Cheese Database

Limburger vs Muenster cheese

Limburger, field guide plate
Limburger, photographed

Limburger

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-soft
Type
Washed rind
Rind
Washed rind
Country
Netherlands

Limburger is a semi-soft washed-rind cheese from the Netherlands. It is made from cow's milk and shaped in small bricks with a moist orange rind. The smell is famously strong, while the paste inside is milder than that smell suggests. Salt, moisture, and the washed surface define it more than a sharp aged bite. Shops sell it for bread and hearty plates, not as a hard cheese for grating.

Muenster cheese, field guide plate
Muenster cheese, photographed

Muenster cheese

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-soft
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
United States

Muenster cheese is a mild semi-soft cheese from the United States, made from cow's milk. The interior is pale yellow to cream, and the outside is often orange from annatto. It slices cleanly and melts well, which made it a deli cheese rather than a long-aged wheel. The American cheese is calm in smell and taste. It should not be confused with French Munster, a washed-rind cheese with a much stronger aroma.