Semi-firm cheeses are those which hold their shape for slicing, and which can be shredded, but which aren’t soft enough to spread, and not hard enough to grate. They tend to have a moisture level between 40 and 60%, and can be ripened or unripened.
They are also referred to as semi-soft, semi-solid or semi-hard cheeses
Contents
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Types of semi-firm cheeses
- 2.1 Appenzeller Cheese (Quarter Fat)
- 2.2 Ardrahan Cheese
- 2.3 Asadero Cheese
- 2.4 Blue Cheeses
- 2.5 Botton Cheese
- 2.6 Brunost Cheese
- 2.7 Burrini Cheese
- 2.8 Buxlow Paigle
- 2.9 Cacetto Cheese
- 2.10 Caerphilly Cheese
- 2.11 Cantal Cheese
- 2.12 Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese
- 2.13 Cheshire Cheese
- 2.14 Chihuahua Cheese
- 2.15 Cotherstone Cheese
- 2.16 Criollo Cheese
- 2.17 Danbo Cheese
- 2.18 Danish Fontina Cheese
- 2.19 Durrus Cheese
- 2.20 Edam Cheese
- 2.21 Farmer's Cheese
- 2.22 Fontal Cheese
- 2.23 Gamonedo Cheese
- 2.24 Gaperon Cheese
- 2.25 Grimbister Cheese
- 2.26 Huntsman Cheese
- 2.27 Jalapeño Cheese
- 2.28 Leerdammer Cheese
- 2.29 Liederkranz Cheese
- 2.30 Livarot Cheese
- 2.31 Maasdam Cheese
- 2.32 Manchego Cheese (Mexican)
- 2.33 Monterey Jack Cheese
- 2.34 Morbier Cheese
- 2.35 Mozzarella Cheese
- 2.36 Pavé d'Auge Cheese
- 2.37 Pavé d'Isigny Cheese
- 2.38 Pavé de Berry Cheese
- 2.39 Penyston Cheese
- 2.40 Pont-l'Evêque Cheese
- 2.41 Quartirolo Cheese
- 2.42 Queso con Loroco
- 2.43 Ricotta Salata Cheese
- 2.44 Tetilla Cheese
- 2.45 Vacherin Fribourgeois
- 2.46 Wensleydale Cheese
Examples
Cheeses such as feta and buffalo milk mozzarella are semi-firm cheeses; Port du Salut and blue cheeses are examples of ripened semi-firm cheeses.
Types of semi-firm cheeses
Appenzeller Cheese (Quarter Fat)
In making this lower-fat version of Appenzeller Cheese, less water is added while making the cheese, and a lower cooking temperature is used for the curds. Different starter cultures reduce the speed of the fermentation, which in term lets more water...
Ardrahan Cheese
Ardrahan is a semi-firm, washed-rind cheese.
Inside the cheese is butter-coloured, with a texture something like a firm camembert. As the cheese ages, it takes on a smokey, tangy flavour.
The thin, crusy rind is slightly sticky, and has a salty,...
Asadero Cheese
Asadero is an off-white, semi-firm Mexican cheese often sold in a log shape for convenient and easy slicing. It is an excellent cooking cheese: when it melts, it becomes quite creamy without giving off any oil, even at higher temperatures.
It has a...
Blue Cheeses
A blue cheese is a cheese that has veins or blotches of blue in it, caused by the presence and growth in it of the Penicillium mould. As a result of the mould, it will have a distinctive coloration, aroma and taste.
How strong are blue cheeses?
There...
Botton Cheese
Botton Cheese is a semi-hard cheese similar to cheddar made from unpasteurized cow's milk.
It is made at the Camphill community for people with disabilities in Bolton Village, Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire.
It was developed in the 1980s.
Brunost Cheese
Brunost (meaning "brown cheese") is a smooth, semi-firm cheese that is buff-coloured, like the colour of brown envelopes, with a sweet and sour caramel taste.
Made in Norway, Brunost Cheese is 25% of all the cheese eaten there.
It is made from whey,...
Burrini Cheese
Burrini is a firm, pear-shaped, mild Provolone cheese with butter in the middle.
It is made in the areas of Basilicata, Calabria and Molise, in southern Italy.
To make the cheese, the curd is spin, then the cheese is moulded around a small piece...
Buxlow Paigle
Buxlow Paigle is currently (2004) the only cheese made in Suffolk, England. The cheese is made by Margaret Reeve, using milk from the herd of Friesian cows kept by her husband Will at Church Farm in Friston, near Aldeburgh.
Will Reeve runs an "automatic...
Cacetto Cheese
Cacetto is a Provolone cheese, often with small fillings in the middle.
To make it, the curd is spun, then the cheese moulded around any fillings, then dipped in wax and hung to ripen 10 days.
It is made from cow's milk and / or buffalo milk.
There...
Caerphilly Cheese
Caerphilly is a variety of cheddar cheese associated with Caerphilly, Wales. There is no legal requirement, however, for the cheese to be made there, or in Wales, in fact.
