People may often find that some of their food has gone sour before they have got round to eating it.
Many do a weekly food shop, but not all foods can last until the next week. Products such as bread, fruit and veg and cheese are known for not only going stale, but also growing mould.
Cheese items in particular seem to have become a luxury for many households as prices for a small block have soared in recent months. With that in mind, you must know how to store it for it to last as long as possible.
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Here are a few ways to store your cheese to ensure it lasts as long as possible, is mould-free and still tastes great, as reported by The Express.
Double-wrapped
Patricia Michelson of La Fromagerie, London said you’ll have “problems if you don’t follow a few basics”. She suggests double-wrapping cheese - in “waxed paper or baking parchment”, not cling film.
The wrapped cheese should then be kept in a “plastic container lined with a dampened kitchen towel or cloth”. The container needs to be airtight and placed into the fridge as this is where the temperature is usually the most constant. The cheese will keep for as long as it takes to eat it.
Sugar cubes
There’s another method Patricia recommends, and she calls it the “magic/science part”. She suggests putting two “bog-standard sugar cubes in with the cheese, then seal and refrigerate”.
The sugar helps to regulate the atmosphere inside the box, keeping the cheese fresher. Over time, the sugar will start to melt, but Patricia says “you’ll have [probably] used the cheese before that happens”.
If not, clean the box, replace the damp cloth and put the cheese back in with two new sugar cubes, she told The Guardian.
Oil
Instead of using cling film or wax paper, experts at Delish suggest rubbing a little flavourless olive or vegetable oil onto the surface of the cheese. The oil prevents the cheese from hardening or potentially growing mould. The cheese can be placed in a container, or on a plate in the fridge without being covered.
Location in fridge
If you have space, use the vegetable drawers to store cheese. There is balanced humidity in the veg drawers and this area is more likely to keep at a constant temperature.
As well as this, the cheese will be kept away from the back of the fridge where it can potentially frost and cause the cheese to freeze. Some fridges have a special cheese compartment, so utilise this.
Freeze
For anyone who can’t consume their cheese before the use-by date Sarah Taylor, food hygiene expert at High Speed Training previously told Express.co.uk to freeze cheese. She said: “This will extend the shelf life of it, but the process of freezing cheese will affect the texture, and the flavour of the product.
"Cheeses that have a high moisture content, for example soft cheeses like brie and camembert, risk forming ice crystals when frozen, and the low temperatures can also suck the moisture out of them, causing them to dry out.
“It is not recommended that you freeze any cheese you want to enjoy eating on a cheeseboard, however freezing a block of cheddar that you intend to grate and use as an ingredient in your cauliflower cheese recipe is fine. If you do decide to freeze cheese, wrap it in waxed cheese paper or baking parchment and place in an airtight container before popping it in the freezer, and use within six months.”
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