Unfortunately I live about 2000km from the nearest shop that sells my favourite cheese[sup]*[/sup], so I usually buy it in bulk whenever I’m there. I normally buy a big block (~3kg), cut it in half and leave one block in the back of the fridge, while I enjoy the rest.
Normally this works well, but the last time, when I was ready to attack the last half, it was covered in mold. It wasn’t a complete loss, but I had to sacrifice some 20% of the cheese, which annoys me no end.
So, my question is:
How should I have treated the 1.5kg block before putting it in the fridge? (What I did was to wipe it clean and put it in a (clean) plastic bag, which I tied shut. Apparently there were already mold spores present, and/or the humid atmosphere in the bag must have been conducive for mold growth.)
I know that there are people here ([sub]Yes mangetout, I’m looking at you[/sub]) who brag about having had cheese in their fridges for years. - How do you keep it from growing?
[sup]*[/sup]Kvibille Cheddar, matured 18 months, the best cheese to come out of Sweden.
I thought that greaseproof paper was better than a plastic bag - it allows the cheese to breathe. I’m sure that someone will be along soon to extoll the virtures of muslin.
Depending on the type of cheese, you could freeze it but it won’t be as good as the fresh stuff.
Quite possible. I’ll have to try that next time. (Unless there are other recomendations.) But how to you wrap it hermetically in greaseproof paper? I would have assumed that one of the main points would be to keep mold spores out, and that would require a rather elaborate folding/glueing to achieve with greaseproof paper. But maybe it’s worth it!
In my experience freezing cheese isn’t too bad as far as taste is concerned, but the texture gets ruined. It’s impossible to slice thawed cheddar.
Did you cut the cheese off with the mould?
Because you don’t have to do that.
As the cheese you are discussing is a cheddar, I am presuming it is hard. If so, you can dip the whole of the cheese in brine which will kill the mould and you can wipe it off without cutting into the cheese.
I don’t think it affects the taste, but if you find that it does, you could wash it under running water.
The easiest method, although not the cheapest, would be to get a vacuume sealer ( http://vacuum-sealers.seenontv-products.com/ AS SEEN ON TV!!! love that) and put it away locking all the air out. This is also great for freezing ANYTHING.
We have friend who make aged sheep’s milk cheese for a living, and they recommend keeping in wrapped in waxed (greaseproof) paper–not hermetically sealed. They mail us a piece from time to time, and that’s how they send it. However, it’s not intended to keep forever.
Wiping cheese with brine might actually work. That’s how my friend’s regulate the mold growth while the cheeses are aging in their cellars.
My girlfriend has always maintained that cheese lasts longer wrapped in aluminium foil than in cling wrap. I’ve never really been able to work out if this is the case.
My step-grandmother always wraps cheese in paper towel that has been soaked in vinegar. She swears that that will keep the mould away. She then puts it in a plastic baggie, and then she just unwraps it and rinses the cheese off a bit when she goes to use it. I have to say, I’ve never really noticed that her cheese tastes like vinegar, so there might be something to her method.
I wouldn’t wrap it hermetically. There’s moisture which has to go away somehow.
As for how people would keep cheese for a very long time, I wouldn’t know, since I just couldn’t keep myself from eating it for such a long time
It depends on the cheese, actually. Some (I’ve no clue about the words used in english to qualify them : litterally “cooked” and “pressed” in french) can be kept for a long time, providing they’re whole (with the rind), since they’ve lost more of their moisture during the fabrication process. They were cheese originally intented to be kept for a long time (I don’t know what cheese are available in the US, but I assume that parmesan is familiar to you, to give an example…though I’m not sure whether this one is “cooked” or not). Some just can’t.
That seems like one of the best suggestions so far. (And something I think I have read about in cheesemaking.) How strong would the brine have to be to effectively kill all mold? (I’m assuming you just mean a solution of table salt in water, right?)
Yes, that’s what I do with soft cheese. It appears tha the aluminium retains the smell better. When I wrap my munster in clingfilm the entire fridge smells of it, but in aluminium it seems more contained.
Yes, I believe they are indeed heated a lot more, and more of the water is squeezed out. Anyway, my favourite cheddar is already matured for 18 months before I buy it, so there should be no mystery to make it last an extra three months. Presuming I could get rid of the mold.
Don’t ask me - I do my grocery shopping in France! ( I could here go on on a tangent about how cheesemaking hasn’t advanced at the same pace in France as in the rest of the world for the last couple of decades. A hundred years ago the Fench were the undoubted cheese masters of the universe, but nowadays they’re hard pressed by newcomers such as German Cambozola and my favourite Swedish cheddar. Unfortunately the French are to chauvinistic to take any notice of foreign cheese, so I’m afraid they will soon be overtaken, without even noticing. But that’s another thread…)
So, to sum up the input so far, there seem to be two schools:[ul][li]evacuate all air and wrap in plastic.[/li][li]wrap in greaseproof paper to let the cheese breathe.[/ul][/li]I’m actually inclined to prefer the firstmentioned route. We dont want the cheese to lose too much moisture, as that would render it hard and unappetizing. I would guess that the wax cover that is normally used in cheese wrapping is fairly impervious to water vapour, or a the cheese would lose to much of its moisture over the aging.
I also believe that the key is to kill all the mold spores before wrapping the cheese up, and for that I might be tempted to try the brine method next time. Or are there any other ideas?
The rind would take care of this. They’re matured for a long time whole
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A hundred years ago the Fench were the undoubted cheese masters of the universe, but nowadays they’re hard pressed by newcomers
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People don’t invent new cheese every other day (apart from the industrial crap), though it happens on occasion. They just keep producing traditionnal cheese. But of course, the fabrication process tends to be less and less “traditionnal”. And indeed, I can say, as a cheese-lover, that’s it’s very difficult to find a good cheese in Paris, for instance. Though it depends on the cheese…some are much more “standardized” than others, and there’s little difference in taste between the different producers. Some are much less so, and there are huge differences. A “Pyrenees” ewe’s cheese or a Roquefort is likely to be exactly what you expect. An Auvergne “St-Nectaire” can be excellent or total crap. You generally have better luck in the regions where they’re produced. But I must admit I’m very picky about cheese, and the majority of people are much less so.
And indeed, with few exceptions (some cheese from the netherlands and italy) there’s essentially no foreign cheese sold in France.
I have used 10w/v% brine solution, which 10g salt in 100ml boiled cooled tap water which worked out OK. I experimented a bit, and it doesn’t have to be EXACTLY 10g.
Have a bit of a google and see if there are any cheesemongers out there who have info on their sites.
