Properly stored, some cheeses can last for weeks or even months…unless you succumb to temptation and gobble them up in no time! But if you are able to resist, here is how to properly store your cheeses.
If you are not careful, you can usually store cheese started about 1 week in the refrigerator. Often, this period of time is enough to overcome this delight but, for the most reasonable and the most patient of gourmets, it is also possible to increase the life of your cheese:
- Wrap your cheese well to keep it longer
The goal? Let the cheese breathe while preventing it from drying out. A real challenge! To do this, the cheese is wrapped in a packaging capable of retaining humidity and allowing oxygen to pass through. Exit plastic bags and aluminum foil, we prefer a thin and porous material such as cheese paper, parchment paper, or even a specific plastic envelope. Another option? First wrap the cheese in parchment paper – to prevent it from drying out – then in plastic wrap – which will preserve a little humidity -.
- Where to store cheese in the fridge?
The ideal is undoubtedly to store your cheese cool, between 8°C and 15°C, which corresponds to the temperature of a cool cellar. But not all of us have this type of room. In the refrigerator, not all areas diffuse the same cold. Best location for cheese? The vegetable drawer where the temperature – between 2°C and 4°C – is ideal.
By following these 2 recommendations, hard cheeses can be kept for up to 1 month and the softest cheeses for up to 3 weeks! For optimal tasting, we recommend taking the cheese out of the fridge (or cellar) about 1 hour before eating it.
What is special about these cheeses? They have molds – responsible for their blue coloring – which make them original and have such a characteristic taste! These cheeses can be kept in a cool cellar as well as in the refrigerator, in the vegetable drawer. So far, no difference with other cheeses. On the other hand, for the packaging, we will favor aluminum foil, ideal for the conservation of this type of cheese. As far as possible freezing is concerned, it is better to avoid it when it comes to blue-veined cheeses with mold. Freezing will tend to make the crust of this type of cheese dry and brittle, which may be much less pleasant when tasting!
In the long list of foods that we tend to forget at the back of the fridge, the bag of grated cheese started arrives in a good position! Result ? It becomes all dry or moldy and ends up in the trash, generating its share of food waste! However, by adopting a few good reflexes, it is quite possible to optimize the life of your grated cheese ! If it is a resealable bag, make sure to close it well to prevent the grated cheese from coming into contact with the open air and ambient humidity. If the bag is not resealable, simply transfer the grated cheese to a freezer bag, an airtight box or – more simply – to keep the package tightly closed using a rubber band or pliers! And to optimize the shelf life of grated cheese, we rely on grandmothers’ tips. The simplest is to put a piece of stale bread inside the wrapper to absorb moisture, and swap it out every 2-3 days. Another trick is to place a piece of sugar in contact with the box containing the grated cheese so that it absorbs the humidity.
Can you freeze cheese?
Nothing stands in the way of storing cheese in the freezer. On the contrary, the cheese can then be stored for months! But a few precautions are in order:
- You have to be sure that the cheese you are about to freeze has not already been thawed, at the risk of exposing yourself to food poisoning.
- Each cheese must be individually wrapped in a container suitable for freezing (ideally glass to prevent the plastic from soaking up the smell
- Before consuming it, it is advisable to thaw the cheese in the refrigerator. Take your measures to prevent water from flowing into the rest of the fridge during defrosting!
If all the cheeses can be frozen, this operation succeeds better with those which are less rich in water (like dry goat cheeses and pressed cheeses) but it is better to make portions to make life easier when thawing.
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