Description and Distinguishing Features of the Product: Manyas Kelle Cheese; It is a local cheese known by the name of Manyas district of Balıkesir province. Manyas Kelle Cheese is produced with its own unique methods. Manyas Head Cheese; It is a cheese with a hard shell of 2-3 mm thick, yellow to light yellow and white in color, without clefts, porous structure, salty in taste and with a unique aroma, and is classified as hard cheese according to its hardness level. In traditional production, Manyas kelle cheese is hung in bags to drain the whey from the curd, and the straining process is carried out with hooks. Since the cheese strained in this way resembles a head, it is called head cheese. One of the most important factors that determine the quality criteria of Manyas cheese is the boiling temperature.

The history of Manyas Kelle Cheese dates back to the Ottoman period. Although the exact date in its history is unknown, it is rumored that its production dates back to 250 years ago. It is known that this cheese started to be produced in the region with the migration of Albanian immigrants to the Balıkesir province. The name of the cheese, Manyas Kelle Cheese, has become known as the usual name because in its traditional production, the curd is placed in bags and hung on hooks to drain the whey, and the straining process is carried out and the shape of the strained cheese mass resembles a head. Manyas Head Cheese; It is produced in full-fat or semi-fat cheese class, depending on the fatness class (amount of milk fat in dry matter). Manyas Kelle Cheese is in the category of cheese ripened in brine. It is produced by heat treatment of raw milk and Manyas Kelle Cheese is matured for at least 120 days from the production date and put on the market. The moisture content of cheese is at most 60% and the dry matter salt (NaCl) content is at most 7.5%.

Production Method: Manyas Kelle Cheese is produced by mixing sheep and cow milk of various breeds grown within the specified geographical borders or by mixing these milks. Due to the increase in the amount of sheep milk in the three-month period (April, May, June), sheep milk or a mixture of sheep and cow milk is generally used in production in these months, and in other months when sheep milk is not available, cow milk is used in production. Feeding animals from which raw milk is obtained; It is provided with seasonal feed and the natural vegetation of the region. These milks used in production and the production method applied; It comes to the fore in giving cheese its unique aroma and texture properties. Raw milk obtained from the specified geographical border is firstly passed through the cleaning stage and any coarse impurities that may be present are separated by the filtration process. The filtered raw milk is taken into cooking cauldrons. Here, it is subjected to heat treatment to remove harmful microorganisms. In this process, the temperature is in the range of 50-55˚C and at least 30 minutes are waited in this temperature range. After heat treatment, the milk is cooled to fermentation temperature. Obtaining curd is essential in the fermentation process. In this process, rennet known as rennet is used. Fermentation temperature is important in curd formation. Fermentation is done between 27-35 ̊C, although it varies depending on the season. As a result of the fermentation process, clot is formed. Clot; It is obtained by increasing the acidity of milk with the help of rennet and transforming it from liquid to gel. The resulting clot is cut until it reaches the size of a grain of rice. After the desired curd size is reached, the stage of boiling the curd is started. Good adjustment of the boiling water temperature (curd is boiled with hot water at 82-88 ˚C or with wall heating process.) directly affects the texture properties of the product.

Although the temperatures applied in production may vary depending on the skill of the master and the ingredient list, the temperature of the whey is generally between 38-45 ̊C. If sufficient heat treatment is not applied during boiling, the curd pieces will become very soft and swelling etc. may occur in the later stages of production. causes production errors. If high temperatures are used during boiling, the pores specific to Manyas Kelle Cheese do not form during the ripening process. After the boiling process, the curd is separated from the whey. Afterwards, the curd is placed in perforated and filtering stainless molds suitable for contact with food. Printing is done in these molds for about 12-16 hours. After the pressing process, Manyas Kelle Cheese in block form is produced. The cheese in block form is divided into smaller sizes and aged in brine for 10-21 days in rooms with a temperature range of 10-20 ̊C. At this stage, the period of stay in brine is terminated depending on whether the cheese acquires characteristic features such as salt absorption and porous structure formation.

Later, in order to ensure food safety and the characteristic features of the product, Manyas Kelle Cheese is matured in brine for at least 120 days from the date of production and is made suitable for supply to the market. After the product ripening process, it is presented to the consumer in packages suitable for food contact with label information in accordance with the relevant legislation. The process of preserving, transporting and placing Manyas Kelle Cheese on the market is carried out at temperatures below 10˚C.

Production, Processing and Other Operations That Must Be Performed Within the Geographical Border: Manyas Kelle Cheese, whose history dates back to the Ottoman period, has a product-specific production method, requires mastery skills and has a reputation with the specified geographical border. For this reason, all production stages of Manyas Kelle Cheese must take place within the specified geographical border.