Making

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Salting Rinds

This page is divided into the following topics:

1. General
2. Ambient Humidity
3. Curd Size
4. Curd Temperature
5. Salt Type
6. Salt Amount
7. Salt Application

General

Some cheese making procedures require salt applied to the surfaces of the formed cheeses before drying and aging. This is common with mold-ripened cheeses such as Camembert & Brie and washed-rind cheeses.

For salt to be absorbed by the formed cheese, it must first dissolve and form a brine at the cheese's surface after which it then diffuses into the cheese. As stated in the Salt - Functions webpage, the % salt content in the type of cheese being made is critical. Thus it is important to understand the six main factors that control this method of salting cheese.

Ambient Humidity

Soft rind dry salted type cheeses, are aged in high ~95% ambient humidity environment after dry salting. The high humidity is to prevent excessive evaporation of moisture from the surface of the cheese which would result in a dehydrated dense and tough rind being formed. Further these cheese types normally must remain with a high moisture content at their surface to enable their surface growth of molds, yeasts, and bacteria and in time their growth into the center of the cheese.

For hard rinded cheeses, the ambient humidity is held relatively low @ 85% to encourage expelled whey to be evaporated resulting in a dehydrated surface layer of cheese, the start of the rind development process. Repeated applications of dry salt to hard rinded cheeses will result in a steadily increasing dehydrated layer. 

Cheese Size

Generally, the cheese making procedure dictates the size of the formed cheese (good examples are generally uniform sized Camembert's and Brie's), and thus the procedures amount and method of applying the salt is matched to the size.

However, if deviating, consideration should be given to the number of applications of dry salt and thus also the time to allow the cheese to reach it's salt % content target range.

Note, for large cheeses this becomes a problem because in time the build up of a dense hard layer from repeated dry salting the cheese's surface will inhibit further salty brine uptake into the cheese and the dry salt will no longer be absorbed resulting in a cheese with suboptimal % salt content. It is for this reason that large rinded wheels of cheese are often brine salted first, and then their rinds dry salted to i) reach the target % salt content and ii) to develop their hard rinds.

Cheese Temperature

As with dry salting curds, the temperature of the cheese will be a controlling factor of the salt's absorption rate. However their is ample time to absorb the salt while the fresh cheese is drying so this is not normally an issue and thus the temperature during dry salting more a function of the cheese's drying and aging requirements.

Salt Type

Standard table sodium Chloride, NaCl table salt is used. It should be course granular sized rather than very fine to slow down the speed of dissolving into brine and absorption into the cheese. As with high temperatures, fine salt can result in a rapid flush of whey and fat which can wash away other salt before being absorbed resulting in incorrect salt % content of the cheese type being made.

Salt Amount

As reviewed in the Salt - Function webpage, final salt content of the cheese type you are making is critical. Thus follow the cheese making procedure accurately on amount/weight of salt being applied versus weight of final cheese(s). If making several cheeses such as Camemberts, ensure salt is allocated evenly.

Salt Application

There are two salt application methods or dry salting rind cheeses:

1. Sprinkled dry salt onto the rind for soft rind type cheeses. Care should be taken to ensure the salt does not land off the cheese otherwise suboptimal % slat content will be obtained.
2. Rubbing dry salt onto the rind for hard rind type cheeses.