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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from England, Gloucestershire

Double Gloucester

Double Gloucester is a hard cow-milk cheese made from full-cream milk, coloured orange with annatto. It is made much like cheddar but pressed more lightly, so it stays moister and more crumbly, and it is matured for months until mild and nutty. Made in 3 steps over 6 months. The longest step, mature, takes at least 6 months (The Cheese Shed). Salt is 1.6 % (Hashem K.M 2014).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 monthsReported[cheeseshed][oxford-companion]Mature
Salt1.6 %Measured[hashem2014]Mill, salt and press lightly
DocumentedCheese6 monthsnone (Single Gloucester is a PDO; Double Gloucester is not protected)Family: Cheddared cheese family (Cheddar as template)More cheddared cheesesMore from United Kingdom

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo published recipe or amounts were found.
Full-cream cow milk · Historically from one or two milkings[cheeseshed]
Annatto · The orange vegetable dye that sets it apart from Single Gloucester[cheeseshed][oxford-companion]
Starter, rennet and salt · As for cheddar[oxford-companion]
Starter: lactic starter, as for cheddar

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Annatto colours the full-cream milk orange, and it is set like cheddar

Step 1 of 3
Colour the milk and set it
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

No source gives the setting temperature or time for Double Gloucester. Output: coloured curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
orange from annatto

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Double Gloucester uses full-cream milk and is always coloured with annatto. Single Gloucester PDO is uncoloured, thinner and eaten at about two months; its specification sets the renneting at 30–32 °C and a scald of up to 32–35 °C. Both are pressed more lightly than cheddar.

Milk
Full-cream cow milk
Ripening
At least six months (cheesemonger's account)
Size
41 cm across, 10–12 cm thick, about 11 kg; Single Gloucester is a little over half as thick

Related ferments

Variants

  • Single Gloucester PDOUncoloured, thinner and younger, from milk that should come from Gloucester cows.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Gloucester cheese is recorded from the late 1500s and Double Gloucester was most famous in the 18th century. Farm making almost ended in the 20th century and was revived in the 1970s.

  1. [hashem2014] Hashem K.M., He F.J., Jenner K.H., MacGregor G.A. 2014, Cross-sectional survey of salt content in cheese, a major contributor to salt intake in the UK, BMJ Open 4:e005051, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005051paper
  2. [oxford-companion] Davidson A., Oxford Companion to Food, entry "Gloucester cheese" (via ckbk)book
  3. [cheeseshed] The Cheese Shed, The Gloucester cheeses (cheesemonger article)web
  4. [single-glouc-pdo] Defra, Product specification "Single Gloucester" PDOspec