Sheepo Fresco?

[stringcheese]

I made a queso fresco last weekend that was pretty good, but I was wondering if maybe a sheep version would be tastier.
Anyone make a fresh cheese with sheep milk?

I've only ever made aged cheeses with sheep milk so I'm not sure if it would be too over powering.

Thanks!

[awakephd]

Unfortunately, no experience - no access to sheep's milk. I'm envious!

[stringcheese]

I ordered a half gallon, so we shall find out!

[Susan38]

Well I have yet to make sheep milk cheese, but what I HAVE made is sheep milk ice cream (just milk, vanilla and a bit of sugar), which is so delicious!  I have never had "overpowering" flavor, just creamy goodness.  So I think a fresh cheese would do well.

But I am not fully understanding what you mean by the overpowering flavor.  I have eaten store-bought aged manchego and such and it did not have an overpowering flavor according to my taste buds.

I'm curious if the different sheep breeds have different milk flavors, kind of like goat and cow breeds (Jersey vs. Holstein for instance)?  And flavor is affected by what the animal is eating?  My only experience is with Icelandic sheep milk, which is very rich and thick...and they were grass and alfalfa fed.

On a related note, I'd be interested to hear what sheep's milk cheeses you have made and the recipes you used!  I hope one day to make sheep milk cheese from my sheep flock's milk, but have yet to find detailed information about how the process differs from that using cow's milk.  --Susan

[stringcheese]

I'm mostly worried that the plain milk will taste strongly in a bad way. I've made an aged robiola bosina (which I will post once it's done aging) and the young sample was AMAZING. Even the whey ricotta from sheep cheese was better than most.
So I guess I shouldn't be worried.

I am having a sort of bachelorette cheese making party for my very good friend. But cheese making can be dull, and I can't expect anyone has a cave at home. So I set out to find a way to make something quick that ladies could take with them. It will be a busy morning for me, preparing everything, but I think if I have the milk ready to add the rennet or maybe ready to cut the curd, it will give us some fun activities to do in between drinking wine and eating other cheeses. And then I have a bunch of small molds, I found using them I didn't need a very long press time (2-3 hours). We can easily kill 3 hours chatting and drinking.
The queso test(o) was tasty but a bit boring. I'm thinking I use truffle salt instead of regular salt next time.
OR we can see what sheep milk does!

And that's the unnecessarily long story of how I got here. 

[Susan38]

I think your Sheepo Fresco (love the name, by the way) will turn out great!  You will have to let us know how it does. 

I have made queso fresco (with Jersey milk) twice now, and before I started I was worried about having a bland taste, so I took a tip from someone online and used Flora Danica for the starter culture.  It turned out quite well...I had about 15 other people sample it (among them picky eater children) and they all loved it.  If you're not familiar with FD, it leaves a great buttery flavor and I think also a bit of a tangy/sour (in a good way) note.  I bet it would be great with sheep milk if the flavor stays the same as it does in cow milk.

And just when is the party and are we all invited?     ---Susan

[awakephd]

I agree with Susan on all counts - I'm guessing the sheeps milk will add some nice additional flavor, and I want to know when the party is. Wait - did you say ladies only? Well, rats.

[stringcheese]

I think your Sheepo Fresco (love the name, by the way) will turn out great!  You will have to let us know how it does. 

I have made queso fresco (with Jersey milk) twice now, and before I started I was worried about having a bland taste, so I took a tip from someone online and used Flora Danica for the starter culture.  It turned out quite well...I had about 15 other people sample it (among them picky eater children) and they all loved it.  If you're not familiar with FD, it leaves a great buttery flavor and I think also a bit of a tangy/sour (in a good way) note.  I bet it would be great with sheep milk if the flavor stays the same as it does in cow milk.

And just when is the party and are we all invited?     ---Susan

I used Flora Danica too, had the same thought. I put it in the night before to give it some extra time. Can't hurt, right?

The sheepo fresco came out very nicely and i had it at room temp for a bit, when I noticed it seemed to be drying into a bit of a yellow rind. Well, I like rinds, so let's see where this goes. It's been on the counter since, I'll give it 24 hours total. There's just something nice about rind and paste rather than a consistent cheese all the way through.
Tomorrow is my main cheese maintenance day so I'll try to get a picture.

[stringcheese]

The reviews are in, Sheepo Fresco is worth your time.
Still squeaky like a fresh cheese, but with much more interesting flavor. Melts very well. I may even try aging it sometime. The cheese pictured was 1/2 gallon (at $30/gal), so it's not something I could afford to eat a lot of.
But it is GOOD.

[mikekchar]

Looks awesome!  AC4U!

[Susan38]

Thanks for reporting back!  It looks awesome so AC4U!  Something worth trying someday, thanks for the idea and recipe.

My Jersey-O Fresco is a tiny bit squeaky, but not bad (I personally don't like squeak), and it does melt but it kind of keeps its shape when it melts, if that makes sense.

On the sheep milk note, all my ewes are having twins and triplets so no milk for me in the near future.  Taking the lambs off milk to keep the milk for me is also expensive, as then I would have to feed the lambs milk replacer.  The replacer has to be high in protein and fats and thus is more expensive than say cow milk replacer.  And since sheep milk production is measured in pints and quarts per day, versus gallons for cow milk, one can really "appreciate" the high cost of sheep milk.  Maybe the higher yield helps offset the higher cost a bit?

Please keep us posted if you try aging one, I'd be most interested in your results.

Cheers,  Susan

[awakephd]

I'll add a cheese for ewe as well! Err ... you. No pun intended. Really. Trust me on this. Why, I would feel utterly sheepish to be caught making a pun ...

 

[stringcheese]

Love the puns. And thanks for all the cheeses. I almost have more virtual cheese than real cheese!

I just ordered another gallon of sheep milk (ever so slightly cheaper by the gallon). But I haven't decided what to do with it yet. I was thinking something simple and creamy like a gouda.
The only problem with that is I'm not sure how to make a pun out of the name.

Suggestions for sheep cheese purely based on puns are welcome!

[Susan38]

How about Ewe-da Gouda?

Have you seen a commercial cheese (can't remember brand name) called "Lamb Chopper" with a picture of a lamb with cool sunglasses riding a Harley-Davidson type motorcycle?  Too funny!

[awakephd]