How to make cheese (including a recipe)

How do you make cheese? Making cheese might seem like an arcane craft reserved for specialized artisans, but you can create excellent cheese at home using regular store-bought milk. All you need is patience, the right ingredients, and a bit of understanding of the science.

Making your own cheese gives you insight into one of the world’s oldest food preservation techniques and a profound respect for the craft. Your first attempt might not be perfect, and that’s perfectly fine—every wheel is a lesson. Just keep at it, and every cheese will be better!

In this blog post we will teach you the basics of cheese making, including a recipe for your first Gouda style cheese!

The Enormous Diversity of Cheeses

There are literally hundreds of different cheese varieties worldwide, each with their own characteristics and production techniques. This blog post focuses on the basic principles – it would be impossible to cover all variations in a single article. But to illustrate the diversity:

A Camembert, for example, isn’t pressed like hard cheeses, but instead gets a coating of Penicillium candidum mold that ripens from the outside in. A Munster or Époisses, on the other hand, gets regular washes with brine during aging, often with Brevibacterium linens added, which creates that characteristic orange rind and intense aroma. Blue cheeses like Roquefort are pierced with needles so the Penicillium roqueforti mold gets oxygen to grow.

Every cheese type has its own specific techniques, temperatures, cultures, and aging times. However, we’ll start with the basics: a classic hard cheese like Gouda.

The Four Pillars of Cheesemaking

While there are hundreds of cheese varieties—from bloomy-rinded Camembert to washed-rind Munster—almost all of them are built upon the same four pillars. The exceptions are acid-set cheeses and some fresh cheeses that need no rennet. Mastering these fundamentals is the key to making almost any cheese.

1. MILK

Milk of course is the foundation of all cheese. For consistent results at home, use store-bought whole milk that is pasteurized but not ultra-pasteurized (UHT), as UHT milk will not form a proper curd. Pasteurization converts some of the dissolved calcium into a form that is no longer available for coagulation. To remedy this, we add food-grade calcium chloride to restore the milk’s calcium balance, ensuring a firm curd set. You can also use raw milk. It works great and tastes wonderful, but it can carry pathogens such as Listeria, so pasteurized milk is the safer choice when making your first cheeses.

Soft-cheese-mesophilic-thermophilic-starter-culture-2

2. STARTER CULTURES

These are specific strains of bacteria that convert the milk’s sugar (lactose) into lactic acid. This acidification is crucial for flavor development, preservation, and creating the right environment for rennet to work. Additionally, there are so called secondary cultures like molds that make the difference between camembert and roquefort.

3. RENNET

Rennet is an enzyme (traditionally chymosin) that coagulates milk, turning it from a liquid into a solid gel (curd). Without it, you can’t make most cheeses. It is available in animal, microbial, and vegetable forms. Its job is to target casein, the primary protein in milk, causing the proteins to link together and trap fat and whey. Read on for more info on rennet.

animal rennet

4. SALT

Salt is far more than just a flavoring agent. It plays a critical role in slowing down unwanted bacterial activity, drawing out excess moisture (whey) from the curd, helping to form a protective rind, and enhancing the cheese’s final flavor and texture. It is typically added either directly to the curds or by soaking the pressed cheese in a salt brine.

A bit more about rennet

Rennet is a complex of enzymes that performs the most critical transformation in cheesemaking: coagulating milk.By altering protein, it causes the milk solids to tangle together and form a solid gel, trapping fat and whey within its matrix. The key active enzyme responsible for this magical change is called chymosin. While the goal is always coagulation, the source of the rennet can vary significantly, leading to three main categories.

What is Animal Rennet?
This is the traditional and original source of rennet, derived from the fourth stomach of most commonly a calf. Because these young animals survive solely on milk, their stomachs are exceptionally rich in chymosin needed to digest it. For centuries, cheesemakers have considered animal rennet the gold standard, especially for aged cheeses. It contains not only chymosin but a complex profile of other enzymes that can contribute to subtle flavor and texture development during the aging process.

What are Vegetarian and Microbial Rennet?
For those seeking non-animal options, there are several effective alternatives, which are often grouped under the umbrella of “vegetarian rennet.”

  • Microbial Rennet:
    This type is produced by fermenting specific species of mold or bacteria, such as Rhizomucor miehei. These microbes are cultured for their ability to produce enzymes that coagulate milk. While effective and widely used in commercial cheesemaking due to its lower cost, microbial rennet can sometimes be less specific than chymosin. This can lead to unwanted bitterness in cheeses that require long aging periods. To make vegetarian cheese, the industry now often uses chymosin made by genetically modified microorganisms. It is the same enzyme as the one in a calf’s stomach.
  • Plant-Based Rennet:
    A less common option, this rennet is derived from plants known to have coagulating properties, mainly the flowers of cardoon (a thistle) and fig sap. These are used in very specific traditional cheeses, particularly in Spain and Portugal.  They are much harder to control than other rennet types.
Although there is nothing wrong with microbial rennet, nothing beats real animal rennet in cheese making. New, now in 50…

The Basic Steps of Cheesemaking

All cheeses worldwide, from the simplest fresh cheeses to the most complex aged varieties, follow roughly the same basic process:

  1. Heat and acidify milk
  2. Coagulation
  3. Cut the curd
  4. Heat (“cook”) the curd
  5. Drain
  6. Press (not for all cheese types)
  7. Salt
  8. Age

Why this sequence?

Acidification starts before the rennet is added and continues while you work and press the curd. It helps the rennet work, drives whey out of the curd and develops flavor. Cutting the curd determines how much moisture remains in the cheese – smaller pieces mean more moisture loss and thus a harder cheese. Pressing knits the curds together into a cohesive wheel with a smooth surface. Salting, drying and good hygiene during aging then keep unwanted microorganisms in check.

