Author
Monsieur Fromage
Washed-rind cheeses are the emotional stress test of a home cheesemaker. You are asked, on faith, to wash a cheese repeatedly in brine, wait three weeks while it develops a sticky orange rind, and tolerate a smell that most people associate with gym bags left in warm cars.
When my first one hit week three, I genuinely wondered whether something had crawled into the ripening box and died. I took the lid off in the garage, which is an enclosed space, and spent fifteen minutes standing in the driveway contemplating my choices.
The cheese was, as it turned out, fine. In fact it was quite good.
Why washed rinds smell the way they do
The rind is colonised by Brevibacterium linens and its cousins — the same family of bacteria responsible for the aroma of human skin after exercise. This is not a coincidence, and it is not a defect. B. linens produces the characteristic orange-pink rind, the sticky coat, and an arsenal of sulphur compounds that, on an Époisses or a Taleggio, most cheese-lovers describe as "funky" or "barnyardy."
In smaller doses and in trained kitchens this is called "complexity."
In a sandwich box in your garage this is called "is something dead in there."
How to tell normal from actually-wrong
- Orange-pink rind, slightly tacky to the touch — normal. That's B. linens doing its job.
- White or grey patches — usually fine. Ambient moulds co-existing with the bacterial wash.
- Black or green patches — less fine. Opportunistic moulds. Wipe with brine-soaked cloth, increase wash frequency, keep an eye.
- Pink slime that smells of ammonia — approaching ripe. Eat within a few days.
- Brown slime that smells of rotten fish — you've lost it. Start again.
- The smell of a compost bin on a hot day — actually completely normal. Deep breath. Trust the process.
What I'd do differently next time
- Higher humidity, consistently. 95% or it doesn't work. A real wine fridge helps; a large sandwich box with a damp cloth works if you're disciplined.
- Warmer wash. 12°C was too cold. 15–16°C lets the bacteria thrive.
- Shorter gaps between washes in the first week. I was doing every three days. Every two days would've got the colony established faster.
- Smaller wheels. My first was too big for the shelf. The bottom got wet and moody.
If you want the full walk-through, Washed-Rind Cheeses Explained is the reference article. It's less colourful than this post and slightly more technical, which is probably the ratio you want.
The finished cheese, by the way, was spread on warm bread with a glass of Gewürztraminer, and the garage was vindicated.