Accidental Homesteader

I had a very homesteady Sunday this week. I made pickles, goat cheese, babaganoush, tomato paste, a roast chicken, and some gorgeous stock.

So, I love my instant pot. We bought a cheap off-brand one a while ago, but it broke. So we bought an instant pot hoping the real thing would last longer.

Oh my goodness it is so much better. The only thing I’ve made that wasn’t cooked correctly was a roast chicken. The skin wasn’t crispy, which makes sense.

Anyway, it has a sous vide function. And I decided to give it a try.

---

Sous Vide Goat Cheese

• 1/2 gallon goat milk
• ½ cup lemon juice You can use vinegar or a combination of lemon juice and vinegar. I prefer all lemon juice.
• Salt

Set the sous vide to 150. Pour goat milk into instant pot. Stir occasionally and check temperature. When milk gets to 150, increase the temperature to 185. Stir occasionally and check temperature.

When it gets to 185, pour into a room temperature bowl and add lemon. Stir gently. Let it sit for about an hour.

Line a colander with butter muslin. Pour the cheese into the muslin and tie it into a bindle. Suspend it over the bowl with a barbecue skewer or serving spoon. Let the whey drip out.

Leave it about an hour, then turn out cheese into a container. Add salt to taste.

You can also add flavoring to the mix such as:

• Honey
• Herbs
• Lemon juice

---

I made a simple salted goat cheese.

So why a sous vide? To slow down and control the temperature, and allow for multitasking. With the stovetop, you have to stir constantly and keep a close eye on the temperature. The slower the temp increase, the better the texture.

With a sous vide, the pot will slowly increase in temperature, and it stays constant. I tried the two-step method to slow it even further. I wasn’t chained to the stove, and I could continue to make my tomato paste.

It turned out great, cleanup was easier because the milk didn’t scald. And we made pancakes with the leftover whey.