Let's hear your tips for storing cheese

[Robin Garr]

I was surfing last night and ran across a geeky but interesting article in Serious Eats about storing cheese, and that led me to ruminate on how I do it and what obvious tricks and tips I might be missing. I'm afraid I have a bad habit of hitting Lotsa Pasta or Whole Foods or other decent cheese shops and buying more than I can eat before it gets hard or molds.

I notice that they give a bunch of reasons not to wrap it tightly in plastic, which conforms with my experience: When I bring home a shrink-wrapped chunk and take the saran-type wrap off, I find that the cheese often smells like plastic for a while before it gets over it. So, off it comes, and quickly it goes into an airtight container, either a plastic tub with a snap lid or a glass jar with a screw top, then into the fridge. (I do take it out long enough before dinner to let it come back up to room temp, though.

Serious Eats calls for wrapping it in wax paper, with an almost OCD set of instructions on how to do that. Seems a bit much for me. And they say it will keep for only "5 to 8 days" before hardening, which is troublesome. I want me cheese to last a lot longer than that!

There's also the issue of mold, which I try to combat by never handling the cheese without washing my hands very well first. But if it does get a moldy patch, I generally just cut off the blue corner and maybe a little "safety zone" around it and enjoy the rest. Some pople toss the whole chunk if a little mold spot appears, but that seems like overreaction to me. It's penicillin, right?

So, hit the link above if you like, or just launch right in: What, other than just eating it all up fast, are your best tips for keeping a plethora of cheese in prime condition?

With most cheese, I've had the best luck with either wax paper or purpose-made cheese paper (got that as a stocking stuffer last year for Christmas). I have to say that my wrapping technique is not nearly as developed as what they show on the website, and I have tended to seal up the Ziploc when it's gone into one of those. I'll have to try their tip on leaving the Ziploc unsealed. 5 - 8 days is probably as good as I've been able to do with soft cheese.

The exception to this is Parmigiano, which does go into a Ziploc. I don't seem to note any off-flavors with it and it last a good long time before it dries out unacceptably.

I haven't read the link, Robin, so forgive me if I'm treading over already trodden ground: one of the more important aspects of cheese storage to me is the temperature (and humidity) at which you store them. If I buy a large quantity of a cheese, I'll store it in the wine cellar, wrapped in paper. The only cheese that goes into the fridge is either fresh (mozzarella and its ilk) or destined for short term usage. The Parmigiano Reggiano sits in the cellar prior to grating. In the cellar, dessication isn't a big problem and mold, as you suggest, is easily dealt with. I've kept cheese down there for a few months in the winter.

Mark Lipton

For several years now, I have used the Food Saver for all my hard and semi-hard cheese. I swear by it....no more mold, or spoiled cheese. When I want to use it, I unseal, take it out of the Food Saver bag and let come to room temp. Flavor is perfect. I have not found a cheese this will not work with. Of course, I do not use this with fresh mozz, or other soft cheeses. Goat cheese I buy in small amounts and use it up in a reasonable time frame.

the safest place is inside you.

the safest place is inside you.

Ah, but waiting to access it might get a bit tricky! And dangerous...

I guess I'm in the 'eat it quick' school. I don't own fancy cheese paper and I don't even use the wax paper I do own.

A baggie seems to be good enough for a couple days.

I guess I'm in the 'eat it quick' school. I don't own fancy cheese paper and I don't even use the wax paper I do own.

A baggie seems to be good enough for a couple days.

Yeah, you hoity-toity New Yawkers can lord it over on those of us who have to travel two hours by car to purchase a Neal's Yard farmhouse Cheddar.

Mark Lipton

Yeah, you hoity-toity New Yawkers can lord it over on those of us who have to travel two hours by car to purchase a Neal's Yard farmhouse Cheddar.

I eat more Maytag Blue than Neal's Yard, my man.

I have had very good luck with simply wrapping almost any cheese in wax paper and then storing it in a Tupperware-or the inexpensive Glad-type container in the pantry drawer in my refrigerator. I place the label from the cheese on the bottom or top of the container, whichever is clearer, so that I know what is in each container without opening it. I do admit to having forgotten some cheese in the back, often the cheese is still not moldy or off-flavored.

Knowing my love of cheese, my AA gave me several boxes of yellowish tinted zip-lock type bags that purport to delay the onset of any mold. I'd like to say they work but considering that cheese never lasts too long at home, I really can't say. Maybe this thread will motivate me to do a test with a hard cheddar and a soft brie. I'll discuss this with my live-in scientist/professor (also my wife).

