Cheese - keeping it fresh

Hi!

What I would love to know is this: How do you keep your cheese in the fridge? Stuff like Camembert I keep in cling film. Works ok. But what do you do with hard cheeses, for instance with Emmentaler or Manchego? I would also love to know the best way to keep a big block of Parmesan fresh in my fridge. Any ideas? Very much obliged,
MajorB

Use paper. I have a huge block of parmesan in our fridge. Importantly, do not touch it with your hands. Only cut a bit off using a clean knife, otherwise mould will start to grow. Camambert needs to breathe too so leave it in its box, or in paper and don;t cling it. It can smell though! I have seen air tight boxes in department stores for this but am yet to buy one. I think this could do the trick.

wrapping it in a paper towel that has a few dabs of vinegar on it also helps. I think that parmesan doesn't freeze too badly actually. If you grate it up and put it into baggies, it'll be fresh enough to combine in sauces and such.

You don't really have to worry about firm and hard cheeses like cheddar, Emmentaler, peccorino or parmesan. Wrap 'em in cling film to keep them from drying out and if mould grows on them (which is normal), cut it off using one of those cheese slicer/server spatulas. The moulds which grow on these cheeses don't get much past the surface.

Soft and semi-soft cheeses are another matter -- they just don't keep well once cut open, whether gorgonzola, brie or chervre.

woof.

Thanks for the replies so far!

What kind of paper? Can one buy a special kind of paper like they seem to have only in the cheese departments of big deparment stores? Or would any paper do? What does the vinegar do?

I currently use the BadDoggie-method of wrapping them in cling film and cutting away the mold. But parmesan dries out so quickly and it gets very hard to cut after a while. I shop at Metro for cheese, they are the cheapest. They sell parmesan in huge blocks. Literaly cost about a quarter of the normal price. But then I have a huge piece of parmesan in my fridge and, although I cook Italian quite often, it still takes me forever to use it all. I hate throwing away food and would love to be able to use all of it.

I also don't want to grate the whole bit and put it in bags. I do think it will make a difference to the freshness, although I might be wrong about this. The special containers ML mentioned I will go check out.

The vinegar prevents mold from growing so quickly. And if you are mixing into a sauce, I really don't think you are going to be able to taste the difference between fresh and frozen parmesan. If you are having it on a salad, perhaps.

Alternatively, get a few friends together and split your big block of cheese and the bill.

Sorry, waxed paper. The type they give you at good cheese shops. Ask for a few extra sheets. Some may sell it separately too. I will have a look next time I am shopping.

@mellelisa

I have looked and looked for that waxed paper and haven't found it anywhere. If you do find it, please tell us!

I would not store Parmesan in a plastic wrap...it is sure to dry out almost overnight. Store in wax paper and many sites recommend further wrapping it in aluminum foil to protect from light??? But that seems a bit dubious as the light is off in the fridge normally!

You wanna essplpain that one? I'd love to know how water-proof, vapor-proof plastic wrap would let cheese dry and yet loosely wrapped waxed (or plastic-lined) paper would protect the stuff. Does not compute.

I think you've been in Germany too long and have started thinking like a native.

woof.

To be honest, I can't think of a specific reason why having wax surround the cheese makes a difference, But I find that it does. Maybe this is also the reason why so many rinds are made of wax rather than plastic (aside from the edibility). However, my choice is due to empiric evidence under observation. I used the wax paper from the cheese shop where I bought the parmesan and used my plastic wrap from a generic source. The wax paper kept the cheese much longer than the plastic wrap. Personally I don't like buying large amounts of parmesan because I feel that there is a definite difference between old and fresh parmesan. Usually I try not to store it in the refrigerator and use it within two days.

In my experience, cheese wrapped in plastic foil smells of ammonia after a few days, and cheese wrapped in alu foil dissolves the foil! Waxed paper is probably the only way to wrap it. We have a Tupperware thing which works amazingly well for all cheeses without wrapping them - keeps them moist without smells. But you can only buy it at a T-party.

