Brined cheese, also sometimes referred to as pickled cheese for some varieties, is cheese that is matured in a solution of brine in an airtight or semi-permeable container. This process gives the cheese good stability, inhibiting bacterial growth even in warmer climates. Brined cheeses may be soft or hard, varying in moisture content, and in colour and flavour, according to the type of milk used; though all will be rindless, and generally taste clean, salty and acidic when fresh, developing some piquancy when aged, and most will be white.
Washed-rind cheeses are periodically cured in a solution of saltwater brine and/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 odours and distinctive flavours, and produce a firm, flavourful rind around the cheese.
Many varieties of brined cheeses are produced. Varieties of brined cheese include feta, halloumi, sirene and telemea, a variant of brinza. Brined cheese is the main type of cheese produced and eaten in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas.
Additional brined cheeses include:
Abbaye de Tamié
Akkawi is a white brine cheese named after the city of Acre in Israel. It is commonly made using cow milk, but can be made with goat or sheep's milk as well.
Alpujarra cheese
Appenzeller cheese
Ardrahan Cheese
Some varieties of Asiago cheese are brined.
Balkánský sýr is a white brined cheese produced in Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is a salty semi-hard white cheese, and is analogous of the Bulgarian sirene and the Greek feta.
Beaufort cheese
Berner Alpkäse
Bondost
Cantabrian cream cheese
Caprino di Cavalese
Chechil is a brined string cheese that originated in Armenia and Anatolia.
Cherni Vit
Corleggy Cheese
Dovedale
Egyptian cheese
Feta cheese
Hâlûmi resembles Cypriot halloumi, but is a different cheese. It may be eaten fresh or brined and spiced. The name comes from the Coptic word for cheese, "halum".
Some varieties of goat cheese are brined prior to the aging process.
Chevrotin
Gouda cheese
Maaslander
Gruyère cheese
Halloumi
Herrgårdsost
Ibores is sometimes brined in its production.
Leyden
Lighvan is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Iran. Having a sour flavor, and a shape covered by holes, the cheese is produced from sheep's milk.
Mallorca cheese
Maredsous cheese
Maredsous Abbey cheese
Mozzarella is sometimes brined.
Murcian cheese
Murcian wine cheese
Munster cheese
Nabulsi is one of a number of Palestinian white brined cheeses made in the Middle East.
Oka cheese
Oscypek
Pallone di Gravina
Parmigiano-Reggiano is brined in its production process.
Pasta filata is sometimes stored in brine, which enables preservation and for the product to be shipped.
Pecorino Sardo
Red Hawk cheese
Saint-Nectaire
Svecia
Sulguni
Swaledale
Telemea
Teviotdale cheese
Tulum is a traditional brined Turkish goat's milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing, called tulum in Turkish.
Tzfat cheese
