Last night I cut into some Goat Cheddar and Manchego.
They both have aged almost 5 months. The Goat Cheddar which was made from raw milk was amazingly white and seemed nice and moist. However, when eating it had a very slight chalky consistency on the palate. It wasn't so bad as to make it undesirable and the flavor was great, but I wonder what that chalky feeling comes from.
The Manchego was awesome. Definitely my best cheese thus far. The only issue was that it was drier than it should be, but that has to do with my inadequate ability to keep my humidity up in my cave. I know the problem and have to correct it. Consequently, this probably makes a better grating cheese. In fact my son thought for sure it was a Parmesan and must admit that tasted like a Parm.
Anyway wanted to share my results on cheeses number 4 & 5 in my short career as a home cheesemaker.
Zinger, congrats on the cheeses, and on your patience! Humidity while aging is always a big (unless you have commercial equipment).
You do not have to have commercial equipment. As I wrote on another thread, I use in my "cave" a second-hand ultrasonic cold vapor device. It's perfect.
great job Zinger! Manchego is one of my favorites also. As you know, the longer you age that type of cheese, the more easily grated it becomes. In fact I believe that there are 4 or 5 general types of manchego based entirely on the aging of the wheel. It is one of those incredible cheeses that are good young as well as old. I was curious about the recipe that you used. Maybe you can post the one that you used. I also have a couple of raw goat's milk wheels aging. One is a cheddar,and the other is a 50% cow's milk 50% goats milk stirred curd cheddar. They will not be ready for another month so I am jealous!
Congrats hon. I love the smell of an aging Manchego. Makes you really know it's working. Bet that would make a great spaghetti cheese. Never tried it but it has that nice sticky sock smell too.
Cheddar is always winner in my book. One of my favorites also.
Thanks for your comments. This past weekend, I was at a dinner party and summoned up enought courage to serve my Manchego. The response was very gratifying. One "well seasoned" cheese fan declared it to be the best Manchego he has eaten. Another individual that is preparing to open her up-scale coffee/food shop said she would like to offer my Manchego in her shop. She has been looking at various products including Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, and nothing compared to my Manchego. Oh to have the experience to produce a consistent product, no to mention keeping the health department at bay.
Anyway, usually people are polite in their assesstment of my efforts, but it's nice to feel genuine appreciation and enjoyment of my cheese.
Still lookng for any feedback on my chalky goat cheddar.
Thanks
Did you log any pH's for the cheddar? Chaulky is a tough one without sampling it myself. It being a cheddar though, I would guess that you may have developed too much acidity. Did you use M4001 or MM100 as the starter? Aging it longer should help. How was it aged (wax, natural rind etc.)?
Thanks for your feedback, Francois. I am not sure of the starter but I will check on it. I am fresh out of starter so when I get more from my local supplier, I will know exactly what it is. As to ph, I have not yet started to check my ph levels, as a new cheese maker I am just going on recommended times per the recipe. I have come to the point in my experience that I realize the importance of checking ph, which I will start doing now. I wil try to age it more and see what happens.
Someone else asked for the Manchego recipe. It is merely the recipe from Ricki Carroll's book.