Boerenkaas and boerderijkaas, what is the difference?

Boerenkaas is one of our best selling cheeses at Kaasdok.nl. But with the new selection of cheeses you can find here, we are introducing not only a number of new farmhouse cheeses, but farm cheese as well. So we can already see the question coming: what exactly is the difference?

Raw milk Boerenkaas

Boerenkaas is, as the name says, a cheese made by a farmer. It is also a protected name, so not every farmer may use it to describe his or her cheese. Only once a great many rules around Boerenkaas have been followed may the cheese made on the farm really be called Boerenkaas. One of the most important rules is that Boerenkaas has to be made from unheated, raw milk. The real connoisseurs taste a traditional, full flavour in Boerenkaas that is so distinctive that they order Boerenkaas from us again and again. One of the most popular Boerenkaas cheeses we sell is the one from De Boeren Schat. Not all the cheeses in that line are made from raw milk, but a number of them are, namely:

• De Boeren Schat Jong (Onderwater) 48+ (RM) (B)
• De Boeren Schat Oud (Van den Heuvel) 48+ (RM)
• De Boeren Schat Pepermix kaas 48+ (RM)

As you can see, RM appears after every De Boeren Schat cheese made from Rauwe Melk, raw milk. We also offer smaller, whole cheeses that both fall under the Boerenkaas category: Pondje boerenkaas and Boerenkaasje +/- 1 kg.

Thermised boerderijkaas

Boerderijkaas is also made on a specific farm, but not from raw milk. The milk for farm cheese with (GT) after the name has been heated to 63 degrees. GT stands for Gethermiseerde milk, thermised milk. We offer the following cheeses of this kind:

• De Boeren Schat Mosterd 48+ (GT)
• De Boeren Schat Jong Belegen (Van Erk) 50+ (GT)
• De Boeren Schat Belegen (Van Erk) 50+ (GT)
• De Boeren Schat Extra Belegen (Van Erk) 50+ (GT)
• De Boeren Schat Truffel 50+(GT)

All the cheeses from Mulder are farm cheeses as well. If your diet or circumstances mean you would do better not to consume raw milk, then a farm cheese may be a solution. If not, we also sell a great many good quality and very tasty cheeses made with pasteurised milk. That is milk heated to 72 degrees.

Boerenkaas and boerderijkaas

But let us go back to Boerenkaas and boerderijkaas for a moment. Both are very fine, traditional cheeses made on a farm, and for that reason they can each have a character all of their own. Everyone experiences taste differently, so one person will appreciate the subtle differences in flavour more than another, but going by the feedback we get on Trustpilot it is certainly worth trying a Boerenkaas or a boerderijkaas. We would love to hear what you think.