# Cheese rind - not a food question yet. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111 "2015-08-27T22:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/1 "2015-08-27T22:10:04Z")
A year or two ago we bought a wedge of a fine hard cheese and the rind was too hard to enjoy eating so I took a piece of it out to a bird feeder. Birds didn’t care for it so I tossed it in an empty flower pot. After many month in the Nevada climate I examined it. It was hard as Terra cotta. I could hardly scratch it with a sharp knife. What would the materials scientists among you think I have created? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/2 "2015-08-27T22:34:05Z")
I was under the impression that the rind was a wax the cheese was dipped in to preserve it. Wax in the hot sun I would think would melt it tho. So in short, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/3 "2015-08-27T22:37:52Z")
Some cheeses like parmigiano have a rind that’s just cheese very low in moisture. Then there are soft cheeses like Brie where the rind is mostly mold. As for what you ended up with, the British term Hard Cheese comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/4 "2015-08-28T03:57:05Z")
Basically it’s fat globules and milk solids held together with casein glue. In other words, basically the same stuff you ate, with much less water. I’d put it under a glass display dome and tell people it was a kidney stone I had removed. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/5 "2015-08-28T09:09:08Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I was under the impression that the rind was a wax the cheese was dipped in to preserve it. Wax in the hot sun I would think would melt it tho. So in short, I have no idea. No, some cheeses are coated in wax, but the wax is not the rind. Rind is the outer layer of the cheese itself and is formed either as a simple, dessicated layer of the cheese, or by the action of moulds and other organisms. (The former case being common when wax is applied to inhibit the formation of mould. Cheese is rich in protein, which dries to a plastic-like consistency - indeed, some of the earliest plastics were made from milk protein. > **[Galalith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galalith)** > > Galalith (Erinoid in the United Kingdom) is a synthetic plastic material manufactured by the interaction of casein and formaldehyde. The commercial name is derived from the Ancient Greek words gala (γάλα, "milk") and lithos (λῐ́θος, "stone"). It is odourless, insoluble in water, biodegradable, non-allergenic, antistatic and virtually nonflammable. It was produced under other names such as aladdinite (in the US), Casolith (in the Netherlands) and lactoloid (in Japan). > In 1893, French chemist A... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/6 "2015-08-28T09:10:50Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > I’d put it under a glass display dome and tell people it was a kidney stone I had removed. Carve the face of Jesus on it first, for added conversation points. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/7 "2015-08-28T09:27:51Z")
You can try yourself to make plastic from milk (i[nstructions](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-milk-plastic/),[images](https://www.google.ch/search?q=casein+plastic&biw=1475&bih=1310&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCkQsARqFQoTCK_4ufm5y8cCFclWFAodMGkKDQ#imgrc=aXKzreWMXhRgRM%3A)) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/8 "2015-08-28T15:42:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Carve the face of Jesus on it first, for added conversation points. Profit!!! Or is that Prophet? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/9 "2015-08-28T17:03:41Z")
I learned recently that cheese rinds can be used to great effect for flavoring soups and broths. _Chopped!_ did a whole show about cooking with ‘waste’ food. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/10 "2015-08-28T19:56:47Z")
I had forgotten about casein. I did not know it could be made into a plastic. I’m sure I did not accidentally produce Galalith but what I had could have been machined into a button. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-rind-not-a-food-question-yet/729111/11 "2015-08-29T21:56:29Z")
Casein was used in paint as well I believe.