Brand names include Castle Dairies, Gorwydd, Duckett's Farm, Caws Cenarth, Reece's...
Cantal Cheese
Cantal Cheese is a cheese made in the Cantal region in the south of Auvergne, France.
It is a semi-firm cheese, but hard by French norms.
Cantal Cheese is made from cow's-milk from up to three different breeds of cattle, one of which is Salers cattle....
Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese
Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese is a semi-firm cheese with a spongey-texture from the many small holes in it. It has a mellow, almost sweet taste.
It is sold covered in yellow wax; though it's sometimes coated in green wax for export to America.
Carrigaline...
Cheshire Cheese
Cheshire Cheese can be made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's milk. Milk from the evening milking of the cows is let stand out overnight. The next day, milk from that morning's milking is added, along with starter. It is allowed to coagulate into...
Chihuahua Cheese
Chihuahua Cheese is a Mexican pale yellow, semi-soft cheese with a flavour like that of Chester cheese, or of a mild white cheddar.
Whole cow's milk milk is heated to 149 F (65 C) for half an hour. The temperature is then lowered to 95 F (35 C) and...
Cotherstone Cheese
Cotherstone Cheese is a semi-hard cheese with a sharp, slightly tangy taste. It is made in Cotherstone, Yorkshire, England.
It has a crust like Camembert, but is covered with yellow wax. Inside, the cheese has an "open" texture, like Wensleydale.
It...
Criollo Cheese
Criollo Cheese is a pale yellow, Mexican semi-firm cheese made around Taxco, Guerrero in Mexico.
Cheeses named "Criollo" are also made in Peru, Argentina, Bolivia and many other countries.
In Bolivia, Queso Criollo is a low-fat cheese produced by...
Danbo Cheese
Danbo Cheese is a semi-firm cheese made in Denmark from cow's milk.
It is somewhat like North American "Swiss Cheese."
The cheese has a yellow rind coated in red or orange wax. Inside, the cheese is elastic, and a pale yellow with small holes in...
Danish Fontina Cheese
Danish Fontina Cheese is a knock-off of the Italian fontina.
It is a little sweeter than the Italian fontina. In fact, it tastes a bit like Gouda.
Danish Fontina is made from cow's milk. The taste is milder than its smell. The cheese is creamy yet...
Durrus Cheese
Durrus is a semi-soft cheese with a washed, yellowish-grey rind.
Inside, the cheese is dotted with small holes, and has a buttery texture with complex aromas.
It is made in two sizes: 380g rounds (5cm x 10cm) and 1.5kg wheels (18cm x 6cm.)
The...
Edam Cheese
Edam Cheese
© Denzil Green
Edam Cheese is a semi-hard, pale yellow Dutch cheese with a mildly-tangy and slightly salty taste. Traditionally the cheese is made in a ball shape, but you may also spot it in squat rounds, or a loaf shape. It is a commercial ...
Farmer's Cheese
Farmer's Cheese can be thought of as a cottage cheese from which most of the moisture has been drained so that the cheese becomes quite dry, and which has then been pressed into a firm loaf shape. There is no rind on the cheese; the cheese's colour will...
Fontal Cheese
Fontal is a semi-firm cheese made commercially in factories from pasteurized cow's milk.
It is made in flat cylinders, with concave sides, and a thin rind that may be covered with brownish-red wax, or plastic.
Inside the Fontal Cheese is a pale...
Gamonedo Cheese
Gamonedo is a Spanish cheese from the Asturias region on the northern coast of Spain.
It is made in two villages, Cangas de Onís and the nearby village of Onís. Both are on the edge of the mountain range called "Picos de Europa."
The cheese is l...
Gaperon Cheese
Gaperon is a cheese made in Auvergne, France.
It is a hard cheese, but with a spongy, supple texture, moulded into a dome shape,(like an igloo.) The average size is 3 inches (7 1/2 cm) tall and the same wide, weighing approximately 10 oz (300 g.)
A...
Grimbister Cheese
Grimbister is a soft, crumbly cheese, somewhat like Wensleydale.
It is a farmhouse cheese, made using unpasteurized milk. No rennet is used to curdle the milk.
As Grimbister Cheese ages, it develops a slightly fruit taste. Flavours available (as...
Huntsman Cheese
Huntsman Cheese
© Denzil Green
Huntsman Cheese is a Double Gloucester cheese with a layer of Stilton in the middle.
It is sometimes made in 5 layers -- 3 of Double Gloucester and 2 of Stilton, and sometimes in 3 layers -- 2 of Double Gloucester ...
Jalapeño Cheese
Given that this just means cheese with jalapeño peppers in it, there's nothing to prevent you from getting a tub of cream cheese, stirring in a chopped up jalapeño pepper, and calling it jalapeño cheese, because it would be.
However, there are a fe...
Leerdammer Cheese
Leerdammer is a new cheese. Development of it started in 1976 by the Baars company; the product was launched in 1984. The cheese was designed to be an Emmenthal-type cheese that could challenge Emmenthal's market share in Europe, particularly France.
The...
