Ledger / Semi-hard / 2026-10-15
Edam: The Low Scald and the Paraffin Coat
Edam is Gouda's leaner cousin: a lower scald, a longer press, a heavier brine, and a wax coat that goes on early. It is a cheese designed to travel, and every choice in the make is about lowering moisture rather than chasing flavour in the first month.
Each segment is as wide as its share of the 90 minutes in the vat; the set segment carries the set temperature, the cut segment carries the cut size.
Salt and press drawer
Press ladder
- 4 kg0.5 h
- 8 kg1.5 h
- 12 kg5 h
Applied at 4-8 weeks once the rind is dry. Stops weight loss and stops rind development, so wax late.
A 34 C scald keeps the moisture low
0.5% mesophilic culture at 31 C, thirty minutes of ripening, 26 IMCU of animal rennet per litre, thirty-minute set. Cut to 10 mm and raise only to 34 C over twenty-five minutes, then hold for ten more.
The temptation is to scald higher for faster acid. Resist it: above 36 C an Edam curd loses its elasticity, and the ball shape cracks along the equator during pressing.
Wash a quarter of the whey, then press long
Drain a quarter of the whey and replace it with 34 C water, stir ten minutes, then drain fully. Press at 4 kg for thirty minutes, 8 kg for ninety minutes and 12 kg for five hours.
Edam is pressed longer than Gouda at a lower temperature. Seven hours at 12 kg gives the dense, slightly dry paste that survives being shipped and stored in wax for a year.
Eighteen percent brine for three hours per kilo
Brine at 18% and 12 C for three hours per kilo, so a 3.5 kg ball gets ten and a half hours. Turn it once at the halfway point and float it; a ball resting on the bottom of the tub gets a pale, under-salted patch.
Then dry at 15 C for four days until the surface is completely dry and slightly glossy. Waxing a damp ball traps moisture under the coat, and that is where the blue-green mould starts.
Wax early, age cool, eat at ten weeks
Dip in wax at the fifth day, not at six weeks as you would with Gouda. The coat goes on early because the point is to stop almost all weight loss, not to let a rind develop.
Age at 13 C and 80% RH for ten weeks, turning weekly. At ten weeks it is mild, firm and slightly salty. Left a full year in the wax at 10 C it becomes much sharper and develops the small crystalline crunch that Edam is rarely given credit for.
Aging parameters
| Milk | Pasteurised cow milk 3.5% fat |
|---|---|
| Culture | Mesophilic 20–30 °C |
| Rennet | Calf rennet (animal) 26 IMCU/L |
| pH at drain | 6.3 target 6.1–6.5 |
| Target moisture | 44 % |
| Cave temperature | 13 °C |
| Cave humidity | 80 % |
| Aging days | 70 days |
| Rind treatment | Wax |
| Yield | 3.6 kg |
Pasteurised cow milk Semi-hard 70 days
Defect diagnosis
Flagged on this make: Faulty eye formation、Bitterness
Bitterness seen this make
Signal — A harsh, lingering bitter note at the back of the palate, strongest in the first three weeks and often fading after six.
Cause — Too much rennet for the set time, or a microbial coagulant with high protease activity, or a scald that never got past 38 C.
Fix — Cut the dose by 20% next make and hold the scald 2 C higher for 10 minutes longer. Bitter peptides are water-soluble, so a 12% brine for 24 hours pulls some out.
Rancidity not seen
Signal — Soapy, paint-like smell that hits before the cheese reaches the mouth. Sharp and unpleasant rather than merely strong.
Cause — Free fatty acids released by lipase, usually from raw milk that sat warm too long, or from rennet paste, or from a knife or cloth that carried old milk residue.
Fix — Chill milk to 4 C within two hours of milking and pasteurise anything older than 24 hours. Retire the cloth: boil it, do not just rinse it.
Faulty eye formation seen this make
Signal — Either no eyes where the style demands them, or a scatter of irregular slits and cracks instead of round, evenly spaced holes.
Cause — Coliform or yeast contamination from unsanitary brine, or a press that was too cold (below 18 C) so the propionic culture never woke up, or too much salt killing it outright.
Fix — Boil and re-salt the brine to 18-20% between batches, press at 20-22 C for the first six hours, and keep the salt under 1.6% for eye-forming styles.
Misread surface mould not seen
Signal — A grey-green or black fuzzy patch on a rind that was supposed to be white or orange, or blue speckling on a hard cheese.
Cause — Wild Penicillium and Cladosporium from a cave with moving air and standing humidity. Also from brushing a good rind with a damp, dirty brush.
Fix — Distinguish before you discard: white felt and orange smear are wanted, green fuzz on a hard rind is surface only and rubs off with 3% brine. Black patches that pit the paste mean the wheel is lost.
Four things to carry forward
- Scald only to 34 C; higher cracks the ball at the equator
- Replace a quarter of the whey, press 12 kg for five hours
- 18% brine at 12 C for three hours per kilo, floated
- Wax on day five, age ten weeks at 13 C