How is cheese made? From milk to Gouda cheese
Gouda cheese is the best-known cheese from the Netherlands and is eaten all over the world. But how is cheese made? How does a bucket of milk actually turn into a round, golden-yellow cheese? The process is centuries old and yet surprisingly precise. In this blog, you will get a step-by-step look inside the cheesemaking process: from fresh milk to an aged cheese on the shelf.
What is Gouda cheese?
Gouda cheese is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese, named after the city of Gouda. Cheese used to be traded at the cheese market there. The cheese itself was made on farms in the surrounding area.
Today, Gouda cheese is made throughout the Netherlands, both on farms and in cheesemaking facilities. Gouda Holland is a protected European name: cheese with this name must be made in the Netherlands from Dutch milk, using the traditional method.
Gouda cheese comes in all varieties, from young and creamy to aged and spicy. The difference mainly lies in the ripening time. You can read more about this in our blog about the difference between young, aged and old cheese.
Step by step: from milk to cheese
- The milk. It starts with fresh cow's milk. In a cheesemaking facility, the milk is first checked and brought to the correct fat content. Then the milk is usually pasteurised: heated briefly to kill unwanted bacteria. On the farm, the milk is sometimes thermised or used raw.
- Adding starter and rennet. The milk goes into a large cheese vat and is brought to around 30 °C. Then two important ingredients are added: starter, a mixture of lactic acid bacteria that later provides flavour and ripening, and rennet, an enzyme that makes the milk curdle.
- Curdling. Within about half an hour, the liquid milk turns into a firm, pudding-like mass.
- Cutting and stirring. This mass is cut into small cubes with knives. During this process, the mass separates into solid pieces, the curd, and moisture, the whey. Stirring releases more and more whey.
- Washing the curd. Some of the whey is drained off and replaced with warm water. This is typical for Gouda cheese. It washes away some of the milk sugar, making the cheese mild and creamy and leaving less lactose behind.
- Moulding and pressing. The curd goes into round cheese moulds and is pressed. This squeezes out the last of the whey and gives the cheese its familiar shape and a closed exterior.
Brining, coating and ripening
After pressing, the cheese is not yet ready. Three more important steps follow:
Brining
The fresh cheese goes into a brine bath for a few days, a tub of salt water. There, the cheese absorbs salt. This salt provides flavour, makes the cheese firmer and helps protect against unwanted bacteria. You can read more about this in our blog about lower-salt cheese.
Coating
After brining, the cheese gets a protective layer: the cheese coating. It keeps the moisture in and dirt and mould out. The coating is not intended to be eaten, as you can read in our blog about the rind of cheese.
Ripening
Then comes the waiting. The cheeses lie on wooden shelves in a ripening room, at a constant temperature and humidity. They are regularly turned and recoated. During ripening, the cheese develops its flavour: from mild after a few weeks to spicy and full of crystals after a year or more. The cheesemaker occasionally uses a cheese drill to check how a cheese is developing.
How much milk is needed for a kilo of cheese?
About 10 litres of milk are needed for a kilo of Gouda cheese. Most of the milk consists of water, which disappears largely with the whey. The proteins and fat from the milk mainly remain in the cheese. That is why a small piece of cheese contains so many nutrients and flavour.
The remaining whey is not wasted, by the way. It is further processed, for example into whey powder for other food products.
Weydeland: Gouda cheese at Kaas & Borrelz
The Gouda cheese in our webshop comes from the Weydeland range. Weydeland is made in the CONO Kaasmakers cheese factory in North Holland, from pasteurised milk. Then each cheese is carefully ripened to the desired age.
This is how you can find every level of ripeness in the Weydeland range:
- Weydeland 48+ Young – soft and creamy
- Weydeland 48+ Young Aged – creamy and full of flavour
- Weydeland 48+ Aged – full and creamy, with more character
- Weydeland 48+ Extra Aged – powerful and slightly spicy
- Weydeland 48+ Old Extra Aged – intense and full of cheese crystals
- Weydeland Rijck crumbly cheese – extra long ripened and crumbly
There are also lower-fat varieties (20+ and 35+), a lower-salt variety, a grass-fed cheese and a cumin cheese. And good to know: the complete Weydeland range is lactose-free. Read more in our blog about lactose-free cheese.
Frequently asked questions about making Gouda cheese
Why is it called Gouda cheese?
The cheese is named after the city of Gouda, where farmers from the surrounding area used to trade their cheese at the cheese market.
What is rennet?
Rennet is an enzyme that makes milk curdle. This creates the solid mass from which cheese is made. There is animal rennet and vegetarian rennet.
What is the difference between curd and whey?
Curd is the solid part of the curdled milk, from which cheese is made. Whey is the moisture that remains.
How long does it take to make Gouda cheese?
The making itself, from milk to pressed cheese, takes a few hours. Then follow a few days of brining and then ripening: from about four weeks for young cheese to a year or more for extra aged cheese.
Why is the curd washed?
During washing, some of the whey is replaced with warm water. This washes away some of the milk sugar. That makes Gouda cheese mild and creamy.
Conclusion: craftsmanship and patience
Making Gouda cheese is a combination of craftsmanship and patience. Milk is curdled, the curd is cut, washed, moulded and pressed, and then brined and coated. Then ripening begins, which determines whether the cheese becomes young and creamy or old and spicy. Taste the result yourself with the complete Weydeland range at Kaas & Borrelz, from young to extra aged.
