Manchego Cheese Recipe (using Sheep's Milk)

[flip.tiffy]

Well, I've searched the forums for recipes for a Manchego cheese that uses sheep's milk, rather than cow's milk (with lipase added) but to no avail!

Would anyone be willing to share their recipe perhaps?

[linuxboy]

You still use lamb PGE (lamb lipase) with sheep's milk manchego. It's bland otherwise. And if the milk is pasteurized, you use a thermophilic bacillus adjunct to create flavor faster.

It's actually about the same recipe.

edit: this is the nontraditional approach. Traditionally, lipase is not used because it's not necessary. I'm being realistic about flavor development and marketability. A manchego with a little lipase will age faster and be sellable faster. Still about the same recipe, though, with the rennet amount adjusted lower to account for higher milk solids in sheep milk.

[zenith1]

Hey LB- I just caught your post regarding cultures for Manchego. I think in the recipes I have read for it they always called for adding a thermophile. In your practice you would only add if the milk were pasteurized? What is the thought there, is it because of the naturally occurring bacteria in fresh milk will be the adjunct flavor enhancer?

[linuxboy]

Commercially, thermophilic bacteria were added only to the pasteurized milk after discovering that the same make with raw and pasteurized milk produced the characteristic flavor in the raw but not the pasteurized.

A pure, traditional manchego is made with no added culture, and no lipase, and either rennet paste that has esterase, or a liquid rennet preserved from the spring lamb crop.

Nowadays, most manchego is pasteurized, so both lipase and thermophilic bacteria are added. Both are added as a way to develop flavor and for consistency.

Yes, raw milk in Spain used for manchego typically has enough bacteria to acidify and develop the appropriate flavor.

I make a cow milk cheese in the manner of manchego that has both lipase and LH and LA added, on a base of Danisco's 4001. Hard to get sheep's milk for me.

[spalko]

The rennet from my  lambs is the one thing I want to do to take my raw manchego a step further.
Just not sure I'm ready to complicate my life - especially since it's my best seller... but curious if anyone has ever acquired rennet directly from lambs?

[linuxboy]

It's not so hard, Sheri, but it takes a good half day of processing to get a decent amount. Takes about 10 abomasa to produce a liter of rennet that will have single strength concentration (180-200 IMCU). Have to slaughter the lambs at 4 weeks, and they have to be completely milk fed.

Good part is that if you're busy, you can freeze the stomachs and take care of it later.

The flavor difference to me is amazing; I'm a strong advocate of farmstead rennet production. I'm actually talking to people this month to help them start up a small scale artisan rennet company on the west coast to have a reliable and cost effective source for small producers who want to use natural rennet.

Anyway, it's too much to type out, but send me a PM and we can talk on the phone if you want to make your own rennet.

You can also buy lamb rennet and rennet paste, but it is rather costly, has to be imported from Europe.