I’ve gotten really comfortable making chevre. I get raw goat’s milk fresh from the farm and have watched the milking process, seen the conditions the animals live in, and I am confident in the quality of my fresh, raw milk. I have been pasturizing the milk before turning it into chevre because that’s what my recipe called for, but I’ve decided to skip that step now that I’m familiar with the process and have read so much about the superiority of raw cheese.

My question is, how will this effect the shelf life of my cheese and my milk? How long can I keep my raw milk in the fridge before turning it into cheese? How long can my chevre sit in the fridge before eating it? I know the fresher the better on both counts, but I’m really not sure if I have a matter of hours or days (or weeks?). I also know there is a general rule that states raw cheese must be aged 60 days before it’s safe to consume, but I’m assuming that since I am confident in my milk supply and that my chevre is essentially not aged at all, and that it is for personal/family consumption only, I should be able to store it in the fridge at least a few days? Am I wrong? Thanks in advance for your help!

As a good rule of the thumb, raw milk should be used in less than 48 hours from milking. In other words milk from today and yesterday only. Oddly enough I find raw milk cheeses seem to last longer than pasteurized milk cheese. I have no idea why.
As for any form of safety wait period- use your own sense of smell and taste as these are the most accurate poison detectors known!

Good observation on shelf life of raw vs pasteurized milk, Ulf.  I’m not a scientist, and I don’t have data to support this opinion; but it seems to me that pasteurization will kill off the beneficial bacterial while it is killing the harmful ones.  As for me, I’ll use raw milk as long as I can get it.  Unfortunately, my dairyman is thinking of retiring and selling off his herd; so my raw milk days may be interrupted some time soon.

Thanks for the great advice! My raw chevre turned out really tasty, but the texture is a bit off. I used the chevre culture from cheesemaking.com, which includes culture and rennet. I’ve used this before with good results, but I usually use a mesophilic culture and add liquid rennet after. Either, way, I’ve never had this strange texture before. I stirred the chevre packet in slightly longer than I usually do - almost 2 minutes. Then I let it sit for 12 hours (like the directions say), and drain in muslin for 12 hours (longer than the directions say, but I’ve done this before with good results).

After working in the salt, the texture of my chevre is not consistent. I have chunks of almost rubbery, tough pieces of cheese amidsts much more liquidy cheese. There was also no residue left on my muslin (usually I scrape cheese off the muslin and there is still residue left). My understanding is that tougher curds are due to letting the rennet coagulate for too long - but I waited the exact amount of time indicated on the packet instructions. As I’m writing this, I wonder if you’re going to tell me I need a ph tester…

It is still really tasty, I’m just wondering what happened.

Yes, and you must be psychic, you do need a pH meter.  Every batch of cheese has slight variations.  We kitchen cheese makers do not have the wberewithall to control every facet of processing in minute detail.  That’s where the meter comes in - it allows you to know when you are at the proper stage of development, so that you have more control.

HYGIENE, ACIDITY, TEMPERATURE, TIME. These are the most important points in cheese making!
Almost all problems will stem from getting one of these things incorrect. When I problem solve I go through these things one at a time to find out where I went wrong. Therefore as it sounds like your time and temperature is correct, and you should know by now if your hygiene was not up to standard, the only thing remains is to get an acidimeter or a good roll of litmus tape.