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Type of cheese treated with brine
Washed-rind
or
smear-ripened cheeses
are
cheeses
which are periodically treated with
brine
or mold-bearing agents. This encourages the growth of certain bacteria on their surface which give them distinctive flavors. There are
hard
and
soft
washed-rind cheeses. The softer ones are sometimes distinguished as "smear-ripened". Conversely, the term "washed rind" is sometimes reserved only for the hard ones.
Production
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Washed-rind cheeses are periodically cured in a solution of saltwater
brine
or mold-bearing agents that may include beer, wine, brandy and spices, making their surfaces amenable to a class of bacteria (
Brevibacterium linens
, the reddish-orange smear bacteria) that impart pungent odors and distinctive flavors and produce a firm, flavorful rind around the cheese.
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Washed-rind cheeses can be soft (
Limburger
), semi-hard, or hard (
Appenzeller
). The same bacteria can also have some effect on cheeses that are simply ripened in
humid
conditions, like Camembert. The process requires regular washings, particularly in the early stages of production, making it quite labor-intensive compared to other methods of cheese production.
Examples
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Soft (smear-ripened)
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Hard (washed-rind)
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See also
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Bibliography
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Notes
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