Manchego, Past Goat Milk - Swelling & Adding Lipase?

[kevindv10]

Hello.

I'm working on two batches of my first pressed cheese, Manchego. I've been struggling with maintaining the correct humidity/temp, and as I'm new to this I don't really know what the cheeses should look and smell like. The first batch I have in a cooler with ice packs. The temperature has been perfect for the 8 days it's been in there but the humidity has been horribly low, anywhere from 45% to 60%. After 8 days it's started to smell but I can't really describe it; not quite ammonia but definitely getting pungent. There has been no mold on it yet so I just keep flipping it everyday and changing the freezer packs.

The second batch I've got in the veggie crisper in the fridge. The temp hovers around 44 degrees but as it's our main fridge I can't really sacrifice all our food for a wheel of cheese (can I?). The humidity is lower than I would like but I can generally keep it around 70-75%. This little sweetheart is only two days old so there's no smell or anything.

My main concern is what the older cheese looks and smells like. It's really just a white, nondescript blob of smelly dairy product. It's hard to imagine that it might turn into something that resembles the authentic Manchego that I love so much.

So after all that, does anyone have any pictures of their successful Manchego production? I'd love to see something that resembles the white mass that is occupying my cooler. Also any notes on how the cheese develops would be appreciated. I guess I just need a hug and encouraging pat on the head...

[Boofer]

Hi Kevin. Welcome to the forum.

I'm no expert on Manchego, but I have made a couple wheels and bought several pieces of true Manchego.

I would say the temp and humidity were too low, for starters. Can you post your recipe and process? I would highly recommend you search on Manchego here on the forum. There are a lot of threads on the subject.

Here's your pat on the head.... 

-Boofer-

[kevindv10]

Thanks for the welcome.

I did search on Manchego but didn't really find anything pertinent to my vague questions. I'll keep looking and see if I've missed something.

The recipe I've been using is from Artisan Cheese Making at Home. It calls for MM100 meso and Thermo B starters, as well as lipase powder. I used pasteurized goat milk rather than cow's milk because it was readily available.

I'm still sticking by the cheese. It became particularly stinky once I oiled it with olive oil at 10 days, but I just had a caerphilly that absolutely smelled of ammonia but was incredibly delicious. Again, my cheese doesn't really stink like ammonia, it's something that simply can't describe. If only we could upload smells on the internet. I'm sure Google is working on that.

[JeffHamm]

Hi kevin,

I suspect what you're smelling is from the lipase.  It's fine.  It's supposed to smell like that.  Having added lipase to goats milk, it's probably very strong too.  Normally, you don't need to add lipase to goat's milk as it's already high in natural lipase.  My understanding is that lipase is added to cow's milk in most recipes because cow's milk is used as a substitute for goat or sheep milk, and the lipase is added to add the missing flavour (you don't need to try and fake a goat if you're using goat's milk). 

- Jeff

[kevindv10]

Now that you mention it, it does really smell like the underside of a goat (not that I've ever smelled that, really!), and it doesn't smell like I would assume rotten cheese smells like.

I know without question the humidity is way too low and has been the entire ripening, but the temps have been bang on. I'll stick with it, and when I'm ready to cut it I'll invite some friends over and let them have the first bites. Failing that there's always my loving and gullible wife...

Thanks for the encouragement. It's tough making something for the first time when you don't have first hand experience with the process. It's fun though!