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Hi folks, thanks for all the great info on the forum.
I am a budding cheese hobbyist and have picked Gouda as one of my main cheeses.
I am on Gouda # 5, have opened #1 which turned out great if a little crumbly.

In doing my research I came across a hand full of cultures that popped up regularly in Gouda recipes.

• MM100
• Flora Danica
• Aroma B
• MO 30
• KaZU 1000
• MA4000
• Type III

What is your favorite?
Is it on the list?

I have attached a breakout of the various strains that make up the starter cultures. Might be helpful when trying to dial in flavor profile.
I will update with any inputs from the forum.

Thanks a bunch.

Hi ru--

Gouda is one of the cheeses I am eventually trying to master (along with Colby, Cheddar, and Jack).  I have made one Gouda thus far using Flora Danica.  This being my first washed curd cheese, I did have several hiccups during the make, so I was not expecting instant success.  I tried it at 3, 5 and 8 months.  While it was quite goud-a, it did not taste exactly like it should-a.  It was a bit bland, with some nice gouda flavor but oddly enough a slight aftertaste reminiscing of Swiss.  (?!)  However, I don't think I can blame it on the culture as the make was not perfect (I think there were a couple of times the curd got a bit overheated).  The texture was pretty close to ideal, however (maybe that was beginner's luck).

But for my next Gouda, I'm going to try kazu, as it is supposed to impart a slightly nutty flavor and that is what I think I am wanting in a Gouda.

Hope this helps.  I too have been trying to dial in flavors based on cultures and looking for more information...I think there are posts in the Ingredients boards that follow this line of discussion.  But I think the actual processes are important for flavor profiles as well, so those should not be ignored.

What cultures have you used thus far in your Goudas?

Susan38

The biggest challenge with Gouda is making sure it does not over-acidify. That is what will give you a crumbly texture, and that will also tend to make it taste a bit more cheddar-y than it should.

In theory, the washing should prevent the pH from going too low ... but that will depend on your milk, the culture, the pressing temperature, and quite possibly on the phase of the moon.

With a cheddar, you wait for the acidification to occur before pressing, then stop it by salting the curds once they get to around 5.3. With a Gouda, you put the curds in the press and let them continue to acidify while pressing; ideally the acidification will stop at around 5.3 by itself, due to the reduced lactose resulting from the washing. But again, actual results will depend on the milk (how much it buffers, for example), the culture (how aggressively it acidifies), and so on.

FWIW, using store-bought P&H milk, I find that even with a slower acidifying culture, such as Flora Danica, I can't leave the Gouda in the press anywhere near as long as the recipes say. When I first tried, I left it overnight as instructed, and got crumbly results, tasty but more cheddary than Gouda. Once I got a pH meter and started testing, I discovered that it often drops to 5.3 within a couple of hours, and I need to pull it out of the press and start brining then. Once I did that, my Goudas started having the right texture. What I really need to do, though, is experiment with more washing to see if I can control the pace better.

So all of that to say, any of the cultures you have listed will be fine, but watch your pH!

Thanks for the info folks. I am using the Flora Danica as well and like the flavor profile. I have also used MA4000 but find it a little one note in flavor. Thx for the KaZU recommendation.

I saw quite a bit of comments regarding Gouda press times being too long in most recipes so with my latest batch I reduced the press time from 12 to 8 hours. We shall see what that does.

My next area of research will be ph measurement and control.

Thanks again for the input.

What I can say for sure about Flora Danica is it makes an outstanding Colby, if you ever are interested in making one of those.  That is in comparison to using an MO 30 equivalent.

And yes, measuring/controlling pH does seem to be a key factor in successful cheeses!  So you are definitely on the right track. 

Good luck with your future cheese makes.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
AC4U!

The other thing you can do for adjusting pH in a washed curd cheese is to adjust the amount of water in the wash.  Even 8 hours is a long time in the press, I think.  If I'm doing a tomme, for instance, it's only in the press for 4 hours.  I think the reason you have recipes with 12 hour press times is that they are bottoming out the pH (using up all the remaining lactose).  The more you swap out water for whey, the less lactose you have and the higher the final pH will be regardless of press time.  However, I've only done 2 washed curd cheeses up to this point, so YMMV.

Appreciate the insight on the washing process.
AC4U!!!