Making Manchego Cheese

Originally Manchego is made with sheep’s milk – specifically Manchego sheep from the La Mancha region of Spain.  I am making it here with our own Jersey cow’s milk.  I have been making a lot of cheese lately and needed something different and flavorful to try.

The biggest difference so far between this and other cheeses I have been making recently is the use of both mesophilic and thermophilic cultures.  This is actually the first cheese I have tried using a Thermophilic culture – which is used more in Italian type cheeses like Romano and Parmesan.  I would love to make more Italian type cheeses but I need a way to press it at nearly 100lbs – that is twice the pressure that my current press can handle.  I love to use Dairy Connection for my cultures.  They have really great customer service and are always helpful in talking me through what I need and problems I am having.

The other big difference in this cheese and others I’ve been making is the size of the curds.  After cutting they are stirred with a whisk to break them into rice size pieces.  I started this cheese with 3 gallons of milk.

Here are what seem like tiny curds compared to what I’m used to.

Pouring off the whey.

The curds settled in the bottom of the pot.

The press ready and waiting with a pan underneath to catch the whey.

The press loaded with the curds.  I love plyban cheesecloth – it is what I am using in the press.

It is pressed at 15lbs of pressure for 45 minutes while turning it over every 15 minutes.

Here it is after 15, 30 and 45 minutes.  After this, it gets pressed for 6 hours at 30lbs of pressure and then brined for another 6 hours in a saturated brine.  In the morning I should have a delicious 2 1/2lb block of cheese!