How should cheese be stored?

Cheese can suffer in both directions in the refrigerator: left too open it dries out, kept too closed it sits in moisture. The right way to store it depends on the type of cheese and on how soon it will be eaten.

What is the problem with cheese in the refrigerator?

A refrigerator is a dry place and it draws the moisture off the surface of cheese over time. A cheese left out hardens at the edges within a few days and loses its texture.

In a fully airtight container the opposite happens. The moisture that builds up inside cannot get out and wetness forms on the surface of the cheese; that creates conditions which speed spoilage up.

What you want is a balance: a setting that breathes but does not dry. That balance is struck by wrapping the cheese in cheese paper or wax paper and then putting it into a loosely closed container.

How does brined cheese keep?

Cheeses sold in brine, such as beyaz peynir (Turkish white cheese), keep best for the longest when they are stored in their own liquid. Cheese taken out of the liquid both dries and changes in taste, because its salt balance is disturbed.

When the brine runs low, lightly salted water can be prepared and added. Adding plain water draws the salt out of the cheese and softens its texture so that it falls apart.

Using a clean fork when taking cheese out of the jar makes a difference as well. A used fork can cause the whole jar to spoil sooner.

What changes with hard cheeses?

Hard, aged cheeses keep better but are more open to drying out. They hold their texture best when they are wrapped in wax paper and kept in the least cold part of the refrigerator.

Covering the cut face is especially important. The cut face is where the cheese meets the air; left unwrapped, it hardens and changes color within a few days.

Dried edges do not have to be thrown out. They can be grated into pasta, soup or a baked dish; in those uses the dryness is not a problem.

What do you do when you see mold?

On hard cheeses, mold that appears on the surface can be cut away with a wide margin and the rest used. The firm structure makes it harder for mold to go deep.

With soft and fresh cheeses the situation is different. In these, mold does not stay at the surface; they cannot be saved by cutting part of them away and are thrown out entirely.

Blue cheeses fall completely outside this scope; in them the mold is part of the product itself and is an expected quality.

In how many days is it eaten?

How long cheese keeps changes noticeably with its type; fresh cheeses stay usable for a short time, aged and hard cheeses for much longer.

So when shopping, buying small pieces of two different types instead of one large piece is more useful in most homes. You get more variety and each one is eaten within its own time.

Writing the opening date on the package is a common habit as well. A package whose opening day is known is used far more comfortably than one you have to guess at.

Keeping a single box in the refrigerator set aside for cheeses completes the arrangement. When they all sit together, which one needs finishing first is clear at a glance.

What is the link between serving and taste?

The taste of cheese does not fully come out while it is cold. Cheese taken out of the refrigerator a while before it goes to the table tastes noticeably different from cheese served straight from the cold.

This is most noticeable in aged and hard cheeses. Their aroma opens up as they warm and their texture softens; the same cheese can be perceived as two different products.

The part brought to the table but not eaten can go back into the refrigerator. But repeating that every time wears the texture out; so deciding in advance how much to bring to the table gives a better result.

This is the detail most often missed at breakfast tables. Taking as much as that meal needs onto a plate, instead of bringing the whole package to the table, both protects the cheese and makes the measure visible.