Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

How to Make Edam

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I’ve loved the subtle taste of Edam for many years.  So why not learn how to make Edam?

I first tried it on a visit to The Netherlands way back in 1986.  We visited a cheese factory on the outskirts of Amsterdam on after a pleasant ride through the dutch countryside on our bicycles.  It was a sight to behold.

The cheese was made in huge stainless steel vats and the curd was washed with warm water after draining, pressed, then brined in an equally massive vat.  Then put in a machine that applied the traditional red wax coating.

It was quite an impressive operation.

Who would have thought that 30 years later I would make the same cheese in the same style, but at a much smaller scale?

It was a pleasure to make, with the steps quite simple.  I modified the recipe found in Debra Amrein-Boyes book, 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes, and then reduced it down to a manageable 10 litres.  Edam is a washed curd cheese that is mild compared to cheddar, without sharpness due to the lower acid levels during the cheesemaking process.

So without further ado, here is the Edam video tutorial followed by the written recipe.


Here is the recipe for how to make Edam.

Edam

Ingredients

  • 10 Litres (10 quarts) whole milk (about 3.8% fat).
  • 1/8th teaspoon Mesophilic culture (MO30)
  • 2.5ml (½ tspn) liquid rennet IMCU 190, diluted in ¼ cup non-chlorinated water.
  • 2.5ml (½ tspn) Calcium Chloride, diluted in ¼ cup non-chlorinated water.
  • Cool saturated brine solution (18%).
  • Cheese wax

Mould – 165mm cheese mould

Method

  1. Sanitise all equipment.
  2. Warm your milk to 31°C (88°F), stirring gently whilst bringing up to temperature.  Turn off the heat.
  3. Sprinkle culture over surface of milk and allow to rehydrate for 2 minutes.  Stir thoroughly in an up and down motion without breaking the surface of the milk.  Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes at the target temperature.
  4. Add the Calcium Chloride solution and mix well.
  5. Add the rennet solution to the milk and mix thoroughly using the same up and down motion for no more than 2 minutes.  Cover and allow to set for 40 minutes.
  6. Check for a clean break.  If necessary, leave for another 5 minutes then check again.
  7. Cut curd into 1.25 cm (½ inch) cubes.  Let stand for 5 minutes for the curds to heal.
  8. Turn on heat to low and slowly warm the curds to 33°C (92°F) over a period of 20 minutes.  Stir slowly and constantly during this period.  Don’t heat too quickly.  Allow the curds to settle for 5 minutes.
  9. Reserving the whey using a second clean pot, drain off the whey to expose the curds.  I use a sieve and ladle to ensure that I only drain out the whey.  Do not throw out this whey as you will need it later during the process.
  10. Replace the whey with an equal amount of warm water (about 50°C (122°F)) to the original level of the whey to bring the curds to 37°C (99°F).  Stir continuously for 30 minutes, maintaining the target temperature.
  11. Let the curds settle and begin to mat together.  Drain off into a cheesecloth lined colander allow to drain for 1 minute.  Bundle up the curd filled cheesecloth and transfer to your cheese mould.  Fold the cheesecloth over the top and put the follower on top.
  12. Place the mould in the cheese press and press at 12kg (22 lbs) for 30 minutes.
  13. Meanwhile, warm the reserved whey to 50°C (122°F).  Remove the cheese from the press, gently unwrap and immerse the cheese into the hot whey for 20 minutes.  Turn the cheese once to ensure that the entire cheese is exposed to the whey.
  14. Remove the cheese and wrap in cheesecloth and place in the cheese mould.  Cover with the excess cheesecloth and replace the follower.  Press at 22.5 kg (50 lbs) for 6 hours.  Remove from press, turn and re wrap in cheesecloth and press as before at 22.5 kg (50 lbs) for 7 hours.
  15. Remove cheese from press and unwrap.  Place in the saturated brine solution for 12 hours, turning over once at 6 hours.
  16. Remove from the brine and let air dry on a cheese mat at room temperature for 2-3 days.  Turn a couple of times daily until touch dry.
  17. Coat the cheese in 2 layers of cheese wax.  Ripen at 12°C (54°F) and 85% humidity, turning weekly for even ripening.
  18. The Edam is ready to eat in 2 months, but can be matured longer for a stronger flavour.

How to make Edam

Normally this cheese is pressed in a bullet shaped mould with rounded follower to create a cannonball shaped cheese, however this will not affect the final taste and structure of the cheese.  The day 2 weight for this recipe was 1.281 kg (2.8 lbs)

So now you know how to make Edam, please give it a try.  It should turn out to be an amazing cheese!  Let me know how it turns out.

Making Mascarpone

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Mascarpone is such a simple cheese to make and should be added to your cheese making repertoire due to its versatility as a cooking ingredient.