I'm a wax or parchment guy.
If I have several cheeses I'll use my cheese tower (mesh walls) and put in basement, but for one cheese I just use fridge and put it inside plastic wrap (or tupperware for really soft cheeses), pull out 1-2 hours before meal.
Sometimes I use foil for blue cheeses, somewhere read that was better, never done a side by side but seems to work.

Naturally my view is that of Jeff's, as I'm another hoity toity New Yorker. Very few things stay in our refrigerator longer than one week (wine, mustard, jam, soy sauce, maybe a few other things).

And I suspect Mark can go shopping pretty easily in his car-focused environment!

[Robin Garr]

soy sauce

You keep soy sauce in the fridge?

You keep soy sauce in the fridge?

Preserves freshness.

Of course it was mostly destroyed in the horrible distribution we have for such delicate products. But it's better than leaving it in the warm kitchen.

[Robin Garr]

Preserves freshness.

Of course it was mostly destroyed in the horrible distribution we have for such delicate products. But it's better than leaving it in the warm kitchen.

Hmm ... to be honest, I had never thought of soy sauce as a product in which freshness is a detectable virtue, particularly if you use the standard Kikkoman. Now you've got me worried, Rahsaan. Guess I'll refrigerate my next bottle.

We do go through it pretty fast, though ...

I had never thought of soy sauce as a product in which freshness is a detectable virtue, particularly if you use the standard Kikkoman. Now you've got me worried, Rahsaan. Guess I'll refrigerate my next bottle.

We do go through it pretty fast, though ...

Well soy sauce can be delicate, although I'll readily admit it's hard to find very good stuff in the US. I probably don't need to do it with what I buy. But since I have so much room in the refrigerator from not storing cheese longer than a few days, I figure why not!

I find that cheese keeps just great as long as you buy the kind in individually wrapped slices.

If you are carving a chunk off a block of Velveeta, Saran Wrap is the ticket, and a small piece of that stuck under the screwtop on the Cheez Whiz jar can do wonders.

We tend toward serial fromagery. We don't stock up on a ton of different cheeses. Even for dinners and wine tastings, I tend to eschew the overly catholic tastes of some of my friends, one of whom presents three different trasy with about 8 cheeses each. I opt for 3 - 4 cheeses chosen to complement any wine being served. Thus the 'problem' of keeping cheese is pretty much a non-issue for us.

Sort of like that rather odd question sometimes posted here of what one should do with left over wine. As if anyone fails to drink whatever wine is in any bottle they open. That would be tantamount to shooting a buffalo and taking only the liver, leaving the rest to rot (a common 19th century pastime down South of us, I understand). Reprehensible conduct unbecoming a gentleman (or gentle lady).

I will admit to having some anxiety about opening a certain cheese I was introduced to by Jenise. It comes in a large can (Washington Cougar Gold, perhaps named after the ladies of a certain age that make it?) and one hesitates to open the fairly large can if one isn't in a damned serious cheese consuming mood!

[Jenise]

Never thought of wrapping cheeses in wax paper. Have been fine enough with zip loc bags except for blue cheese, which I've found keeps best wrapped in foil, which breathes a bit.

Never thought of wrapping cheeses in wax paper. Have been fine enough with zip loc bags except for blue cheese, which I've found keeps best wrapped in foil, which breathes a bit.

Foil breathes????

Mark Lipton

Foil breathes????

It's either special semipermeable foil or she is really bad at crimping edges.

[Jenise]

Foil breathes????

It's either special semipermeable foil or she is really bad at crimping edges.

Actually, I think it's exactly this. Foil folds well but I don't try to make it a tightly sealed package, hence it breathes.

Well, I am certain that Food Saver bags do not breathe, since their purpose is to keep oxygen away. I just opened a bag in which I have stored a chunk of Pecorino Romano, and it still tastes just as good as the day I bought it. I must be the only one using a Food Saver to store cheese.

Foil breathes????

It's either special semipermeable foil or she is really bad at crimping edges.

Actually, I think it's exactly this. Foil folds well but I don't try to make it a tightly sealed package, hence it breathes.

I knew what you meant, Jenise, but just thought to give you a hard time. Taken out of context, your statement is quite hilarious. Bill makes a pretty good straight man, I must say. I'll have to bring along a few Abbott and Costello routines the next I time I come a'callin'.

Mark Lipton