Cheese is an essential ingredient in any summer kitchen, no matter if you are melting cheddar to a burger or tossing feta into a zesty salad. However, cheese can be pricey and many people tend to waste their money as it will quickly dry out or even become slimy if you are not storing it properly.
The experts at Over The Moon Dairy has shared a big mistake people make is wrapping cheese in plastic to try and stop it becoming stale as this will also spoil it. It turns out, cheese is quite a delicate food that will quickly dry out and become crusty if exposed to air, but it can also turn mouldy and smelly if it does not get enough air.
The expert said: “By itself, regular plastic wrap does not allow breathability and should not be used to wrap cheese. Cheese is a living, breathing thing, and without proper oxygen, it will suffocate.”
Plastic cling film traps moisture, which will encourage mould growth and cause the cheese to sour and sweat to make it a horrible slimy mess.
However, you should also not wrap cheese up in tinfoil as it allows too much air into the cheese which will cause it to become brick hard, crusty and simply impossible to bite into.
If you want to keep cheese fresh and flavourful, then take it out of any plastic and simple wrap it up in baking paper.
The expert said: “The goal is to let the cheese breathe while keeping it from drying out, so your best bet is to wrap it in a finely porous material, such as cheese paper or baking paper, or breathable plastic wrap made especially for cheese.”
If you want to spend money on specialised cheese storage, that is certainly an option, but baking paper is cheap and just as effective, since it’s a semi-permeable material.
This means baking paper allows a small amount of airflow, which helps maintain the right balance of moisture.
Baking paper keeps the cheese protected from both mould and staleness while also preserving its natural flavour and texture.
All you need to do is wrap up the cheese, and if you intend to keep it fresh for more than a week, then change the baking paper occasionally to stop bacteria.
Then, store cheese in the bottom crisper drawer as it is has the most consistent temperature of the fridge, which stops it sweating or ageing too quickly.
Hard cheeses will stay perfectly tasty for a month, while softer cheeses will be fresh for two to three weeks longer if you store them properly with baking paper.
