If the cheese gets stale, browned, or cracked before it expires, you’re probably storing it incorrectly, but the cheese stays fresh for much longer if you take a few minutes to store it properly.
Cheese is an essential ingredient in the kitchen, making all of our favorite comfort dishes like pasta and toast, but it can be frustrating if it goes bad prematurely.
Many people do not realize that cheese is a rather sensitive food and can mold if stored in too much moisture. On the other hand, if the cheese is exposed to too much air, it can become brittle and hard.
But Erika Kubick, a former cheesemaker and cookbook author, shared the biggest mistake of storing cheese: storing it in plastic wrap from the supermarket.
Erika said: “Erika Kubickas is very careful because he is very careful when it comes to packing it in the fridge: “The cheese is alive and breathable, which means it needs oxygen and moisture to stay fresh and tasty.
“I know that it is convenient to store cheese simply in the plastic packaging in which it was brought, but it is just as easy to take care of it properly. Storing cheese properly is very easy and only takes a few minutes of real effort.”
Keeping cheese wrapped in plastic wrap removes all air from it and suffocates it, making it more likely that the cheese will be less aromatic and can become as hard as a brick.
Plastic also creates a very humid environment, so if too much moisture builds up in the cheese, the cheese can become slimy and mold can start to grow.
The best way to keep cheese fresh is to remove the plastic wrap as soon as possible, but best of all, as soon as you get back from the store.
Then simply wrap the cheese in baking paper or, if you wish, you can buy a special reusable cheese paper in which you can store the cheese.
Make sure the cheese hasn’t been left open, as it can dry out quickly in the fridge and get that scary layer of tasteless crust.
If you notice a hard crust on the cheese, simply cut it off with a knife to keep the cheese fresh.
Erika said: “You can also wrap the cheese in parchment or meat paper. Then wrap it loosely in a Ziploc bag. Before unzipping, make sure that there is still some air in the bag so that the cheese has enough oxygen and moisture. Your cheese should stay tasty, fresh, and has a great texture much longer than usual.
“The exact shelf life of your cheese depends on its type, as fresh cheeses like ricotta will always only last for a few days, while rind cheeses, aged cheeses, and blue cheese will stay fresh for weeks.”
