Ledger / Soft ripened / 2026-08-31
Crottin de Chavignol: An Eighteen-Hour Lactic Set in Small Moulds
Goat milk sets to a lactic curd that is far more fragile than a cow-milk one and cannot be cut at all. It goes into small moulds as a liquid and drains by gravity for eighteen hours. The whole character of the cheese comes from that slow drain and the ash-thin rind that follows.
Each segment is as wide as its share of the 2520 minutes in the vat; the set segment carries the set temperature, the cut segment carries the cut size.
Salt and press drawer
Press ladder
Penicillium candidum sprayed or dusted on, then 90% RH at 11-13 C until the white felt is complete.
Cool, long, and no rennet to speak of
Goat milk at 21 C, 0.6% mesophilic culture, and just 25 IMCU of rennet per litre, added and stirred for ten seconds. Set for eighteen hours. The vat must not move. A goat lactic curd is thixotropic: shake it and it turns back to liquid.
If the curd is not ready at eighteen hours, it is a temperature problem, not a time problem. Check that the room really is 21 C; a kitchen at 24 C will have it ready in twelve and tasting sharp.
Ladle into small moulds and drain eighteen hours
Use moulds no bigger than 6 cm across and 8 cm deep, set on a rack. Ladle gently, without breaking the sheet. Drain at 20 C for eighteen hours, turning the moulds once at the twelve-hour mark.
The cheese is ready to unmould when it pulls away from the sides and stands on its own. If it slumps, give it six more hours. Turning early is the only way to get a cheese that is taller than it is wide, which is the shape the style is known for.
Salt at 2.2% and dry before the mould
Sprinkle 2.2% fine salt over the whole surface, or dip in a 12% brine for twenty minutes. Then dry at 14 C and 65% RH for twenty-four hours. The surface must be tacky-dry, not wet.
Goat curd holds a lot of water and will weep for two days. Put the cheeses on a fresh rack each morning so they are not sitting in their own whey, which is how the underside acquires a slippery, off-smelling film.
Two weeks, turned every day
Age at 12 C and 85% RH for fourteen days, turning daily. At seven days a thin white bloom appears and the surface goes from chalk-white to ivory. At fourteen days the rind wrinkles slightly along the top edge, which is the sign the paste underneath has begun to soften.
Eat at fourteen days for the classic chalky centre, or at twenty-eight days for a fully soft, runny crottin with a stronger, ammonia-tinged aroma. Both are correct; they are different cheeses.
Aging parameters
| Milk | Goat milk 3.8% fat |
|---|---|
| Culture | Mesophilic 20–30 °C |
| Rennet | Calf rennet (animal) 25 IMCU/L |
| pH at drain | 4.4 target 6.1–6.5 |
| Target moisture | 70 % |
| Cave temperature | 12 °C |
| Cave humidity | 85 % |
| Aging days | 14 days |
| Rind treatment | Bloomy rind (sprayed) |
| Yield | 0.75 kg |
Goat milk Soft ripened 14 days
Defect diagnosis
Flagged on this make: Bitterness、Misread surface mould
Bitterness seen this make
Signal — A harsh, lingering bitter note at the back of the palate, strongest in the first three weeks and often fading after six.
Cause — Too much rennet for the set time, or a microbial coagulant with high protease activity, or a scald that never got past 38 C.
Fix — Cut the dose by 20% next make and hold the scald 2 C higher for 10 minutes longer. Bitter peptides are water-soluble, so a 12% brine for 24 hours pulls some out.
Rancidity not seen
Signal — Soapy, paint-like smell that hits before the cheese reaches the mouth. Sharp and unpleasant rather than merely strong.
Cause — Free fatty acids released by lipase, usually from raw milk that sat warm too long, or from rennet paste, or from a knife or cloth that carried old milk residue.
Fix — Chill milk to 4 C within two hours of milking and pasteurise anything older than 24 hours. Retire the cloth: boil it, do not just rinse it.
Faulty eye formation not seen
Signal — Either no eyes where the style demands them, or a scatter of irregular slits and cracks instead of round, evenly spaced holes.
Cause — Coliform or yeast contamination from unsanitary brine, or a press that was too cold (below 18 C) so the propionic culture never woke up, or too much salt killing it outright.
Fix — Boil and re-salt the brine to 18-20% between batches, press at 20-22 C for the first six hours, and keep the salt under 1.6% for eye-forming styles.
Misread surface mould seen this make
Signal — A grey-green or black fuzzy patch on a rind that was supposed to be white or orange, or blue speckling on a hard cheese.
Cause — Wild Penicillium and Cladosporium from a cave with moving air and standing humidity. Also from brushing a good rind with a damp, dirty brush.
Fix — Distinguish before you discard: white felt and orange smear are wanted, green fuzz on a hard rind is surface only and rubs off with 3% brine. Black patches that pit the paste mean the wheel is lost.
Four things to carry forward
- 0.6% mesophilic, only 25 IMCU/litre, set 18 hours at 21 C
- Never cut a goat lactic curd: ladle it straight into 6 cm moulds
- Salt 2.2%, then dry 24 h at 14 C / 65% RH
- Turn daily for 14 days at 12 C / 85% RH