Cows' Milk Manchego

[Caitedid]

Started my very first manchego on Thursday using raw cows milk.  Followed the Ricki Carroll recipe from Home Cheese Making.  Used half calf lipase and half lamb lipase.  Cut it today at four days of aging, with the idea to vacuum seal the rest and let it keep rocking out.  The piece I'm eating right now is really good, but has little depth of flavor.  I assume that is something that will develop as it ages.  Also, I noticed tiny air pockets in the cheese when I cut it.  It was my first time with the new press, so I'm assuming that had something to do with it.  Any thoughts/suggestions?  Caite

[linuxboy]

Hi and welcome,

Yes, mechanical openings are due to a low press weight. You can mitigate this by pressing under whey. Search the forums for more info on pressing under whey, we've discussed it many times before in various threads. I'm a big proponent of pressing under whey and pressing in a warm area as a method to increase knit strength and eliminate mechanical openings without needing high pressing weights.

[zenith1]

I think it is too early for you to vacuum pack your cheese. You would probably wind up with a better final product by letting it age at least a month before vacuum packing it. The flavor at four days will not be representative of what you will have at 1 month or beyond so don't be discouraged over the flavor just yet.

[Caitedid]

Ok- so since I was super impatient and all ready cut it is there any way to keep the rest of it aging?  Or do I need to get it eaten now and let the next wheel age longer?  Definitely not disappointed in the flavor, as it is good.  There just isn't a ton of it, which is what I expected at four days.

[dthelmers]

Vacuum seal it and put it back in the cheese cave. I made an Italian style cheese with mustard seeds. We quartered it into 1 lb. wedges and vacuum sealed them. We've tried them at various stages, opening block number three at 3 months this Saturday. Quite a bit better than the two month old, way better than the one month old. We might wait more than two more months for the fourth quarter.

[zenith1]

Definitely go ahead and vacuum pack what you have either whole or in portions and forget about the poor thing for a while. You will be pleased when you rediscover it down the road.

[spalko]

Hmmm... I'm not sure I agree with the lack of pressing...
I don't think the pockets are from lack of pressing... just my opinion tho.
Cow's milk is not as dense and sheep's milk, and true sheep Manchego does not require much pressing at all... some, but not much.  This cheese can be pressed by hand into the molds almost enough for good knitting... Now... big holes due to poor knitting is one thing, but small holes should not develop during the aging.
Even though your Manchego curds are very small, there is still plenty of whey available - keeping them warm until molding will help with knitting.  Don't let them cool.

Will be curious to see if your holes change as it continues to age.
Let us know...

[linuxboy]

This cheese can be pressed by hand into the molds almost enough for good knitting...

It's been my experience that even when using small curds and keeping the curds warm, unless there is significant weight, there will invariably be small, irregular mechanical inclusions/openings in farmstead, tomme-derivative cheeses, like manchego. There may not be very many, but even with a great curd knit, some openings remain unless you press enough. I assumed that's what Caite meant, that there were some small irregular openings. Those are always caused by an incomplete knit. And the way to achieve complete curd fusion and knit is to keep the temperature up and to press with a good amount of weight (at least 2 PSI, preferably 8-10).

Regular, round holes formed by gas during aging are another thing, but based on the description, I don't think that's what happened here.

[Caitedid]

The holes I'm talking about are tiny, maybe 3 mm high x 5 mm wide.  I assume that this is due to the weight on the press releasing as the springs lose tension.  Second question, is there some trick to timing the turning and rebandaging?  Rikki Carrol's recipe says to press at 15# for 15 minutes then turn and rewrap.  When I turn at that time I end up with a well-knit mass that starts slopping all over and is really difficult to get back in to the mold.  TIA!  Caite

[Caitedid]

Okay, so even though they were sloppy and hard to turn this last batch was the best looking I've made yet.  Just rubbed the big one with a paste of olive oil and chipotle seasoning, so hoping that will turn out nicely!

[Caitedid]

So, the very first manchego (the one with the holes) was vacuum sealed, so it just occurred to me that I have a little sneak peek in to what's happening inside.  The holes are not getting any larger, which leads me to believe that it was the issue with the springs on the press.  Now that I know that I have to wander past every so often to tighten things down the babies are looking a lot better.  Caite