How do I store cheese properly?

Cheese is alive, and it continues to change in the fridge. It needs a little air exchange and a stable, not-too-cold temperature. Cling film gives it neither, which is why supermarket-wrapped cheese deteriorates so quickly once opened.

What you'll need

• Waxed or greaseproof paper
• A box or container (optional)

Step by step

1. Unwrap cling film as soon as you get it home.Plastic makes cheese sweat and taints the flavour. Rewrapping in paper takes a minute and makes a real difference.
2. Wrap in waxed paper, greaseproof or a cheese paper.It lets the cheese breathe while stopping it drying out. This is what cheesemongers use.
3. Put the wrapped cheese in a loosely closed box.It holds humidity around the cheese without sealing it airtight, which is the balance you want.
4. Keep it in the warmest part of the fridge.The salad drawer or the top shelf. Very cold temperatures dull the flavour and dry the texture.
5. Keep strong and mild cheeses separate.Blue cheese in particular will transfer both its aroma and its mould to everything near it.
6. Bring it to room temperature before eating.Thirty minutes to an hour. Cold cheese tastes of very little — this is the single biggest improvement to how cheese tastes.
7. Handle mould according to type.On hard cheese, cut at least 2cm around and below and the rest is fine. On soft, fresh or crumbly cheese, discard the whole piece.
8. Freeze only cheese destined for cooking.Freezing ruins the texture of anything you would eat as it is, but grated cheese for cooking freezes perfectly well.

Tips

• Waxed cheese paper is inexpensive and reusable a few times. Greaseproof paper is a perfectly good substitute.
• Store the rind intact — it protects the cheese. Cut from the piece rather than trimming the rind off in advance.
• Very hard cheeses such as parmesan keep for months. Soft and fresh cheeses are the ones with a short window.

Common mistakes

• Storing cheese in cling film — It suffocates the cheese, makes it sweat, and transfers a plastic taste. Paper is better in every respect.
• Keeping cheese in the coldest part of the fridge — Excessive cold dulls flavour and dries the texture. The salad drawer is warmer and more humid, which suits it.
• Cutting mould off soft cheese — Mould threads run through soft, high-moisture cheese. Unlike hard cheese, it cannot be trimmed away safely.

Questions people ask