Craxi gouda farm cheese.
Gouda farm cheese or factory-made gouda?
Only a small percentage of all the cheese we eat comes from cheese farms the rest is made in cheese factories. The good news is that there is a rising trend in the consumption of farm cheese!
One of the reasons is that more and more people are becoming aware of how their food is produced and what they are actually eating but a not entirely insignificant argument for why more and more people are switching to farm cheese is the taste sensation of real cheese.
The difference between Gouda farm cheese and factory-made gouda cheese.
The main difference between gouda farmer’s cheese and ordinary gouda cheese is the milk used for it. Gouda farmer’s cheese is made from fresh raw milk. Often from the same day. The bacteria still present in this ‘raw’ milk give farm cheese its characteristic, strong taste. With ordinary cheese (factory cheese), the milk is first pasteurised (heated), where all bacteria, both good and bad, are killed. In addition, farmer’s cheese is always made by hand. The milk used for farm cheese is not standardised as with factory cheese, so the cheese can vary from farm to farm, region to region, and even day to day and season to season.
Only Dutch Gouda farm cheese (Goudse boerenkaas) made in a traditional and controlled way may be called so. Dutch Gouda farm cheese is a product officially recognised by the European Union as a Guaranteed Traditional Speciality.
Craxi gouda farm cheese is a cheese that is actually made on the cheese farm in a traditional, artisanal way with fresh untreated milk, straight from the cows.
A Dutch traditional speciality, Craxi Gouda farm cheese.
The milk used for our farm cheese is not standardised as with factory cheese. The composition of the milk is different every day due to varying feed and the season, but through experience and craftsmanship, the artisan cheese maker has much influence on the quality and taste of the final product.
When you buy our Craxi cheese in our cheese shop in Malaga or via the website, you can be sure that you are buying real authentic gouda cheese. We keep the whole chain in one ‘hand’ from the start.
The ripening process of the cheeses also takes place on the farm. The ripening process is a special trade and there is certainly an art to ripening cheeses so that they excel in flavour to be proud of!
The cheese is transported directly from the farm by refrigerated transport to the cheese shop in Malaga.
Factory-made gouda cheese.
The milk used to produce factory cheese is not daily fresh. The milk comes from many different milk suppliers with quality differences between them. Therefore, it needs to be standardised in terms of fat and protein composition. At the cheese factory, the milk goes through a number of processes namely centrifugation, thermisation, bactofugation. Milk for factory cheese is then pasteurised.
Different types of cheese are produced in a cheese factory, so standardisation is necessary. When the milk is standardised, the fat content is also reduced. Fat is an essential component for the taste and flavour development of cheese.
Less salt in gouda farm cheese.
An added benefit besides the exquisite taste sensation is the salt content in gouda farmer’s cheese which is significantly lower than in gouda factory cheese.
- Gouda factory cheese has a salt content of about 3.5%.
- Gouda farmer’s cheese has a salt content of about 2%.
What is the reason why gouda farmer’s cheese has a lower salt content?
If you work with what we call dead milk, you have to pull a few tricks to get flavour to the cheese. One way to achieve this is to leave the cheese in the brine bath longer so that it can absorb more salt. That is the reason why factory-made gouda has a higher salt content.
If you have any further questions please contact us via the contact form.
Farm or factory cheese? Just eat real raw milk Gouda farm cheese, not because we say so, but because it’s just so much tastier than factory cheese!