How to Store Cheese by Joanne

Cheese. Glorious cheese. It’s so easy to remember the time in my life when I fell head over heels in love with cheese.

Sure, I had my fair share of grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza when I was a kid, but I’m talking about when I fell in love with all cheese. It happened when my husband and I took a trip to Paris many years ago.

In the US, it’s not uncommon to see cheese plates as an option for the dessert course, but it’s something I had never elected to choose. Cheese over cake? Nope.

But when my husband and I were in Paris, cheese courses were often part of the prix fixe menus, so you didn’t have the option to not have cheese. Well, unless we decided to just not eat it, but we certainly weren’t going to do that.

That was the time we fell in love with the fancier cheeses and the many varieties to choose from. Goat cheese, blue cheese, brie, gouda, and everything in between. We were opened to a whole new world of cheese.

When we got back to the US, I went to Whole Foods and spent $100 on cheese. It’s like I had been missing out all my life!

 
 

In today’s post I’m going to share some tips for how to store cheese, so you can treat your precious cheese well and keep it fresh for as long as possible. There are many types of cheeses and there are some differences in how they’re stored.

 
 

Feta

Feta usually comes in blocks stored in its own brine, and you want to store any leftover cheese in the brine it comes in. If kept this way, feta usually keeps for about a month.

If you don’t have enough brine, resist the urge to store the cheese in water, as this will pull salt and flavor out of the cheese.

According to a test from Cook’s Illustrated, olive oil is the best option for coating feta cheese if you don’t have the original brine. I’ve always made a point to buy block feta in brine, instead of feta crumbles, to keep that issue from coming up.

 
 

Blue Cheese Crumbles

Blue cheese crumbles often come in airtight plastic tubs, which is where you want to keep them. But I wanted to share that blue cheese is one of the few cheeses that I find to freeze well.

Blue cheese crumbles last for one week in the refrigerator before turning south, so if I get too much, I’ll stick some of it in the freezer for later use. Just thaw in the fridge for a few hours when you’re ready to use it.

 
 

Goat Cheese

Goat cheese often comes in these peel-apart plastic wrappers, and once opened, should be used within two weeks.

 
 

After the goat cheese package is opened, I like to move leftovers to a piece of wax paper instead of the original packaging, which can’t be resealed.

 
 

Roll it up tightly and twist the edges like a candy wrapper.

 
 

Pre-shredded cheese

It’s not a fine cheese, but I thought it’d be worth mentioning that pre-shredded cheeses generally have a short fridge life, about 5 days. But leftovers freeze well. Pre-shredded cheese store best in the package they came in, sealed tightly, so the cheese shreds don’t dry out.

 
 

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh pulled mozzarella has the shortest shelf life of all. I find it really only keeps for a few days.

 
 

Fresh mozzarella is best kept in the plastic wrap it comes in. I found that the interior plastic of this package was even a little bit salty, so it had a little bit of its own liquid on the outside of the ball.

Make sure not to store mozzarella in water, as this will pull salt and flavor out of the cheese.

 
 

Cheddar and Jack

Cheddar and Jack cheeses store best when wrapped in wax or cheese paper, then in plastic wrap. The paper layer (instead of plastic) directly outside the cheese allows it to breathe, release byproduct odors, and minimize growth of new bacterias on the surface.

 
 

The plastic wrap on the outside prevents the cheddar from drying out. I’ve found that if the cheese is only stored in paper, it dries out quickly, so plastic wrap is important to add.

When I order cheddar from the grocery store, the wax paper + plastic wrap setup pictured above is how it’s delivered.

 
 

Parmesan and Pecorino Romano

The same wrapping principles go for Parmesan cheeses, Pecorino Romano, Grana Padano, and other hard cheeses.

 
 

When the cheese gets delivered to me, it comes wrapped in paper, then wrapped in plastic.

These cheeses will typically keep in the fridge for 1–2 months.

 
 

You can purchase designated cheese paper for storing, but any sort of kitchen paper will suffice. I usually use wax paper, pictured above, or brown baking paper.

 
 

Hope these tips help you keep your cheese fresher longer. Enjoy!