How is it done?
Production is always in line with the regulations of the Consortium. Milk from the evening milking is sent directly from the milking room to the dairy to rest in the surfacing tanks until the next morning after which, once skimmed, it is added to the whole milk of the morning in traditional copper-lined heaters shaped like an upturned bell. Natural rennet and whey starter is then added to the milk to start the curdling. The curd is broken down by the master cheesemaker into minuscule granules thanks to an ancient tool known as a "spino" whisk. After this operation the curd is cooked slowly, reaching a temperature of 55 °C, after which the cheese granules precipitate to the bottom of the heater to form a single mas. This is extracted by the cheesemaker and put into molds to make the cheese wheels. The wheels are then immersed in brine (a solution of salt and water), essentially a process of salting by osmosis. This constitutes the last step in the production cycle after which the ageing process is started. Each day 7000 litres of milk are transformed in this way to produce just 14 Bio-Hombre wheels.