Why Triple Cream Cheeses Are Less Fattening Than You Think

For those of you who shy away from the triple-crèmes and rich buttery numbers of the cheese world, now may be appropriate timing for a bit of cheese info. Despite their names, denoting double- and triple- contents of cream and butterfat, these cheese specimens may not be as fattening as you think.

Call it cheese propaganda, but it’s the truth.

Fat content in cheese is measured in parts per dry matter. So imagine this: a round of that most (seemingly fattening) creamy, gooey cheese you covet, and the same amount of hard cheese, both set out in the sun. Left to dehydrate, that soft, buttery cheese will be but a puddle, with some solids left behind, and much of the liquid matter evaporated. The hard cheese, on the other hand, will be dried out— and entirely unappetizing— but essentially a mass of dry matter, looking the same as it had before the dehydration experiment.

Since so much of a soft cheese is actually comprised of water weight, the fat solids are significantly less than a hard cheese. Ounce for ounce, that brie is actually less fattening than the same weight of an aged gouda, which can pack in more fat per morsel because there’s virtually no moisture content.

So, January, bring it. Creamy cheese and all.