I just pulled a wheel out of the press.  I used the same basic hard cheese recipe that I’ve been using, but this time something went terribly wrong because it’s spongy and filled with holes.  The only difference is that I used fresh goat milk instead of commercial cow’s milk.  My daughter’s goats supplied the milk and we carefully pasteurized and refrigerated it before using.

I suspect that an errant bacteria got in there somewhere.  Should I toss it out, or age it for a month and see what happens?

Never toss out a cheese unless it smells very disgusting or very colorful mold all over!
Well it looks like u have what allot of us have been try8ing to achieve in swiss cheese. However i would guess u got some other bacteria/culture in their and it fermented/produced gass. I would rub it down with salt, age it and see what happens. let your nose know if its going off.

It actually looks rather attractive.  Just wondering if it may have come in contact with yeast, bread, or anything that was used to make bread?

I think the Swiss Cheese fans would love this one.
Tim Smith’s book suggests adding Calcium to goats milk before rennet, and he does suggest that a cow’s milk recipe will need adjusting for goat’s milk, not sure if that will help.

I rubbed it down with salt and have been turning it frequently.  It seems like it’s growing and the bottom is spreading out some.  It actually smells pretty good, so maybe this will turn out okay.

I don’t think it’s been in contact with any bread yeast.  I’ve been careful with sanitation, but who knows?

How long should I age before sampling?  A month?

Also - should I put it in the refrig to dry or let it dry at room temperature?

Thanks.

3 months would be nice if u can.

i have simular results with my fetta and its 1/2 and 1/2 goat and cows milk i think it may be the goats milk it doesn’t affect the flavour i just eat most of it on sundays seeing as it’s holey

WOW

that’s holes looks nice, and it is not cause by bad Bactria , usually the bad ones are very tiny, but those looks nice,

can u tell us what u did and what u add exactly ?

if it smells bad or/and has bitter taste , then trash it, anything else u r fine, and as said above , all we wish to get such holes

If its spreading at the bottom, you’re going to need to flip it at least once a day, probably twice a day for the first week or so.

Nabil - 15 March 2009 09:15 AM

WOW

can u tell us what u did and what u add exactly ?

I used this recipe:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_5_gallons/CHEESE_5gal_00.htm

Some things that were different from the last few attempts:

My wife started this culture.  She said that the temp got up to 74 degrees at one time. (not suppose to go over 72)

The commercial buttermilk I used for culture had been sitting in the frig for a week or so.  It had been opened a week earlier and used on my last batch.

The goat milk was collected over the period of a week or so.  The milk was pasteurized and refrigerated each day until we had 3+ gallons for this batch.

That’s all I can think of at the moment.

BTW, I’ve been turning it frequently and the spreading at the bottom has slowed down.

The buttermilk could have been the culprit. Hmm, well aged buttermilk, well worth experimenting with.

Neil - 15 March 2009 03:26 PM

The buttermilk could have been the culprit. Hmm, well aged buttermilk, well worth experimenting with.

I agree about the buttermilk issue

I checked and the expiration date on the buttermilk was 3/4/09 !

Does not matter, if its open then all kinds of goodies would be floating in.

Neil - 16 March 2009 07:39 PM

Does not matter, if its open then all kinds of goodies would be floating in.

Just to be clear - the container was opened, a portion used, and then the container closed until I used it again.

does not matter, unless your in a “clean” room, theirs always something floating in the air.