Chevre is the first goat cheese I ever tasted and I fell in love with the flavor instantly.  I tried it shortly after we moved to the mountains of western North Carolina at Jackie Palmer's farm:  Mountain Ripples | Our State  As soon as we bought land with suitable grazing for goats, we acquired a goat herd of our own, and have been making chevre ever since.

Chevre is very simple to make and somewhat forgiving.

Step 1

Get a goat

Just kidding!!

Bring a gallon (or two) of farm fresh goat's milk to 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit.  If the milk is coming out of the fridge, warm it up slowly in a pot.  If you've just brought it in from the milk barn, cool it in a pot submerged in cold water in the sink.

Step 2

Add mesophillic starter - 2 oz. per gallon of milk.  You can use 2 Tbsp. of cultured buttermilk, but using a starter ensures a better product.  I purchased a packet from the New England Cheesemaking Company years ago, and have perpetuated the culture ever since.

This is the culture I use:  Mesophilic Starter Culture for Cheese Making | Cheese Making

To perpetuate the culture, bring a quart of milk to 72 degrees.  Add to a sterilized quart jar.  Add 2 oz of frozen culture (or just 1/16th - 1/8th of the packet).  Leave to sit for 24 hours at room temperature.  Pour the lumpy milk, which is now starter culture, into icecube trays.  One quart will fill 2 trays.  One cube = 1oz. of culture!

Stir the culture into the milk until dissolved.

Step 3

Add rennet.  Again, I purchase liquid animal rennet from the same source: Liquid Animal Rennet for Cheese Making | Cheese Making Supply  They also sell vegetable rennet if you prefer.

For every gallon of milk, add just 2 drops of rennet dissolved and diluted in 1/4 cup cool water.  Pour this over your warmed milk and stir well to combine.

Then just put a lid on the pot and walk away!  You want this to set for 24 hours.  If your house gets hot in the summer, cut the time down to 18-20 hours.

Step 4

The next day (after 24 hours has passed) cut the curd.  Simply drag a knife through vertically and horizontally to make 1/2" squares.

Step 5

Strain the curds using a slotted spoon into a colander lined with butter muslin.  This is a finer weave than cheesecloth and less messy to work with and better at catching the curds.  And yes, you can buy this too at the New England Cheesemaking Supply company.

The final mess of curds from 1.5 gallons of milk immediately after straining.

Step 6

Repurpose the whey.

Here you have options.

• You can feed to your chickens, which will make them happy, add protein and calcium to their diet, and make nice hard egg shells.
• You can make ricotta cheese
• You can save some whey and make something fun
  •    check out Sandor Katz's Sweet Potato Fly recipe
  •    cook pasta or rice or potatoes in the whey for a nutritional boost
• Feed it to your dog
• Water your garden plants

Step 7

Allow the cheese curds to drain for at least 6 and up to 24 hours - the longer the more firm the cheese will be.

Cheese curds from 1.5 gallons milk after draining for 24 hours

Step 8

Salt and flavor.

If you just add salt, you have a perfectly acceptable cream cheese substitute to spread on bagels.

I've used plain salted cream cheese to make a simple cream cheese frosting for carrot cake and found it delightful!  Honey Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe | Martha Stewart

I regularly make a garlic chive variety that I eat weekly on crackers.  This is also great on a baked potato, in mashed potatoes, and in lieu of ricotta in lasagna.

I also make a sweet honey-cranberry variety that I sell during the holidays.

Your imagination is the limit!  Even if you don't have goats of your own, if you buy goats milk and make your own chevre, you'll save money and undoubtably come up with some kickin' flavor combinations of your own!