What causes this flaky cheese texture? This is a 6 month Manchego but I see it in my Gruyere as well.
No idea what causes this texture cheese taste fine just a bit crumbly and drier than optimal.
I have no idea, but just wanted to say that is a beautiful rind.
If it's too dry it's probably just a matter of stirring less after cutting curd and cooking a little less time or a little less heat. I also had this happen to some of my cheeses that I had trouble with curd shatter during the stirring due to late lactation milk. Still tastes good like you said though.
Thanks. How about pH?
The cheese I had made didn't use pH markers so I didnt bother checking. Did you measure pH on your make? What recepie did you use and what kind of milk?
The reason I think it's a pH issue is that this issue is only in my hard cheese not in my curd washed cheeses like Swiss and Gouda. I use raw milk but stop measuring the pH once the cheese is in the mold. I suspect I need to reduce the culture addition amount with the raw. I'm going to save some curd to measure the pH on the next make.
That would make sense with raw milk. any recepie I use that has pH markers with my raw milk I usually have to use about half to 3/4 starter or it buffers for a while then drops like a stone.
Uugg I totally forgot about the buffering affect with raw milk. I have seen the sudden drop in one cheese I made ..
I'll be watching pH more closely and shave back the culture added.
Thanks for your discussion on this.
Dorchester
I missed this...but I wanted to tell you that that flaky character and drier texture is completely normal for a 6 month Manchego. You can change that a bit by using a higher fat content in your milk (add cream) because Manchego is made from sheep milk which has a significantly higher fat content than most cow milk.
Manchego is sold in 4 styles:
Manchego Fresco has been aged less than 3 weeks. Therefore it isn't found in the States (unless you make it yourself.)
Manchego Semicurado has been aged for around 2-4 months. (The 60-120 day variety is what is most common in most supermarkets across the USA and so most people only know that style.)
Manchego Curado has been aged for 4 months to 1 year--the most common around 6 months like yours. It is commonly drier and starts to flake and has a more nutty flavor with caramel notes
Manchego Añejo (or Viejo) has been aged for 1-2 years. It is harder and drier still, very flaky and has definite peppery notes.
So, I'm not so sure there was anything terribly wrong with your cheese just because it was flaking. So--AC4U!
If I were to suggest you change anything, I'd recommend you up the butter fat content of your milk to around 7-8% to get it more in line with sheep milk.
I think it looks wonderful . AC4U
Thanks. Perhaps I'll give it more fat next time