The Making Of: Gouda Cheese

This article describes my first attempt at making cheese. I picked up a copy of Cheesemaking Made Easy: 60 Delicious Varieties from the local library for instruction. Most (all?) of the recipes start with 2 gallons of whole milk and end up creating 2 lbs of cheese. The shopping lists and instructions below are for creating 2 lbs of Gouda from 2 gallons of supermarket whole milk.

Before you Start Gathering Material

• The author points out, specifically, that aluminum cookware should not be used as it can impart a taste to the cheese.
• A good thermometer is very important. The cheese making process appears to be sensitive to temperature.
• Use a glass bowl for the brining process. I had a couple spots of oxidization form in my stainless steel bowl.

Hardware List

• 12qt stainless steel pot
• stainless steel ladle
• stainless steel curd knife
  • I bought a 14" but a 12" would be fine for a 12qt pot
  • Also sold as an "icing spatula"
  • Amazon.com link
• stainless steel food thermometer
• glass bowl
  • used for brining
  • should be able to hold 1 gallon of liquid
• cheese cloth
  • I don't think the grade really matters too much for this recipe.
• cheese press
  • You can build one of these for pretty cheap
  • I'll talk about it below.
• cheese drying board
  • Can be made pretty easily.
  • Discussed with the cheese press.

Ingredients

• 2 gallons of whole (vitamin D) milk
• 1.25 lbs of course salt
• water
• cheese rennet tablets
  • do NOT use junket rennet tables as they sell to make ice cream
  • can use rennet liquid instead
  • can be bought off Amazon.com
• mesophilic cheese starter culture
  • can be bought off Amazon.com
• Vinegar