Learn how to make Edam cheese at home, follow our step by step guide to making this delicious semi hard cheese.
Edam cheese (or Edammer as it is known in it’s originating country) is a semi hard Dutch cheese traditionally molded into a rounded shape and waxed for aging.
Edam ages well, does not spoil easily, has a mild taste and is low in fat making it a popular cheese.
Edam Cheese Making Time
Making Time – Approx 2.5 hours
Pressing Time – 7 hours
Brine Time – 12 hours
Dry Time – 5-7 days ( depending on your environment)
Aging – 2-6 months
Edam Cheese Ingredients
- 10 litres whole cows milk
- 1/2 teaspoon mesophilic starter (I use Chr. Hansen’s Flora Danica)
- Rennet diluted in 1/4 cup water (see manufacturers instructions for amounts)
How To Make Edam Cheese
- Warm milk to 30c
- Add culture, stir thoroughly
- Leave to ripen for 30 minutes
- Add Rennet diluted in 10mls of boiled and cooled water
- Leave to set for 30 minutes or use the Flocculation Method for the best set
- Carefully cut the curd into 1.25 cm cubes
- Leave to rest for 10 minutes
- Very slowly heat the curds up to 34c over 20 minutes
- Stir regularly to prevent the curds from matting together
- Let the curds rest at 34c for 10 minutes
- Pour out the whey into a jug (you need to reserve this for later) until it’s just at the level of your curd
- Begin slowly adding in the same amount of warm water (approx 44c) and wash the curds by gently stirring them for 1 minute
- Let the curds rest, and start to mat, for 10 minutes
- Line a Kadova or Tomme mold with cheesecloth
- Ladle in your curd gently
- Press at 7kg for 1 hour
- Heat the reserved whey to 50c then remove from the heat
- Remove the cheese from the mold, unwrap it and place it into the hot whey so that it is only just covered. Leave it there for 20 minutes to harden the surface of the cheese
- Take the cheese out of the whey, reline with the cheesecloth and place back into the mold
- Press at 18kg for 6 hours
- Remove and un-wrap cheese
- Submerge it in a brine solution for 12 hours, turning it at regular intervals to make sure all surfaces are brined
- Remove from the brine and allow to air dry in a cool place for 5-7 days, or until cheese is dry to the touch, turning the cheese over daily and checking for any molds.
How To Store Edam Cheese
Wax when the cheese is dry to the touch.
Aging Edam Cheese
Age for at least 2 months. For a stronger cheese, age for 6 months.
Do you have any questions or comments about how to make Edam cheese at home? Join the discussion over at the Curd Nerd Forum.
Let us know if you love our Edam cheese recipe and how your cheese turns out. We would love to hear from you!
My cheese did not curdle. Do you know what the reason for this would be? Any help, suggestions would be great. This is the 1st hard cheese I have tried to make. I have seen other versions with Calcium Chloride…
Hi Lydia
Thanks for your question.
Without knowing a bit more about your ingredients and process, it’s difficult to know why you didn’t get a curd.
What kind of milk are you using? Did you follow the temperature and time guides closely? And are you confident of the viability and application of your Rennet?
Just a few things to think about, but also let me know your milk type as that may play a part if everything else was in order : )
Dear Curdnerd, thanks for this recipe . I only wonder bout one thing: is there no salt in the cheese? Thanks for your answer.
Hi Susanne
Soaking the cheese in the brine solution is what allows for the uptake of salt, into the cheese. Not extra salt is added.
B”H
Perhaps you can include the Fahrenheit conversion to the temperatures mentioned in your articles, to make it easier for those in countries using this scale , to follow.
Thank you,
Joseph
Hi Joseph
Thanks for your feedback. We have taken your suggestion on board and from now on will post both Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures.
Hi Curdnerd, I like to use mother cultures instead of Direct set inoculation. What amount would you recommend for a Flora Danica mother culture? I have previously made Edam with a surprising large amount of mother culture 230ml ?! (more than most other cheeses). Thanks.
Hi Rob
Because direct set cultures are such a condensed product, you will always need a lot less of them to produce the right flavours. Mother cultures will require much more to do the same. Unfortunately, because every mother culture can be so different, it’s hard for me to say how much you will need. With direct set you obviously get a bit more consistency with what is required, but even that can vary with other conditions. The best bet is to make a batch of cheese and carefully log what you have done and then increase or decrease accordingly. Sorry I can’t give you a definitive answer, but it really does depend on your culture.
Hi Curdnerd, thanks for your quick response. I am using the same brand of Flora Danica you suggest in this recipe. I found in Mary Karlin’s book, last night, a basic guide that 2 Tablespoons (30ml) of Mother culture is roughly 1/4 teaspoon of direct set. I take your point on making ‘rules’ for such a varied thing as mother cultures tend to be. I will certainly experiment.
On the topic of Mother cultures, the cheese makers who have taught me my first steps were very pro mother cultures. They acknowledge this is the good old fashioned way but like the time saved not having to ripen the milk. They also believe when done correctly using mother cultures, the taste of the cheese is superior. (Opinion, of course) They grew up in Switzerland/Spain and have always done things this way. Personally I like my cultures to go the distance, direct set in the batches I buy would give me about 8 cheeses, using the mother culture route will give me over a 100 cheese.
If you use a mother culture its probably best to go by PH instead of time in the recipe. If you do that the dosage isn’t as important because the population on the bacteria will be reflected by the pH though the dosage may affect the outcome somewhat because the mix of bacteria may change depending on a number of factors, starter temperature, pH etc both before and after you start the cheese-making process not to mention the possible introduction of other species
I got my first Edam, it’s drying to get waxed. One question: I get the mesophilic and thermophilic culture on packages for 500 liters…. It’s just too much. This is what I’m doing cause I was told so. I pasteurize and amount of milk, after that at 37oC I put the culture and stir for 20 minutes. After that I place the cultured milk on a ice tray and go to the refrigerator. When is frozen, I put them on a labeled freezer plastic bag.
Do you have any suggestions?