23/10/2026
🧀 Behind the Cheese · Week 6
Why do cheeses have different rinds?
From snowy white bloomy rinds to sticky orange washed rinds, rustic natural rinds and cheeses with almost no rind at all — the outside of a cheese can tell you a lot about what’s happening inside.
A rind develops through a mix of moisture, salt, moulds, yeasts, bacteria and the way the cheese is cared for as it ages. And depending on the rind, it can completely change the flavour, texture and way a cheese matures.
A very basic rind field guide:
☁️ Bloomy
Soft white moulds — or wrinkly Geotrichum, like Florence — grow over the surface and help ripen the cheese from the outside in.
🧡 Washed
Regularly washed with brine, b**r or spirits, creating the damp, salty conditions that encourage the bacteria responsible for those famous orange rinds.
🪨 Natural
Allowed to develop naturally as the cheese ages, often with regular brushing and turning. Think rustic, earthy and firm.
💧 Rindless
Fresh cheeses are eaten young, so they simply don’t spend enough time ageing to develop a rind.
And a quick quiz 👀
What gives a washed-rind cheese its bright orange colour?
A. Paprika
B. Bacteria that thrive on the salty, damp surface
C. Ageing in copper vats
Drop your answer below 👇
Behind the Cheese — because sometimes the outside tells you just as much as the inside.
