Thursday, May 15, 2014

Homemade Stretchy Cheese

I've finally been able to accumulate enough milk to make some homemade Mozzarella (i.e. Stretchy Cheese).  You'd think that milking two goats would give us enough milk for cheese making, but it just hasn't worked out that way this year.  Normally I'd be milking three goats, but by now you all know the story of Nettie's destroyed udder.

Because we lost Nettie's milk, we're out a gallon a day.  That means I lost two milk customers.  Which really isn't that big of a deal, but even just fifteen extra bucks a week helps with the feed bill.  I'm still able to give a half-gallon here or there to friends or family and I haven't short-changed the guy we trade milk for hay as he still gets two half-gallon jars once a week, but there isn't much to spare.

I milk Annette and MamaGoat every morning and occasionally Penny if I can manage to catch her kid and toss her in the kidding pen with the rest of the dairy kids.  We get just shy or just over a gallon of milk a day, depending on the weather, if they're eating hay or eating green munchies, how late / early I get out there to milk, etc.

So, exactly where does that gallon of milk go every day?  Half of it goes right into the gaping maw and down into the belly of our future herd sire, Studly DoRight:

He drinks an entire half gallon of milk a day.  And I'm certain if I didn't cut him off, he'd gladly drink even more.  He is ten weeks old today, and technically ready to be weaned.  But since he's going to be half of the gene pool in our Boer Goat Breeding Program, I figured I'd keep him on milk for at least another two weeks, maybe even four.  He's eating grain with gusto and getting plenty of hay and greenery so I'm not really worried about taking him off the bottle, although it would mean that we'd be able to make more cheese.

And who doesn't like fresh stretchy cheese?

3 comments:

  1. That Studly DoRight is a sturdy looking little guy - and no wonder! I love stretchy cheese! This reminds me that I have not made it in a loooong time. Ever since I ditched the microwave and got lazy...

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  2. I haven't made any cheese in a long time; need to do that.

    I made another batch of unsatisfactory yogurt......I know the first time it was smooth as silk and very thick. I am doing the exact same thing but twice now it hasn't been perfect. We will eat this batch but it is kind of curdley

    The new stud looks great!

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