Liederkranz Cheese
Liederkranz is a defunct American cheese that was meant to be reminiscent of Limburger, while having a far milder taste and aroma.
Made from pasteurized whole cow's milk, it was washed with brine as it was matured.
When young the cheeses were semi-firm...
Livarot Cheese
Livarot is a soft, creamy cheese with a washed, yellow-orange rind. The rind can be eaten; most of the strong flavour is in the rind.
It is made around Livarot in the Auge valley, Normandy, France. Most production is industrial now, though as of 2006...
Maasdam Cheese
Maasdam Cheese is a Swiss-style cheese produced in the Netherlands.
Made from cow's milk, it is aged for at least 4 weeks. It has a smooth yellow rind, which is sometimes waxed like Gouda. It is made in 13 and 26 pound (6 and 12 kg) wheels.
Inside,...
Manchego Cheese (Mexican)
This is the Mexican version of the Spanish Manchego Cheese from La Mancha.
It is a golden-yellow, semi-firm cheese with a slightly nutty taste.
It can be used as a table cheese or for cooking.
Cooking Tips
Melts well.
Substitutes
Monterey...
Monterey Jack Cheese
Monterey Jack Cheese
© Denzil Green
Monterey Jack Cheese is a semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk, whole or skimmed. It's normally aged two weeks to a month.
It's somewhat like a cheddar, though it's always white. Its main virtue is that it ...
Morbier Cheese
Morbier (full name Morbier du Livradois) is a mild-tasting cheese with a white pine ash layer in the middle of it.
The cheese has a golden-brown rind. Inside, it is pale yellow, and semi-firm yet creamy and supple.
It is made from unpasteurized...
Mozzarella Cheese
Mozzarella is a fresh, stringy Italian cheese made from buffalo milk. Its full name is buffalo milk mozzarella, or "Mozzarella di Bufalo" in Italian.
The cheese is pure white. It has a creamy texture and a slight fresh tang to it, but otherwise little...
Pavé d'Auge Cheese
Pavé d'Auge is a generic name for a square, flat, washed-rind cheeses made in the Auge area of France.
The cheeses are semi-soft made from raw cow's milk. They are square, about 5 inches (12 1/2 cm) long on each side, about 2 1/4 inches (6 cm) thick, ...
Pavé d'Isigny Cheese
Pavé d'Isigny is a cheese made in Normandy, France from cow's milk, by the same cooperatives that make the d'Isigny butter.
Each cheese weighs about 5 1/2 pounds (2 1/2 kg.)
Nutrition
50% butterfat.
Pavé de Berry Cheese
Pavé de Berry is a cheese made around Sancerre and Berry in the Loire, France from goat's milk.It has a mild but pungent taste.It can be eaten fresh, aged a bit or fully aged.Pavé de Berry is closely related to Crottin de Chavignol as it has the same f...
Penyston Cheese
Penyston is an English cheese invented by an ex-pat American by the name of Joe Scheider.
It is a fragrant cheese, square in shape and has a rind that is orange owing to being brine-washed.
Penyston Cheese is made using milk from Friesan cows on...
Pont-l'Evêque Cheese
Pont-l'Evêque is a washed-rind, Camembert-style cheese made in Normandy, France.
The rind has white mould on it, with orangish-brown patches.
Inside, the cheese is soft and pale yellow with a fine texture. The cheese is quite whiffy.
It comes ...
Quartirolo Cheese
Quartirolo is a soft, crumbly cheese with a slightly sour tang.
Made in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy, it is made in 3 inch (7 1/2 cm) squares or in a rectangular shape 7 to 9 inches (18 to 22 cm) long, weighing from 3 1/3 to 6 1/2 pounds (1...
Queso con Loroco
Queso con Loroco is a Central American cheese with the herb called "loroco" in it, chopped up.
It is a sour white cheese with the texture of Italian mozzarella.
Substitutes
Grated Monterey Jack with chopped fresh or (frozen and thawed) Lorocco.
Ricotta Salata Cheese
To make Ricotta Salata Cheese, sheep's milk whey and cow's milk are heated until curds form. The curd is then lightly salted, pressed together tightly to form a dense, semi-firm cheese, then aged for 2 months or more. It feels like a dense, dry version...
Tetilla Cheese
Tetilla is a Spanish cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. The milk is heated to a range between 82 F and 90 F (28 C and 32 C), at which point Rennet is added. The curd is cut, drained, put into moulds, pressed-lightly, then dipped in brine. The cheese...
Vacherin Fribourgeois
Vacherin Fribourgeois is made from cow's milk, either raw or pasteurized. Unpasteurized versions are sold in Europe; the pasteurized versions are sold to North America.
Bacteria is added to the milk, then milk is heated to 100 F (38 C), and rennet...
Wensleydale Cheese
Wensleydale Cheese
© Denzil Green
Wensleydale cheese is a white, moist, crumbly cheese with an uneven surface somewhat like Caerphilly. It has a clean tang behind its mild taste.
Wensleydale cheese is sometimes sealed in wax to keep the moisture ...