Hi all, I am Julie from NM and have 3 goats (2 pure nubian and one 3/4 nubian) that I milk. This is my 3rd year milking and making cheese and it seems like every batch I make is failing!! If this had happened my first year I would have probably gotten rid of the goats and given up! But the past 2 years I have had only 2-3 mishaps and made lots of cheese!
I have so many questions LOL I am milking twice a day (last two years it was only once a day) and am going through about 3 gallons of milk a day and rarely having success! I make more feta than anything else and after it hangs for 24 hours or so it is spongy! I thought maybe my homemade buttermilk culture was contaminated so bought some MM powdered culture, still spongy. I usually use double strength veggie rennet and am wondering if it sits in the fridge for like 6 months can it become contaminated? I tried a junket tablet and still same problem. I am cleaning pots and udders etc just like I did last year and the year before! My ricotta seems fine with left over whey, have had a couple successful, or semi successful, batches of mozz and of chevre but there is something different about how each one comes out! everyone in the family is eating the cheese and no one is getting sick (though I toss the spongy feta to my chickens) so it can’t be horrible whatever it is that is going on! Sorry for the long explanation but it is getting very frustrating and downright depressing! oh and we have had unseasonal monsoons with high humidity, could something be in the air? something in the goats?
