Pyghtle

Pyghtle is a soft, lactic cheese. This means that there is a high level of lactic acidity in the cheese which naturally develops slowly over a long period as the cheese is made and then matures.

The process

The fresh sheep’s milk is brought to the Dairy first thing in the morning and warmed to around 22 degrees before a tiny amount of culture is added, to encourage the acidification process and the formation of the beautiful moulds that give the cheese their distinct flavour and appearance.

The milk is monitored, normally overnight, as it slowly coagulates, until it reaches a critical acidity level. At this point, the curds are very gently ladled into the moulds by hand.

The cheeses are then left again for a further twenty-four hours or so, being turned a couple of times before being unmoulded and salted by hand and placed into the maturation rooms where they will wait patiently, being turned daily, the moulds slowly forming over the period of about a week.

At this point, the cheese is ready to eat and is young, fruity and fresh, although it develops a deeper, more savoury flavour as it ages and softens, the texture breaking down from chalky to fudgy as time goes on and the distinctive rind forming more acutely. In our view, the ideal time to enjoy Pyghtle is from about three weeks old when the flavours are complex and delicious!

The name Pyghtle comes from the old Suffolk word meaning a small enclosure of land.
There are many pyghtles around Broughton Hall Farm, one just in view from the cheese room window and home to the resident alpaca and pygmy goat.