Sheep Milk
Sheep milk is richer and sweeter than cow or goat milk, with nearly double the fat and protein. It is the base of some of the world's great cheeses — Roquefort, manchego, pecorino, and feta — and is prized for the exceptional cheeses it produces.
Sheep milk is rich, sweet, and creamy, with a higher solids content than cow or goat milk — which is why it yields so much more cheese per gallon. The flavor is mild and pleasant, less tangy than goat milk.\n\nThe high fat and protein content gives it a luxurious mouthfeel and makes it ideal for cheesemaking, where the curds are firm and the yield is high.
Fresh sheep milk is rare in the US — it is almost always sold as cheese. Look for sheep milk cheeses (often labeled 'ewe's milk' or 'brebis') at cheese shops and farmers' markets.\n\nSheep are seasonal breeders, so sheep milk and fresh sheep cheeses are most abundant in spring and early summer.
Cheesemaking
The base of Roquefort, manchego, pecorino Romano, and many traditional feta cheeses — its high solids make exceptional cheese.
Yogurt
Makes a thick, rich yogurt similar to Greek-style — traditional in Greece and the Middle East.
Drinking
Rare as a beverage but occasionally available at farmstead dairies — rich and sweet, worth seeking out.
Aging
Sheep milk cheeses age beautifully — pecorino and manchego develop deep, nutty complexity over months.
Fresh sheep milk is rare; store it refrigerated like cow milk. Sheep milk cheeses should be wrapped in cheese paper and refrigerated — hard varieties keep for months, soft varieties for weeks.