Dutch gouda cheese

Good cheese starts with good milk. Pasteurisation makes the milk safe and gives the cheese maker a clean, predictable starting point.

Why pasteurise?

Pasteurisation kills harmful bacteria and most of the natural flora in raw milk. The cheese maker then adds chosen starter cultures, so every batch develops in the same way. Most Dutch Gouda is made from pasteurised milk. Farmhouse Gouda (boerenkaas) is the exception: it is made from raw milk.

How it works

The milk is heated to about 72 °C and held at that temperature for 15 to 20 seconds. It is then cooled to the temperature at which cheese making starts, around 30–32 °C. Heating any higher or longer than needed affects the milk proteins and lowers the cheese yield, so accurate temperature control matters.

Before pasteurisation, the ratio between fat and protein is often adjusted. This determines the fat content of the final cheese: for full-fat Gouda at least 48% fat in the dry matter.

Batch pasteurisation

For smaller volumes, the milk is pasteurised in a batch pasteuriser: a double-walled tank that heats and then cools the milk. It is simple to operate and ideal for farmhouse cheese makers and small dairies. Some open cheese vats can also pasteurise the milk directly in the vat.

Continuous flow pasteurisation

Larger dairies use a continuous flow pasteuriser. The milk is heated in a plate or tube-in-tube heat exchanger, held in a holding tube for a set time and then cooled. A diverter valve sends any milk that did not reach the right temperature back for treatment, and the temperatures are recorded for food safety. Heat recovery between the hot and cold milk saves a large share of the energy.

Riet Dairy equipment for this step

• Batch pasteuriser, 32 to 264 Gallons (120 to 1,000 litres), heating and cooling
• Continuous flow pasteuriser, supplied as a complete skid with heat recovery, diverter valve and temperature recording
• Process kettle for dairy