Or from eBay.

I heard that it's better to use aluminium/aluminum foil than cling film/wrap as cling film/wrap can make the cheese sweaty.

Eat it, does that help?

Bloody right!

Go out into the woods, and collect some oak or walnut tree leaves. Wrap your camambert up in these leaves quite well, and leave in a dark box in the cellar for storage...

Jeeeez. Plastic wrap is fine. I personally hate clingfilm, because I always rip off too much, and end up with a loose ball of polythene wrapped 50 times around stuff. I just dump cheese in a small plastic food bag thang, and then chuck it in a big box that I have all the cheese in. If it goes mouldy, I simply use that wonderful of gadgets, the knife, and remove the skank. Camembert and brie and shit are nicer fresher IMO, as is goats cheese for me, though I have eaten some worm ridden, half rotten piece of shit wrapped in some leaves or other with some weird old dude in a shed in France somewhere. French eat weird shit though.

@Don Riina
But my mega-block of Parmesan will still dry out in time! The tupperware thingy looks too big for my fridge. I'd prefer the wax paper solution. Do you perhaps know where to buy wax paper?

Honestly, it will dry out just as quick in wax paper as in clingfilm. You've got a few weeks at best either way.
If you really wanna store it for longer, somebody suggested grating and freezing. I can also say that this is pretty good.

Here's an article from Real Simple on How to Handle Cheese. According to the article:

Im not allowed to post the magazine codes anymore but here's a hint, its the name for the upcoming US turkey holiday.

ps: me personally, I eat my cheese within a few days. it never seems to last long no matter what kind it is.

I have a block of parmesan in the fridge which we bought from a very rustic cheese shop in the dolomites at the end of Sept and it is still going strong. Wax paper, and not contaminating it does the trick. I haven't noticed a huge loss in flavour yet.

All of you, thanks so much for all the info! And if The Don, our forum chef, says that grating the cheese like Showem first suggested doesn't impair the taste, then so be it. I am grating it and putting in into little bags. Still wouldn't mind finding a place that sells wax paper though.

It does effect the taste..therwise they would sell it preground for people. It depends how important the taste is to you and what your uses for it is.

They do sell it preground.

Then buy the preground cheese and flavour your powdered soup with it with your prepackaged spaghetti pomodora.

Ha.Ha.Ha.

I use it on top of freshly cooked pasta and salads. I never grate it directly into sauce. I don't like cheesy sauces for pasta. Prefer a tomato base for pasta.

I actually aways used the powdered form on pizzas in the US...don't know hwy as it never tasted good, but I can't get certain traditions out of me!

'Course you're gonna loose some flavour by not grating it freshly - but grated cheese when frozen and defrosted is better than the bizzarre powdered product by an insanely large order of magnitude.
I've actually got half a queso manchego in the fridge right now, so I am going to nick off and fodder some before it goes dry..

Tangentially, here's how you can make your own cheese.

woof.

Wrap the cheese in Butterbrotpapier - it's waxed paper which doesn't make your cheese sweaty (well it is made for wrapping sandwiches) and is the same stuff that many cheese sellers use.
Toppits is just one brand, you can buy own brand versions which are identical.

Glad you pointed that out, I was having a look for wax paper at the weekend and saw ButterBrotPapierbeside the other wraps. Wondered if it would do the same thing. Shall bear it in mind.

@Katrina and ML

I was also out looking for the stuff on the weekend. Went to Karstadt and Gallerie Kaufhof @ Marienplatz. Saw the Butterbrotpapier, but didn't think that would be waxed? I have these little Butterbrotbeutel and they are definitely not waxed. That's why I have refrained from buying the Butterbrotpapier up to now. I saw something called a "Käseglocke" @ Karstadt, but wasn't convinced either. M'kay, I'll get some Butterbrotpapier then. If it's useless I would have only wasted 2 Euros.