Aged Goat Cheese Essentials
Fresh goat cheese is a clearly defined style. Other goat cheeses—which come in any number of sizes, shapes, flavors, and textures—seem to defy categorization. The methods used to make them vary considerably by the style of cheese and the tools at the makers’ disposal. However, some of the broad strokes are the same. After draining, the curds are transferred to cheese forms that give the cheeses their shapes. (For some firmer cheeses, the curds may first be heated, or cooked, to further remove moisture.) The shapes range from petite rounds (known as “crottins”) or pyramids to wide logs and sizable rounds or squares. In the case of distinctive Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove in California, the cheesemakers add a thin layer of decorative vegetable ash after half the curds are placed in the forms, forming a dark line that becomes visible when the cheese is cut. Some forms drain on their own, without any manual interference from cheesemakers. Others are pressed or stacked to remove additional moisture, with the weight of each cheese squeezing liquid from the one below it.
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