For different cheese types, steps are modified or omitted. Fresh cheeses, for example, aren’t pressed at all, while some hard cheeses are kept under pressure for extra long periods.

Cheesemaking is the art of giving milk a delicious leap toward immortality.

Gouda-Style Cheese: Your First Homemade Wheel (well, a tiny one)

This recipe for a washed-curd cheese is perfect for beginners because it’s a manageable process that teaches the fundamental steps of making a classic hard cheese. Also, you will not need many ingredients.

Basic Equipment

  • Large pot (stainless steel, non-reactive)

  • Long, thin knife for cutting curd

  • Accurate thermometer

  • Cheese mold with follower

  • Cheesecloth or clean towel

Ingredients

The Process of making Gouda cheese: Step-by-Step

  1. Heat and Acidify: Gently heat the milk to 30-32 °C (86°F). Slow, even heating is key to protecting the milk proteins. While heating the milk, stir in the calcium chloride, dissolved in a little water. Once at temperature, stir in the culture. Cover and let this ripen for 30 minutes, allowing the bacteria to begin their work.
  2. Add Coagulants: Add the rennet (diluted in a little cool water) and mix thoroughly with an up-and-down motion for one minute. Immediately stop the milk’s motion. Cover and let it set undisturbed until you achieve a “clean break”—a clean crack in the curd when you lift it with a knife. This usually takes 30 to 45 minutes.
  3. Cut the Curd: Once set, cut the curd into uniform, pea-sized pieces (around 1 cm or 3/8 inch). Cut vertically, horizontally, and diagonally to create small cubes. Let the curds rest for 5 minutes.
  4. First Wash: Carefully remove about 1.2 liters of whey. You can save it for ricotta, but you will need to add a little acid such as lemon juice or vinegar. While stirring gently, slowly add water at 45-50°C (113-122°F), usually just under a liter, until the curd temperature reaches 35°C (95°F). This step “washes” the curd by removing lactose, which results in a milder, sweeter cheese. Stir gently for 30 minutes. Do not shorten this step!
  5. Drain and Press: Let the curds settle, then drain off all the whey. Immediately transfer the warm curds into a cheesecloth-lined mold. Press for 30 minutes with about 1.5 kg (3 lb), then flip, re-dress, and press for 4 hours with about 3 kg (6.5 lb). Pots filled with water make good weights.
  6. Rest and Brine: Remove the weight and let the cheese rest in the mold for 1 to 2 hours. For the brine, dissolve 250 grams of salt in 1 liter of water, which gives a salt concentration of about 20%. Add a pinch of calcium chloride and a splash of vinegar; otherwise the rind will turn soft. Brine the cheese for about 4 hours, turning it halfway.
  7. Dry and Age: Air-dry the cheese until the surface is no longer sticky. Apply cheese coating if desired. Age at 10-13°C (50-55°F) with 80-85% humidity, turning it regularly to ensure even aging. After 4 to 6 weeks, you will have a young Gouda. To age it longer, apply several coats of cheese coating; otherwise such a small wheel will dry out.

Frequently Asked Questions

This is a common beginner issue. The top culprits are: 1) Using ultra-pasteurized (UHT) milk, which will not work. 2) Forgetting to add calcium chloride to pasteurized milk. 3) Using old, expired rennet. 4) The milk was too cold when the rennet was added.

This usually means too much whey was expelled. This can be caused by cutting the curds too small, stirring too aggressively, or “cooking” the curds at too high a temperature. For a moister cheese, handle the curds more gently and use larger curd cuts.

A cheese that is too soft has the opposite problem: not enough whey has been expelled. This can result from insufficient acidification, using too little rennet, not cooking the curds long enough, or not pressing with enough weight. A crumbly, sour cheese is a different story: it has acidified too much. The lactic acid pulls calcium out of the protein network and the cheese loses its elasticity. That happens when the cheese stays warm for too long before brining or when the curd is not washed enough.

For hard cheeses, this is often manageable. If it’s a surface mold, you can wipe it off with a cloth dipped in brine or vinegar. If the mold has spread deep into a small wheel like this one, it is better to throw the cheese away. On a large hard cheese you can cut out the spot with a generous margin. With soft cheeses, unwanted mold is often a sign of contamination and the cheese should be discarded. Ensure your aging space is clean and has good airflow.

Bitterness can have several causes: using too much rennet, insufficient draining of whey, too little salt, or contamination with unwanted microbes. Carefully measure your rennet and ensure you are salting correctly for the style of cheese you are making.

Want to learn more: try mozzarella!

What do you need to get started making mozzarella at home? Can it be made from supermarket milk? What exactly do microbes, calcium chloride and rennet do? How is it different from other cheeses like Gouda or feta? And, how do you get that distinctive soft and juicy texture in your cheese? What’s the difference between the acid method and the fermentation method?

All of these questions will be addressed in the online mozzarella making course. Of course, we will also get to work and the theory will be provided with clear instruction and demonstration of the techniques.

This course is part of our Fermentation Fundamentals education program.

About the author (Meneer Wateetons)

Meneer Wateetons (a pseudonym derived from the name of his blog, which literally means ‘Mr. what-eats-us’) is a renowned Dutch food writer, PhD scientist, teacher, fermentation expert, sausage maker, and the owner of startercultures.eu. He has written nine books on culinary topics such as fermentation, alcohol production, sausage and charcuterie making, and deep-frying. Through his books, (online) courses, and corporate trainings, he has shared his knowledge with countless hobby cooks, chefs, and food professionals. Learn more about Meneer Wateetons.

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