20 litres of milk, total volume 

Gruyére, Emmentaler, Parmesan: Whole milk + a little skimmed milk
Cheddar, Gouda: whole milk +  cream

2 dl starter culture, total volume 

What makes these cheeses differ in taste and texture is often the different combinations of starter cultures. The standard combinations are as follows:

Gruyére: 1 part yogurt starter culture, 2 parts nutflavouring culture + eyeformation culture.
Emmentaler: 1 part starter mix, 2 parts nut-flavouring culture + eye-formation culture
Cheddar & Parmesan: Starter mix 
Gouda: Standard cheese starter

Rennet

Gruyére, Emmentaler, Parmesan: 4 ml
Gouda, Cheddar: 5-6 ml

Calcium chloride 1-2 ml

• In a pot, slowly heat the milk to 32°C.
• Add starter culture 
• Put a lid on the pot and wrap a towel around it to keep it warm. Leave the milk to acidify;
  Gruyére, Emmentaler, Cheddar, Parmesan: ½ hour
  Cheddar: 1 hour
  
  
• Add rennet and stir thoroughly.
• Leave the milk to coagulate for 35-50 minutes, at 32°C. 
• Cutting and stirring:
  
  Gruyére, Emmentaler, Parmesan: Cut curd into 5-6 mm cubes - use a whisk
  Gouda, Cheddar: Cut curd into 10 mm cubes - use a long knife.
  
  Let the curd rest for 5 minutes, then stir gently for 20 minutes until cheese grains floats freely.
  
  Gouda: Scoop out 30% of the whey.

Heating:

• Stir frequently for the next 30-40 minutes while slowly heating the milk, only increasing the temperature by 0.2-0.3°C/ min. A nice slow way to increase the temperature is by adding small portions of hot water (~80°C) little by little - while stirring. Scoop out some of the whey from time to time.
  
  Increasing the temperature takes minimum 30 minutes, depending on the cheese type and its temperature requirements:
  
  Gruyére, Emmentaler: 50-53°C.
  Parmesan: 42°C for 15 min, then raise the temperature to 51-54°C.
  Cheddar: 38-40°C.
  Gouda: 36-38°C.

Acidifying:

• Let the curd rest for 30-60 minutes and stir when necessary to seperate the grains and keep them from sticking together. 
  
  Meassure if pH is correct:
  Gruyére, Emmentaler og Parmesan: pH ca. 6.3-6.4
  Cheddar: pH ca. 6.1.
  Gouda: pH ca. 5.9-6.0. 
  
  If measured pH value is too high, give the curd a bit more time to rest. Remember to stir to keep the grains seperated.
  
  
• Line a clean pot with cheese cloth and pour the curd in.
• Place a mould in the pot you just emptied. 
• Get hold of the corners of the cheese cloth and lift it up to let the whey run off - keep it, you need it later.

For cheddar, the rest of the recipe is described in a seperate section futher down.

The steps below only applies to Gruyére, Emmentaler, Parmesan and Gouda:

Prepare brine:

• Boil 2 litres of water, add and dissolve 400 g salt (20% saline solution) and leave it to cool to 10-15°C.
• Place 2 litres of whey in a pot at room temperature.
• Mix cooled brine with whey a little bit prior to when you need it.
• Add more salt to the mix, 400 g and dissolve it by stirring thoroughly.
  
  
• Move the cheese cloth with curd into the cheese mould in the pot – use your hands to mould it into place.
• Fold the excess cheese cloth over the curd and down the side of the mould. Shuff the mould lid on.
• Add a light pressure to the lid - around 10 kg and leave it like this for 5-15 min.
• Ease the pressure, take the lid off and uncover the curd.
• Carefully move the cheese onto a clean cheese cloth.
• Wrap the cheese in the cheese cloth and put it back into the cheese mould - you may need to push a bit harder to get it in.
• Fit the cheese in to the mould and add the lid. Apply pressure.
• Increase pressure x 2 each time. 
• Repeat this 3 times - each time with two hours in between.
  
  After completing the third time, do as follows for each type of cheese - special instructions for Gouda.

Gruyére, Emmentaler: Add heavy pressure (up to 100kg) for 8-10 hours.
Parmesan: Add heavy pressure (up to 200 kg) for 8-10 hours.
Gouda: Leave Gouda with "the last" pressure until it reaches pH 5.1-5.2.

Brining:

• Soak the cheese in the brine made earlier. Use a plate to weigh it down.
• Salt the cheese there for several days at the required temperatures, see instructions below: 
  
  Gruyére, Emmentaler: Salt for 2-3 days at 10°C.
  Gouda: Salt for 2-3 days at 15°C.
  Parmesan: Salt it for 2-3 days at 7-10°C.
  
  Every day, lift the cheese out of the brine, rub it in salt and put it back in on the reverse side.

Maturing:

Gruyére, Emmentaler:

• Mature these cheeses at 10-16°C, 90% RH (HIGH humidity). e.g use a thermobox with cooling elements to provide optimal conditions. Leave it there for 10-14 dage – turn it over every day.
• After 10-14 days, increase maturation temperature to 20-24°C, 80-85% RH (Humid) e.g. move it to a warmer place or remove cooling elements from the thermobox. Let it mature like this for 3-8 weeks - turn it over 2-3 times a week.
  The Swiss cheese structure (holes) normally develop within this period. 
• Wrap the cheese in cheese paper and store it in the fridge at 7°C for several months, if you can keep your hands of it for so long.

Gouda:

• Mature at 15°C, 80% RH (high humidity) for 4-6 weeks, rub it in salt every day and turn it over. If you like an extra mature cheese, mature it for 6-12 months at 10°C.

Parmesan:

• Mature at 10°C, <75% RH (humid) Turn it over every day in the beginning and rub it in salt. Mature like this for 2-4 years!

Cheddar special:

• Move the curd to the cheese mould.
• Place the lid on the mould and put a light pressure on it. Keep the pot warm, ensuring the curd stays at 40°C, e.g. by switching the heating plate on-off momentarily. 
• Every 15-20 minutes, take the curd out of the mould, cut it in lumps and put it back into the mould. Add light pressure once again. Keep repeating this procedure until pH reaches ~5.3. At this point the curd ought to seem dry as boiled chicken breast. 
• Cut the cheese into 1 cm little cubes, air and cool them to 25°C.
• Sprinkle the cubes with 2% salt - mix it in well. 
• Pack them into a mould lined with cheese cloth, fold the cloth over the top, and put the mould lid on.
• Put light pressure on the cheese to begin with. When the temperature has dropped, add up to 200 kg pressure - from 12 hours to several days!
• Dry the cheese, wrap it in cheese paper and mature it at 7-11°C for 4-12 months. A thermobox where you can control the temperature by adding cooling elements can serve as an ideal place for maturation.
• Turn the cheese over from time to time, rub it in salt and perhaps brush it with a vegetable oil to protect it against mould.
• Should mouldy patches appear on the crust, promptly scrabe them off, rub salt on the crust and brush it with oil once again for optimal protection.