USA Salt Survey

Brine-Making Survey

for American Washed-Rind Cheese Producers

About This Survey

Hello, esteemed cheesemakers and fellow affineurs!

My name is Lilith Spencer, and I am the 2025 Daphne Zepos Teaching Award recipient. I've created this survey to support the research I will be conducting for my project over the next several months. I welcome you to read my full vision here to get a sense of my long-term goals.

To summarize my project: I am investigating salt and the role it plays in cheesemaking. During this first year of research, I am focusing on salt's role in washed-rind affinage, taking a deep dive into brine solutions applied to smear-ripened/washed-rind cheeses both in the U.S. and abroad.

This survey is designed to collect detailed information about brine-making processes from as many producers as possible, so that I can ultimately create an accessible online database for the wider cheesemaking community to refer to when considering their own washed-rind programs. My hope is that with this data, I will be able to draw some conclusions about trends and best practices and create resources that will assist cheese professionals in troubleshooting common washed-rind issues in the future.

How your information will be used:

I am asking for your name and email address ONLY so that I can personally follow up with you if needed as I carry on my research, but I assure you that these details will not be shared or published.

All of your answers will be anonymized so that my audience will not be able to connect specific practices to specific producers, in order to protect proprietary practices.

Before I post any results of this survey more widely, I will send you a copy of your anonymized answers as they would appear in any material that may be shared. This data will mostly be further analyzed to present simple, clear observations and statistics, i.e. "X% of producers surveyed use natural salt vs standardized salt in their washed-rind brine."

Your participation is greatly appreciated — the data you provide to me will ultimately provide all of us with a more nuanced understanding of how our brine-making practices and ingredient choices can impact washed-rind cheese quality.

If you have any hesitations you'd like to share or questions you'd like to ask me before filling out the survey, you are welcome to email at: thebrinedrind@gmail.com
Name*

First NameLast Name
Email Address*
example@example.com
Where in the U.S. are you located?*

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState

Zip Code
What types of washed-rind/smear-ripened cheeses do you make? Check all that apply*

Soft-ripened, small format (~1 lb or smaller)Soft-ripened, medium to large format (~ 2lb+)Semi-soft to semi-firm 'tomme'Alpine styleBlueOther
Section 2: General Brine-Making Practices
What type of salt do you use in your washed-rind brine? (Select all that apply):*

Standardized food-grade salt from a large supplierNatural salt from a local/local-ish producerNatural salt from a non-local producerOther
What is the coarseness of your salt? (Select all that apply):*

FineFlakeKosherCoarsePowderOther
Please provide as many additional details about your salt(s) as you are able to, i.e. brand, specific natural source if you are using natural salt, etc. — if you have selected 'other' for either question above, please elaborate:
What type of water do you use for your washed-rind brine? (Select all that apply):*

Filtered (UV, reverse-osmosis, carbon) tap waterRegular tap waterDistilled bottled waterOther
How do you treat your water before adding salt? (Select all that apply):*

Water is boiled, then cooled, then salt is addedWater is boiled, salt is added to hot water, then the brine solution is cooledSalt is added directly to cool/room-temp water straight from the tap/bottleOther
Please provide any additional details you'd like to share about your water or how it is treated — if you've selected 'other' for either question above, please elaborate:
How much brine do you make at once / how often do you make it?*

I make just enough fresh brine to cover my rind-washing needs each dayI make brine in large batches, properly stored and dispensed as needed over timeDepends on the cheese or type of brine
If you selected "depends on the cheese," please briefly elaborate below (i.e. "large batches for basic brine, as needed for other brine solutions").
How do you measure your ingredients when you make your brine?*

By weightBy volume
Do you ever test your brine concentration using a scientific instrument such as a hydrometer or digital salinity meter?*

YesNo
If you test your salinity, how frequently?
If you test your salinity, how do the results line up with your target brine concentration?

The measured salinity typically matches my desired salinityThere are occasional inconsistencies between the measured and desired salinityThere are frequent inconsistencies between the measured and desired salinity
Section 3: Ingredient Choices + Brine Concentrations

Cheese-Specific

The next part of the survey is repeated 6 times to accomodate cheesemakers who produce multiple different washed-rind cheeses. For the first round, all fields are set as 'required,' but for the remaining 5, all questions are set to 'optional,' so if you only have one cheese (or only want to report on one cheese), you may scroll all the way down to the bottom once you've entered one set of answers.
Cheese #1
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)*
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — timing details are not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%') *
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)*

WineBeerCiderHigh-Proof SpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients you use to wash this cheese:
Cheese #2 (optional)
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — exact timing is not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%')
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)

WineBeerCiderSpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients used for washing this cheese:
Cheese #3 (optional)
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — exact timing is not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%')
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)

WineBeerCiderSpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients used for washing this cheese:
Cheese #4 (optional)
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — exact timing is not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%')
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)

WineBeerCiderSpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients used for washing this cheese:
Cheese #5 (optional)
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — exact timing is not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%')
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)

WineBeerCiderSpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients used for washing this cheese:
Cheese #6 (optional)
Cheese Style (i.e. soft-ripened, alpine, etc.)
What is the salt concentration of your brine solution for washing this cheese? If you use different concentrations at different stages, please provide a short description — exact timing is not necessary (i.e., 'start with X%, transition to Y%')
Does the brine for this cheese include any ingredients other than salt and water? (Check all that apply)

WineBeerCiderSpiritHerbs and/or spicesMineralsCulturesOther⚠️ Check this box if the liquid you have selected above is used on this cheese undiluted (no water added)
Please provide any other details you'd like to share about the additional ingredients used for washing this cheese:
Thank you so much for

contributing to my research!

Again, if you have any questions for me, please reach out at:

thebrinedrind@gmail.com
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