Posted on 02/08/2014 12:42:45 PM PST by SamAdams76
Cheese storage is one of those confounding subjects. If you buy a really nice cheese, you don't want to ruin it with a lack of parenting skills, right? Perhaps you know how you shouldn't store cheese. But do you know how you should? Proper preservation of cheese is easier than you think.The first thing to know: DO NOT store your cheese in plastic wrap! Wrapping cheese directly in plastic is the equivalent of flavor suffocation. Cheese is a living, breathing thing, and closing it off to air is just about the worst thing you can do to it. Plus, plastic wrap has a taste, and it takes just a day for that flavor to start making its way into the face of the cheese.
The best way to store your cheese is in cheese paper. The next best thing (and probably the easier way) is to wrap your cheese first in parchment or waxed paper, and then loosely in plastic wrap or a plastic baggie. This method provides a bit of breathability for the cheese without it drying out.
• Place the parchment or waxed paper flat on your counter with the wedge on top, and then bring the edges of the paper up and around the cheese, creasing as you go to make neat, clean folds. You can use tape to secure if you'd like.
• Label the paper with the cheese variety and date.
• A loose plastic wrap or a plastic bag over the paper generally keeps things tight (and keeps out fridge odors).
• Keep your cheese in the warmest part of the refrigerator, like in your cheese or vegetable drawer. An even better method is to designate a large tupperware container as your cheese home, where all of your cheese pieces can live.
• But don't forget about your cheese once it's in your refrigerator! Ideally, you should buy as much cheese as you think you'll consume in one to two sittings. Try bringing home small quantities more often so that so that you don't have to store it, since home refrigeration preys on those uneaten, forgotten wedges.
When I was married, we would have fondue once or twice a month. One of the habits was to always start it with 2-3oz of Gruyere. It wasn't always available at the markets, so we'd buy the typical ~ .1/2lb block, third it, saran wrapping each of the two unused portions, plastic bagging them, and into the freezer.
4ltr
But don’t forget about your cheese...
Yeah this is not usually a problem even with my memory problems.
Right now I do have three cheeses that are out of date but haven’t made myself throw away yet. One is an Irish cheddar cheese that is in the fridge that loves to freeze everything so could be okay still even if not the best texture. Can’t tell until I open the package. This one could be closer to two years out of date.
I have a Collier’s Powerful Welsh Cheddar with a date of May 9 2013. Yes that is the name on the package and is from Wales.
Then there is the Cheddar with Chocolate with June 26 2013 date. I had bought two of these and that one was really sharp when it was in date I can only imagine what this one will be like. Clear package and I see no signs of mold and still tight vac seal. From the UK.
All bought at Aldi’s for probably $3.99 or less.
I like their smoked Gouda which is $2.99. That is about as fancy I get with cheese.
I don’t know what the big deal is, I just leave it in the spray can in came in.
I’ve been wrapping it in aluminum foil after opening the plastic wrap it came in. Has worked pretty well.
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