Goat cheese recipe book recommendation

chanceosunshine

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Hi, I’ve finally put a deposit on my very first dairy goats. I’ll be getting them next summer and can barely wait!
In the meantime, I’m looking for book recommendations for dairy product recipes like cheese and yogurt.
Thank you.
 

Dandy Hill Farm

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I love to make cajeta, ice cream, and yogurt with all my extra goat milk! I'm also going to try out soap making this winter.

For the cajeta (a delicious caramel sauce that's excellent on ice cream), I follow the recipe from Blue Cactus Dairy Goats - she's on YouTube and I believe she also has some cheese recipes as well, never tried them though.

Here's a good chocolate ice cream recipe we like - I usually add more milk and less heavy cream than the recipe calls for https://www.chewoutloud.com/easy-chocolate-ice-cream-eggs/

For Vanilla ice cream we do:

- 2 cups of goat milk and heavy cream

- 2/3 cup of sugar

- 4 tsp of vanilla extract

Wisk the milk and sugar together until sugar is dissolved, then gently mix in the heavy cream and put it in an ice cream maker. Once it's almost done, add the vanilla and let it churn for a few more minutes. Note: I have also made this with all goat milk (no heavy cream) by using 4 cups of goat milk and adding a tsp of xantham gum which makes it a lot thinker, creamier, and less icy if you were to leave it out and use all goat milk. I also found that it's best, (when using xanthan gum), to put it, the milk, and sugar in a blender (or use a stick blender) so the xanthan gum doesn't make chunks.

Here's our favorite yogurt recipe (we use goat milk instead of cow milk) https://www.frugalfarmwife.com/article/yogurt-my-favorite-recipe/

Here's some more ice cream recipes. I've only made the butter pecan recipe - it was very good. I used all goat milk (no cream) and added a tsp of xanthan gum.

We have cow milk allergies in my family, so I try to use all goats' milk when possible in ice cream recipes (it also uses up more extra goat milk we always have). I have found that xanthan gum is a very key ingredient when doing that - the ice cream tastes sooo much better than using only whole milk!

Hope this helps!
 

chanceosunshine

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Thank you for the suggestions and recipes! They sound delicious.
I’m getting NIgerian Dwarfs, a doe in milk, a doeling, a whether and an unrelated buckling.
I keep wondering if I should get an extra doe or if I should be patient because I know they’ll multiply quickly.
What breed do you raise?
 

Dandy Hill Farm

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I raise Nigerians. They are amazing and give very sweet, delicious milk! I absolutely LOVE the breed! Will yours be registered? Hmm, four goats is definitely a great start to a herd, I think adding another doe kinda depends on how much milk you want/need and how soon you'd like to have it. Yes, goats definitely multiply very fast! Maybe it would be best to stick with the four and retain a doeling(s) once your girls have kids. Really the decision is up to you!

Let me know if you have any questions about the breed!
 

chanceosunshine

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Thank you. You’ve confirmed for me that I should just be patient. They will be registered and are from a very knowledgeable breeder.
How many do you have and how many in milk do you usually have?
Thank you for offering to answer questions. I know I’ll be here often to ask a million of them.

I raise Nigerians. They are amazing and give very sweet, delicious milk! I absolutely LOVE the breed! Will yours be registered? Hmm, four goats is definitely a great start to a herd, I think adding another doe kinda depends on how much milk you want/need and how soon you'd like to have it. Yes, goats definitely multiply very fast! Maybe it would be best to stick with the four and retain a doeling(s) once your girls have kids. Really the decision is up to you!
Let me know if you have any questions about the breed!
I raise Nigerians. They are amazing and give very sweet, delicious milk! I absolutely LOVE the breed! Will yours be registered? Hmm, four goats is definitely a great start to a herd, I think adding another doe kinda depends on how much milk you want/need and how soon you'd like to have it. Yes, goats definitely multiply very fast! Maybe it would be best to stick with the four and retain a doeling(s) once your girls have kids. Really the decision is up to you!
Let me know if you have any questions about the breed!
Thank you. That really
 

Dandy Hill Farm

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Thank you. You’ve confirmed for me that I should just be patient. They will be registered and are from a very knowledgeable breeder.
How many do you have and how many in milk do you usually have?
Thank you for offering to answer questions. I know I’ll be here often to ask a million of them.
You're welcome!! Sounds like a good idea. That's awesome your goats are registered and coming from a great breeder!!

I currently have four does and two bucks. This past spring and summer I had two does in milk. This upcoming spring I plan on having al four of my girls freshen, I will however, most likely sell one (maybe two) doe(s) to make room for some new doelings that come from fantastic lines!!

Another thing you could do is stagger breedings to have milk year round. Breed some in to kid in the spring and some to kid in the fall. You would pretty much have milk year round then.

No problem! I would highly recommend joining The Goat Spot forum. Everyone there is very nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. There are also quite a few members who own NDs (myself included). You would probably get more replies in general and also more about goat milk recipes.
 

chanceosunshine

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How exciting for you! Do you know when the new doelings will come? I’m already looking forward to improving my little herd eventually. That’s one of the reasons I was hesitant about getting an extra doe so that I could introduce new genetics and leaving room to do so when the time comes.

I feel very fortunate that one of the things my breeder breeds for is parasite resistant/resilience in her herd. That was one of my main fears because I know that goats are so susceptible to worms.

I definitely want to stagger the freshenings. My doeling should be born in April or May. In my mind, I was thinking I could breed my doe in October and my doeling in December or January if she’s big enough. Does that sound realistic? Is that enough time between freshenings to prolong having milk coming in between two does?

I’ll look into the goat spot. Thank you!
 

chanceosunshine

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I just seen that you’re from NW Ohio, so am I, that is until we retire next year. I will miss our home so much but we are moving to be near our kids.
We’re about half an hour southwest of Toledo, about half an hour from Michigan and 45 minutes or so from Indiana. I love our home there…
 

Dandy Hill Farm

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How exciting for you! Do you know when the new doelings will come? I’m already looking forward to improving my little herd eventually. That’s one of the reasons I was hesitant about getting an extra doe so that I could introduce new genetics and leaving room to do so when the time comes.
Thanks! They should be born in March/April. That's so awesome you are starting with registered goats (wish I did that)!! You must have done lots of studying - good job!!
I feel very fortunate that one of the things my breeder breeds for is parasite resistant/resilience in her herd. That was one of my main fears because I know that goats are so susceptible to worms.
That's great that they breed for that! If you don't mind me asking....who is the breeder that you are getting your goats from? I know of quite a few breeders in are area. I plan on getting my doelings from Critter Patch Farm - they are two hours straight east of me. They also have some very amazing genetics that I would love to bring into my herd!
I definitely want to stagger the freshenings. My doeling should be born in April or May. In my mind, I was thinking I could breed my doe in October and my doeling in December or January if she’s big enough. Does that sound realistic? Is that enough time between freshenings to prolong having milk coming in between two does?
You should be able to milk a doe for nine months if you breed every year and dry her off two months before kidding. So what you have planned out seems like a good plan.
I’ll look into the goat spot. Thank you!
Okay! No problem!
I just seen that you’re from NW Ohio, so am I, that is until we retire next year. I will miss our home so much but we are moving to be near our kids.
We’re about half an hour southwest of Toledo, about half an hour from Michigan and 45 minutes or so from Indiana. I love our home there…
No way! Sounds like we are very close to each other. How cool! Glad you are moving closer to family.

Happy Thanksgiving!
 

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