Of course, we love cheese here at Shisler’s Cheese House! But that doesn’t stop with helping you to pick the right cheese for your recipe or cheeseboard. Today, we’re going to help you learn how to store cheese properly so that it lasts as long as possible and keeps its flavor.

How to Store Cheese: Temperature

You want to store your cheese at a cold, stable temperature. Some refrigerators have a designated cheese drawer, so if you have one of these then definitely take advantage of it. Otherwise, the vegetable crisper is a good place to keep cheese as it won’t be so affected by the changing temperatures in the rest of the fridge.

You could also use a large plastic container to store your cheese all together. Again, this creates a stable temperature.

How to Store Cheese: Wrapping

Unfortunately, keeping cheese in plastic wrapping can make it go off quickly. The plastic can also impart a taste to the cheese in as little time as one day! You do need to wrap it in something, however, to avoid odors from the fridge affecting the taste of the cheese and the cheese odors from affecting other foods.

If you have purchased cheese that is wrapped in plastic, unwrap it first. The best thing that you can wrap cheese in is a waxed paper or baking parchment. Wrap the cheese tightly and secure with tape if you need to. Even better, buy from a cheese shop that does this for you so that you know your cheese hasn’t been kept in plastic for a long time!

For fresh cheeses that might come in water, such as mozzarella or feta, we recommend keeping them in their original packaging. However, you might want to change their water periodically to keep them super fresh.

How to Store Cheese: Labelling

It’s good practice to label your cheese with its name and the date that you purchased it. This helps you to keep track of any cheese that needs using up, helps you to find them easily without unwrapping every cheese, and avoids any confusion between similar cheeses.

How to Store Cheese: Other Tips

• Try not to buy too much cheese at once. This will help prevent you from needing to store too much cheese and help you to avoid food waste.
• Check out our other blog posts for hundreds of ideas to use up pieces of cheese that you have left over.
• Did you know that you can freeze cheese? It’s true! Hard, aged cheeses will freeze best. They need to be fully sealed in airtight bags or containers to keep them at their best. Some cheeses will go through a change in texture after defrosting, so this is best for cheese that you might cook with, rather than blocks for your cheeseboard. You can also grate cheese before freezing it. Label everything and use it within three months.

We hope that these tips have helped you to learn how to store cheese properly. Now you can enjoy your cheese at its best!