What is the best/correct way to store cheese? (like Gryuere, Appenzeller, etc.)
I put it in the fridge in a plastic tupperware box, but water was condensing inside, and something didn't seem right (does it need to "breathe"?). I'm just wrapping it in a plastic bag and leaving it in the fridge, and it seems a little better now.
But really, what is the "right" way to store cheese?
I was watching something about this on TV the other day: apparently the 'best' way is to wrap it in waxed paper. A cool place is probably better than a fridge.
whenever i wanted to bring some cheese with me, the seller wud put the cheese in an airtight plastic bag.. i think u can find a similar machine to buy in fust electronics?
You can buy a plastic cheese box from Migros. It looks like a small bread box and it has a blue base. When you buy your cheese get it at the counter amd make sure that they wrap it in the special cheese paper NOT the cling foil or waxed paper. You then keep the cheese in the paper and in the cheese box "from Migros". all in the refrigerator. I have found this to be the best way and I have never yet had any mould on the cheese.
actually it depends of the cheese.... (and how fast you eat it....)
I will never put a good gruyère in the fridge, it's in a waxed paper, in a fresh place near my kitchen. Some cheeses need to breath and to live to get their best *flavoring*
I stick all my cheese - Pegorino, Parmagiano and all the hard/strong Swiss cheese etc down in the celler/ basement where they can breathe and dry out a little (but not too much) as they tend to sweat out all the natural oils/fat, I keep them in waxed paper, and once they have gone hard much easier to grate and they taste sharper.
I recommend covering the cut surfaces with cling film if you want to keep it for a week or more, but not the rind (otherwise it will sweat). Once a piece of cheese has been cut it wants to grow a new rind over the cut surface, if your cheese does develop a bloom on the cut surface just scrape it off. Waxed paper is good for a few days but it will allow oxygen to reach the surface and will therefore dry out quicker.
The biggest threat to cheese is drying out, it doesn't need to be kept very cold (but soft cheeses will last longer in a fridge, and it will be safer for soft, blue or raw milk cheeses). Hard cheeses are generally matured at 10 - 12 degrees or more, sometimes for up to 2 years, so a week or so in a cool cellar or cupboard will not harm them.
I always recommend buying smaller pieces of cheese on a more regular basis, let the cheese shop worry about keeping it long term at the right quality.