Storing and Serving Cheese at Home

  You’ve bought cheese at your local grocery store and now that’s it home, how do you care for it best to keep it fresh and “happy?

Here are a few tips to help you extend the life of your cheese.

Storing and Serving Cheese at Home:

• When convenient, buy smaller pieces, more often.
• Remove from plastic stretch wrap when you get it home. Wrap cheese in cheese paper, waxy or parchment paper and store separately in zip bags, leaving a small part of the zip open to allow the cheese to breathe. Cheese is alive; do not wrap in plastic at home.
• Store in a warmer part of the refrigerator such as the produce bin at the bottom or in door.
• Surface-ripened or blue cheese should be stored in a separate plastic container away from other cheeses.
• If a surface develops mold, trim the mold off and eat the rest of the cheese within two days. If the mold is coal-black or pink, throw it away or return to retailer if still within “Use by” date code.
• Always serve cheese at room temperature. Let it sit out for an hour before serving. Like ice cream that tastes better when soft, cheese’s flavors blossom as it reaches room temperature.
• When creating a cheese board, serve an odd number of cheeses because they present better. Have different knives for each cheese and accompanying condiment.
• The recommended serving size is one half-ounce to one ounce per cheese per person.

I recommend using Formaticum Cheese Paper of Bags for storing your cheeses at home. While you should buy smaller pieces, more often; Formaticum products extend the life of your cheese at home. The pictures on this page are pictures of their products.

Blue cheese stores better in aluminum foil.

In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.

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