How to take care of your cheese when you get it home

A frequently asked question at the shop is how best to store the pieces of cheese that customers buy when they get them home. 

The best conditions to keep cheese is around 5-8°C, ideally somewhere with a little moisture in the air.  The air in most modern houses is too warm and dry, so cheese is usually kept in the refrigerator.  However, the air in the fridge is usually around 1-3°C, and can dry out the cheese quickly.

You can use these ideas to help protect your cheese:

• Make sure the cheese is wrapped – otherwise it will dry out very quickly.
• Avoid using clingfilm – this will suffocate the cheese, making it damp, and the film can affect the flavour of the cheese.
• Wrap the cheese in waxed paper or tin foil – we use a waxed paper for all our cut pieces of cheese which lets the cheese breathe but helps prevent it from drying out.  You can use the waxed paper to re-wrap any leftover cheese.
• Store the cheeses in an airtight plastic or cardboard box – this will protect the cheeses from drying out.
• Store in the salad drawer of your fridge – this is usually the warmest and most humid part of the fridge and is the best place to keep your cheese.

Finally, remember to take the cheeses out of the fridge about an hour before you want to eat them – this will give them time to warm up to room temperature so you can fully experience their textures and flavours.  Put them on a cheeseboard and cover with a clean teatowel sprinkled with a few drops of water to stop the cheese drying out until you're ready to eat them.