We tried our first Manchego today, or rather a part of it.... After moulding in a 4.5" cylinder (9 litre batch) we cut a 3/4" thick slice off the end, and then brined the two pieces at the same time.... The thin piece we left for only 1 hour, the much larger piece (about 3.5") we left in the brine for the remainder of the recommended 6 hours.... We air dried them, and put them in our cave at 55*F and 82%RH, with the thin slice wrapped in cheese paper, to be eaten as a fresh cheese.... The larger piece is developing a rind, and has been oiled with EVOO twice now, and will be left for 3-6 months to age.... Now to the exciting part....
We sampled the fresh Manchego today, at 2 weeks after brining, and it was delicious.... The texture was semi-firm, the paste well closed, with a gorgeous aroma, and a surprisingly nice bite to it for such a young cheese.... A week ago we had the good fortune to find some genuine Spanish Manchego at a Deli about 2 hrs. away, and purchased a piece, as we had never had Manchego before.... It was delicious, of course, and very different to anything we had ever sampled.... Imagine our delight when our young, fresh cheese was quite similar....
The older, commercial product was slightly darker and firmer, with a similar aroma, and it was a bit drier with a bit stronger and smoother taste, as expected.... However, there was NO doubt that we had achieved something very similar with our first effort....
Now to my question.... Where we cut the cheese after moulding and before brining, there was of course no rind.... The fresh Manchego was so good that we want to do the same with our next one (some for fresh eating and the majority to age), but I want to have a rind on all surfaces of both cheeses.... I only have the one mould, so I was wondering about putting 2/3 or 3/4 of the curds in the mould, pressing lightly for a few minutes, and then putting another layer of cheesecloth over the curds and filling the top of the mould up with curds, another layer of cheesecloth on the follower, and then following our usual pressing procedure from there out.... The idea is to have a layer of cheesecloth between the two cheeses, so that they can be separated and flipped, and will come apart after pressing to give us two cheeses, one to eat fresh, and the other to place in the cave to age.... They would be brined together for the appropriate times, of course, before aging....
What do you think of this idea?.... Has anyone ever tried it?.... Should I use one layer of cheesecloth between, or two?.... Any suggestions?....
Bob
