion of medium-chain fatty acids, such as capric acid, cause goat milk cheese to be uniquely tart.

4) Goats are very productive: On average, dairy goats produce 3 to 4 quarts of milk daily for 10 months.

5) Warm goat cheese is just warm goat cheese: You know how cow cheeses, like mozzerella or chedder, melt when you heat them up? This doesn't happen to goat cheeses. They just get hot.

6) Goats are everywhere: Goat cheese is made in so many places! They are a hearty creature.

-Crottin de Chavignol is a nutty cheese with a white rind from the Loire Valley
-Clochette is a bell-shaped, tangy cheese from the Poitou-Charentes region in France
-Couronne Lochoise, another French cheese, is donut shaped
-Feta!
-Mató, is a Catalan fresh cheese similar to ricotta
-Pantysgawn is a Welsh cheese with an awesome name
-Brunost is a Norwegian brown cheese. In North America, it is sold as "gjetost"
-Rubing is a firm cheese from the Yunnan Province in China. It's similar to Paneer

7) There's a market for everything: In addition to cheese, goat milk can be used to make ice cream or soap.

8) This could be your next weekend project: It's easy to make goat milk cheese!

Slowly heat a gallon of goat milk to 185°F, using a stainless steel or enamelware pot. Add 1/4 cup vinegar. Keep the temperature at 185°F, stirring the milk occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes. At this point a soft curd should form. Line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth. Pour the curd into the colander, and sprinkle the curd with salt. Tie the corners of the cloth together and hang it to drip for a few hours.

Add seasoning such as dill, pepper, or garlic, and refrigerate. Eat the cheese immediately, or keep it no longer than a week in the refrigerator. (From the dairy goat journal.)


Sources:
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/goatmilk/goatmilk.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_milk_cheese
http://www.goats4h.com/Goat-Milk.html -- goat/cow/human nutrition comparison picture