What do we do with all the goat milk?

I work full time as a realtor on Whidbey Island, part time as a self-employed landscaper/arborist (I am an ISA certified arborist) and part-time as a farmer. So what do I do with all of the milk our girls produce? I don’t have the time to make complicated aged cheeses but we do several things.

Currently I am milking the goats once per day – mornings – and allow the kids free choice of milk from their mothers and grain/alfalfa. I am getting about one gallon of milk a day from them, and this adds up quickly.

The easiest product to make is kefir. Kefir is a probiotic drink made by adding fresh milk to live kefir grains, letting it stand on the kitchen counter at room temperature for 24 hours. I then strain out the kefir grains saving them in the refrigerator until needed again. I usually make three quarts at a time. Kefir is known as the champagne of milk as in the process alcohol is made and gives the drink a sparkle. Add a little sugar and fruit and you have something wonderful. My wife and I use it like milk in our morning cereal. Good for you and it tastes wonderful.

Yogurt is easy to make and I love it, again added to my morning cereal. I don’t like to add powdered milk, so my yogurt comes out thin. After 24 hours or so in the two-quart yogurt maker, I pour it through a cheese cloth and hang it for eight hours, the end product a very thick yogurt. I LOVE it!

Our next staple food from goat milk is Panir. This is by far the easiest cheese to make. I heat up one gallon of milk to 195 degrees F. on the stove and keep it between 190 and 195 for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. I then add a couple of “gulps” of vinegar. The milk solids separate from the whey and I run this through a cheese cloth and hang it for two or three hours. The result is a solid ball of cheese. Panir does not melt when you heat it. I cut it into cubes and use it in stir fries. Panir will pick up the flavors of what you cook it in. Any recipe that calls for tofu you can use Panir in. Panir will also freeze very well and can be used during the winter when we don’t have any fresh goat milk. I usually prepare it by cutting it into cubes of about 1-inch by 1/2-inch, coating it with olive oil, pepper oil, soy sauce and Worchester sauce and broiling it on a mid-rack in the oven.

I make a Chevre cheese that I add to my lunch every day. Chevre is made by heating a gallon of milk to 86 degrees F., adding a culture and letting it set in a warm place for 24 hours, and then draining it in cheese cloth for 12 hours.

I’ve been working on making feta cheese; it’s a little more work but when it comes out good it’s wonderful. My last batch came out a little moist so next time I’ll drain it for a couple of hours more.

This morning I made custard for the first time. Four duck eggs, one quart of fresh goat milk, ½ cup raw sugar and a little salt and vanilla – bake for an hour.