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Cheese from Spain, Extremadura

Ibores PDOQueso Ibores

Raw milk from local goat breeds is set with natural rennet at 28–32 °C, cut to 5–10 mm grains, moulded and pressed for 1–3 hours. The cheese is dry-salted, or brined for up to 24 hours, and ripens for at least 60 days. The rind is traditionally rubbed with paprika or with olive oil.

Fully documentedCheese2 monthsPDO (EU), registered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 205/2005 of 4 February 2005; specification amended 2025Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes ranges, not a recipe, and gives no batch size. Finished cheeses weigh 400–1 200 g.
Raw whole goat milk from registered herds of the listed breeds[ibores-sd2025]
Natural rennet from the abomasum of suckling ruminantsAbout 80 % chymosin and 20 % pepsin, average strength 1:15 000[ibores-sd2025]
Salt (sodium chloride only), dry or as brine[ibores-sd2025]
Paprika (pimentón) or oil for the rind, in the traditional coated versions[ibores-oj2004][ibores-sd2025]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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shapes, not to countLactococcus lactisL. mesenteroidesW. paramesenteroidesLactobacillus casei28–32 °C

What changes: Natural rennet sets the raw goat milk at 28–32 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set the raw milk with rennet
Time
30 min – 1 h
Set
Temperature
28–32 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides
W. paramesenteroides
Lactobacillus casei
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw milk from local goat breeds is set with natural rennet at 28–32 °C, cut to 5–10 mm grains, moulded and pressed for 1–3 hours. The cheese is dry-salted, or brined for up to 24 hours, and ripens for at least 60 days. The rind is traditionally rubbed with paprika or with olive oil. Made in 6 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 2 months (European Commission 2025). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (the prevalent group), Leuconostoc mesenteroides subspecies, Weissella paramesenteroides, Lactobacillus casei and L. plantarum, identified in Ibores made from raw goat milk without added starter does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[ibores-sd2025]Ripen
Temperature28–32 °CSet[ibores-sd2025]Set the raw milk with rennet
AciditypH 5.2Measured[gonzalez2002]Ripen

What makes this one different

A Spanish raw goat milk cheese pressed for 1 to 3 hours and ripened at least 60 days. Its mark is the traditional rind rubbed with paprika or with oil.

Shape and size
Cylinder 4–9 cm high and 8–15 cm across, 400–1 200 g
Composition
Fat at least 45 % of dry matter; dry matter at least 50 %; protein at least 30 % of dry matter; NaCl at most 4 %; pH 5.0 to 5.5
Salt in the cheese
NaCl reached 2.5 % by day 60 in Ibores made from raw milk without starter

Related ferments

Safety

The milk stays raw. The specification requires at least 60 days of ripening, allows only sodium chloride for salting, caps NaCl at 4 % and says the cheese complies with current food safety rules. In a study, coliforms and coagulase-positive staphylococci from the raw milk fell during ripening, earlier when native lactococcal starters were used. ANSES names Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli as hazards of raw-milk cheeses and tells pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid them, apart from cooked pressed kinds such as Gruyère.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms and coagulase-positive staphylococci from the raw milk; they fell earlier in ripening when native lactococcal starters were used, and in cheese made without starter the staphylococci disappeared completely; Listeria spp. and Enterobacteriaceae were counted in raw-milk Ibores; high-pressure treatment at 600 MPa lowered them in the mature cheese.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Records show the cheese sold at the Thursday market of Trujillo since 14 July 1465, when Henry IV of Castile granted the town a free market. Jaraicejo's weekly market, granted in 1945, later became a goat cheese market. A National Cheese Festival has been held in the area every year since 1986. The name was entered in the EU register of protected designations by Commission Regulation (EC) No 205/2005 of 4 February 2005, and a standard amendment to the specification was approved on 25 February 2025.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [ibores-sd2025] European Commission, single document 'Queso Ibores', PDO-ES-0261-AM01 (25.2.2025), in the communication of an approved standard amendment, Official Journal C/2025/2971, 23.5.2025spec
  2. [reg205-2005] Commission Regulation (EC) No 205/2005 of 4 February 2005 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2400/96 on the entry of certain names in the Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Queso Ibores and nine others), Official Journal L 33, 5.2.2005, p. 6spec
  3. [ibores-oj2004] Application for registration of 'Queso Ibores' under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Official Journal C 58, 6.3.2004, pp. 14–17 (Spanish text)spec
  4. [gonzalez2003] González J., Mas M., Tabla R., Moriche J., Roa I., Rebollo J.E., Cáceres P. 2003, Autochthonous starter effect on the microbiological, physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of Ibores goat's milk cheeses, Lait 83:193–202 (abstract)paper
  5. [gonzalez2002] Mas M., Tabla R., Moriche J., Roa I., González J., Rebollo J.E., Cáceres P. 2002, Ibores goat's milk cheese - Microbiological and physicochemical changes throughout ripening, Lait 82(5):579–587 (abstract)paper
  6. [delgado2011] Delgado F.J., González-Crespo J., Cava R., Ramírez R. 2011, Formation of the aroma of a raw goat milk cheese during maturation analysed by SPME-GC-MS, Food Chemistry 129(3):1156–1163 (abstract)paper
  7. [delgado2012] Delgado F.J., González-Crespo J., Cava R., Ramírez R. 2012, Changes in microbiology, proteolysis, texture and sensory characteristics of raw goat milk cheeses treated by high-pressure at different stages of maturation, LWT 48(2):268–275 (abstract)paper
  8. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov