Roxanne cheese is a pasteurized Jersey Cow's milk washed  curd cheese coated in native sumac. Mildly citrusy, it is a great addition to any cheese board and melts well for your favorite melty recipes. The cheese is being made in collaboration with Milk House Creamery. Its creation is described and pictured below.

The quality of the care and diet of the dairy animal determines the quality of the milk they produce and therefore the quality of the finished cheese. Our philosophy remains that the best the cheese maker can do is to guide the milk carefully through its transition into cheese without losing the qualities inherent to the milk. The land we farm is located next to the Kennebec river in central Maine. We focus on the health of our soils , the forest that surrounds them, and the water that irrigates them.

Our Roxanne cheese is made from Organic, grass-fed, Jersey cows milk.

After the milk is collected and cooled it is then vat Pasteurized. The milk is heated to 145 degrees for 30 minutes and then cooled to our desired incubation temperature.

Once the milk has been Pasteurized and cooled to the correct temperature we introduce specifically chosen cheese cultures and a coagulating enzyme.

After a short period of time the milk will coagulate into one solid mass which is a matrix of the milk's proteins, dissolved minerals, fats, and water.

After the appropriate coagulation time has passed this matrix, now known as curd, is cut by hand to the chosen size. This cutting process releases the liquid phase of the milk, now known as whey, from the curd matrix. The size of the cut curd particle largely determines the moisture content of the finished cheese.

Once the curd has been cut to the appropriate size a percentage of the whey is drained and the curd and remaining whey are stirred and heated.

After the desired temperatures and stirring times have been achieved the liquid whey is drained from the curd. The curd is then placed into cheese forms to give the desired shape and size of the finished cheese.

The formed cheeses are then placed in a cheese press for the specified time where excess whey and any air pockets are removed. The cheese is then placed in a salt brine bath, coated with native Sumac, and aged for 60 days.

Here you can see the finished cheese after 60 days of aging.