When you are ready to start making cultured cheeses, you’ll have to collect some supplies.  You will need the following:

a.   Thermometer (must register at least 80°F - 170°F)

b.   Culture (direct set or buttermilk)

c.       Rennet (available from goat supply catalogs)

d.      Cheesecloth (also available from goat supply catalogs)

DO NOT buy cheesecloth at the grocery store unless you absolutely can’t wait.  Proper cheesecloth has a denser weave and
can be washed and reused.  Grocery store cheesecloth is much looser and curds will escape and clog the cloth)

e.       Ladle

f.       Stainless steel pot (seamless – available at Fred Meyer) 

g.      Long, stainless steel knife (a bread knife works well)

h.      A good recipe book (Goats Produce, Too! by Mary Jane Toth has the best goat cheese recipes)

i.    MILK - If you do not have your own dairy goats, you can use milk from the grocery store.  Do not waste your money
on organic milk.  Organic milk is often ultra-pasteurized which means that it is heated under pressure to a very high temperature.
This affects the proteins in the milk and makes them unable to form a curd. 

 
The easiest cultured cheese to try is also one of the most popular of gourmet cheeses – chevre.  It has the added benefit of being useful
in many different types of recipes and can be flavored in many different ways for serving on a cheese platter as well.

Begin with 1 gallon of goat milk (this recipe can be doubled without problems).  Warm the milk to 80°F.  Remove ¼ cup of warm milk from the pot. 
Stir 1/8 tsp mesophilic direct set culture into the ¼ cup of milk.  Pour this mix back into the pot.  Stir well.  If you are using buttermilk,
stir ½ cup of buttermilk directly into the pot.    

Add 4 drops of liquid rennet to 1/3 c cool water.  Mix well.  Take 2 Tbsp of this diluted rennet and add it to the milk pot. 
Stir well for a minute or two, then cover and let the milk sit at room temperature for about 8-12 hours.  Room temperature in Alaska
might be a bit too cold, however, so be sure, if your kitchen is cool, to insulate your milk pot with towels.  The milk needs to stay
around 80°F for the culture to work.

After the resting period, your milk should look like thick yogurt.  There is often a layer of greenish whey floating on top. 
Line a colander with one layer of cheesecloth and place the colander over a large pot.  Gently ladle the curds into the cheesecloth. 
DO NOT pour the curds into the colander.  The curds are very delicate and will lose their surface tension if you do not handle them gently. 
This means that the curds will clog the cheesecloth and, although you can still end up with chevre, the cheesecloth will need to be frequently
scraped to allow the whey to drain.  In short, it becomes very messy, and you lose quite a bit of cheese in the process.

When all the curds have been ladled into the cheesecloth, twist the ends of the cloth together and hang the chevre to drain.  Be sure to save the
whey as it can be substituted for water in baking recipes.  After the chevre has stopped draining, about 8 hours, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate or
freeze it.  If you refrigerate it, change the wrapping after about 8 hrs, as more whey will drain from the cheese.  This cheese freezes marvelously
with no discernable change in the texture or taste.

Chevre can be used in many recipes as a substitute for cream cheese.  It can also be seasoned for eating with bread or crackers.  My favorite recipe
follows, but remember that you can add whatever herbs or spices take your fancy.  Just don’t forget the salt.  Refer to Goats Produce, Too!
for a number of excellent chevre recipes.

Garlic and Onion Chevre 

1lb chevre

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Coarse ground black pepper

 
Mix together the cheese, salt, garlic and onion powders.  Form into a ball.  Sprinkle the outside of the ball with the pepper. 
The cheese will firm up and the flavors will come out more after a day in the refrigerator.