It uses two cost-effective ingredients; Cream and Lemon Juice.  The cream needs to have a fat content of at least 35%.  I used what is known as Thickened Cream which has added gelatin, but Pure cream or heavy cream will work even better.


Very simple to make.  Here is the recipe.

Mascarpone

Makes about 1kg (2.2 lbs) of cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 litre (4 cups) Heavy Cream (at least 35% fat)
  • ¼ teaspoon Tartaric Acid in 1/4 cup water, or
  • ¼ cup lemon or lime juice, or
  • 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar in 1/4 cup water

Note; you only need to use one type of acid.

Mascarpone ingredients

Equipment

Method

  1. Sanitise your equipment.
  2. Add the cream to the pot and heat to 91°C (196°F).
  3. Remove from heat and add acid and stir for 2 minutes.  Cream will not curdle, thicken, or split.
  4. Pour into butter muslin lined colander and allow to drain in the fridge for 12-24 hours (12 hours for a soft creamy cheese and 24 hours for a firmer cheese).
  5. Remove from fridge and butter muslin and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.  Use in any dish you desire.

I used some of the Mascarpone in a Chicken Korma curry.  It added amazing depth and flavour to this dish.

If using in a desert, I would recommend that you drain for only 12 hours to achieve a smoother consistency.  Mascarpone is meant to be a spreadable cheese, just thicker than cream and not quite as firm as cream cheese.

Enjoy this cheese and let me know if you have any success of your own.

Little Green Workshops

Small Blue Cheese (Petit Bleu)

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Want to make a small blue cheese in less than 40 days?  Easy!  Make it small or as the French say Petit Bleu.

This cheese uses aromatic mesophilic (aka Flora Danica) and Penicillium Roqueforti to create a delicious, quick to ripen, small blue cheese.

small blue cheese after scraping off mould

I’ve made a video tutorial to help guide you through the process.  It took 40 days to make, as I filmed every step that I took so that you can replicate this cheese at home.

 

So to help out even further, here is the written recipe.

Small Blue Cheese (Petit Bleu)

Ingredients

Alternatively, instead of the aromatic meso and P. Roqueforti, you could use a sachet of Blue Mould Culture Blend, as I did in the video.

Special Equipment

  • 4 Camembert moulds or hoops
  • 2 draining boards
  • 2 draining mats (sushi mats)
  • Ladle
  • 2 maturation boxes

Method

  1. Clean and sanitize all of your equipment.
  2. Pour the milk into an 8 litre pot (2 gal) and heat to 30°C (86°F), and then remove from heat.
  3. Sprinkle the starter culture and mould over the top and allow rehydrate for 30 seconds, then stir to ensure the culture is dissolved and well mixed throughout the milk.  Allow to rest covered for 45 minutes for acid development to occur.
  4. Add the rennet solution, stirring gently for 1 minute.
  5. Cover and rest for 60 minutes or until a clean break is achieved.
  6. Cut the curds into 13mm (½ inch) cubes.  Let cut curds rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Work the salt into the curds by stirring for 2 minutes.
  8. Gently ladle the curds into the Camembert moulds filling to the top.  Allow for some drainage to occur then fill with remaining curds.
  9. After 4 hours of draining, flip the cheese in the moulds so the top is now at the bottom.  Flip them again in 2 hours then allow to drain overnight (for at least 12-24 hours).
  10. Remove each cheese from the moulds salt both top and bottom with an extra ½ tsp of salt (¼ each side), and let air dry by placing on a mat for 2 days at room temperature, turning every 12 hours.  You can use the maturation boxes with a tea towel or addition sushi mats placed over the top.
  11. Using your thermometer probe or bamboo skewer, pierce about 15 holes into one surface of the cheese.  Place cheese back into maturation boxes on a mat to ensure they are elevated.  Fit the lid to ensure a constant humidity of approx 80-90% RH.
  12. Mature the cheese at 10-13°C (50-55°F), turning each cheese every second day for the first week.  The mould should start to appear on the surface of the cheese in about 4-6 days.
  13. After the first week, turn the cheese at least once a week.  Let it age for a total of 35-40 days.  The cheese should be entirely covered with blue mould.
  14. With a flat knife, gently scrape off the mould layer from each cheese.  Wrap in aluminium foil or cheese wrap and store at 4°C (39.2°F) until consumed.  Remember that the mould will still grow at this temperature, but a lot slower than if in your cheese fridge/cave.

If you like your small blue cheese milder, then you can consume it at about 25 days, however mould will not have penetrated the cheese entirely and the paste will be quite firm.  For a smoother paste, then allow full maturation to occur.

This cheese is absolutely delicious with a delightfully blue flavour that lingers on the palate.

Small Blue Cheese

You can pick up all the ingredients and most of the equipment required to make this cheese at Little Green Workshops!

We now ship to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States.

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