How to store cheese

© E.FICHOU / CNIEL

Life

Do not keep cheese for too long, and as far as possible, try to buy them as and when you want to eat them. The best place to keep cheese is ideally a place that is dark, cool, and aired. In practice, the vegetable compartment of your fridge could act as a cheese cellar, because it is the most humid and least cold part (between 4 and 8°C).

Cheese containers

Cheeses should not be dehydrated. In order to conserve all of the aromas, avoid using airtight containers or packaging. Keep them in wooden boxes, in their original packaging, or in greaseproof or paraffin paper or even wrapped in a cloth. Pressed cheeses are best kept in aluminium foil.

Do not stick cheeses to each other or this might result in traces of one cheese being found on others. Wrap each cheese individually for it to retain its own flavour.

Separate storage

Do not keep cheese near food that has a strong smell (melon, for example) because the cheese absorbs its odour, and vice versa – it leaves its smell on all foods nearby that contain fat.

Preparation

Cheeses should be taken out of the refrigerator at least one hour before serving so that they can develop aromas and flavours and regain their original textures. Cheese that is too cold loses a lot of its flavour.