How to keep cheese fresh? From cheddar, mozzarella to Stilton, no matter your preference of cheese or how strong your love of this dairy substance is, there is a challenge that many cheese lovers will all face. Difficult to store, the strong odour of cheese can taint many other ingredients in the fridge.
Along with leaving a lasting pong, cheese can be a tricky and tiring ingredient to store.
Going stale and loosing its lovable tang shortly after the wrapper has been opened, learning how to accurately store cheese is a must for all cheese lovers!
We have thought long and hard about how best to store your favourite cheese and believe that by following these top tips and using these recommend tools, you too can have delicious cheese whenever the mood strikes.
Never use clingfilm
There is one rule that all cheese lovers must obey and that is to never wrap their cheese in cling film or any other plastic wrap. By wrapping your cheese in a plastic wrapping, along with suffocating those delicate flavours that make up your favourite cheese, within a few days, the oils and fat within the cheese will absorb a plastic flavour, tainting those delicate flavours of the cheese.
Read on for more ways on how to keep cheese fresh!
Wrap loosely
When wrapping with either cheese bags or our fantastically versatile Beeswax Wraps, we advise that you wrap your cheese loosely. By loosely wrapping your cheese, along with allowing your cheese to breathe, you are also less likely to kill those vital flavours that can be dried when too tightly wrapped.
Parchment paper
When wrapping your cheese and are unable to find your cheese paper or beeswax wraps close to hand, we recommend using parchment paper.
If you do choose to use parchment paper to wrap your cheese, we advise wrapping the cheese in parchment paper before placing into a partly sealed plastic food bag. This allows you to wrap and keep the cheese and parchment paper dry for moisture when placed back into the fridge.
Replace the paper every time you use
When using cheese paper or parchment paper, there is one rule that you should take into consideration. Every time you remove the cheese from the fridge and unwrap, we advise that you change the paper. This rule is particularly important to follow with such cheeses that have a tendency to sweat as those reused, dirty paper wraps will prevent your cheese from continuing to breathe, causing your cheese to go stale much quicker.
Soft cheeses should be stored inside a container
How to keep cheese fresh when it’s a soft type? When it comes to soft cheeses such as mozzarella and ricotta, the rules for storing these soft cheeses are different. Instead of turning to a cheese wrap, instead keep these cheeses sealed inside a container, or better yet, the container that you purchased them in.
Put a label on it
When it comes to enjoying cheese, the fresher the cheese the more enjoyable it is to savour. By placing a label with the different type of cheese, but also the date that you opened the cheese, you can keep an eye on how old the cheese is, while reminding yourself to consume it before it gets too old!
The ideal environment
When it comes to storing cheese, no matter whether you wrap it in a cheese wrap or in its original container, making sure that it is stored in the accurate temperature is a must for fresh cheese. The ideal temperature for storing cheese should be between 1.5°C – 7°C, while some cheese lovers swear to storing it on the vegetable shelf, keeping it as far away from the freezer as possible.
Oil it up
For all those eco warriors and households across the UK wanting to banish the use of unnecessary plastic, you can continue to do so when it comes to storing your cheese. By using olive oil or vegetable oil and rubbing the outer of the cheese with the oil before placing in an airtight container in the fridge, you can prevent mould from growing on your cheese. Any mould that later grows onto the oiled cheese, will grow on the oil instead of the cheese and can be removed with a rinse before eating.
Buy in small amounts
Along with most fresh groceries, the key to enjoying fresh ingredients is by buying in small quantities and consuming long before their expiry date. With cheese, by finishing a pack shortly after opening, you can be confident in a full flavour and the tangy flavours that you enjoy so deeply.
If you liked our top tips on how you too can keep your cheese fresher for longer, head over to our blog for more ideas that you can incorporate into your kitchen.
As mentioned in our blog, a reliable airtight container and the fantastically versatile Beeswax Wraps are essential for fresh cheese storage.
Perfectly wrapped around your slab of cheese, Beeswax Wrap is made from natural and organic materials and can be used for keeping a large selection of food fresher for longer. Allowing your cheese to naturally breathe when in storage, for a wide selection of Beeswax Wraps in a range of sizes, head over to our website to shop our collection today.
Also available to be purchased from Dexam and that is our airtight Sistema Freshworks containers. Keeping your food fresher for longer, air vents have been included, acting as a long-lasting filter while allowing your cheese to breathe when placed into the fridge.
Keeping food 80% fresher than when stored in their original packaging, an elevated crisp tray has been included to prevent the build-up of moisture and prevent spoilage.
For reliable food storage, allowing your food to breathe while remaining fresher for longer, head over to our website for airtight protection when you need it most.