Don’t worry! Moldy cheese happens even to the best of us.
As a child my granny would tell us to just cut the mold off, which for some cheese is acceptable and some not so acceptable. So how do you tell the difference between good mold and bad mold? Here are some tips to help you keep your cheese at its best.
Now that you have found us, and know that you can get your favorite cheese fresh each week it is best to buy only what you can eat in a week. Cheese is a living, breathing organism and there are lots of things that influence the taste and quality.
Tips for keeping your cheese fresh:
1. Tasting your cheese before you buy it is key. Smelling your cheese is actually a key to enjoying the taste. Trust your instincts. There is good bad smelling cheese and bad bad smelling cheese. If it sends shivers of disgust down your spine, like the thought of eating worms then don’t buy it. Everyone has different taste so only buy cheese that you find pleasing.
2. However, really bad smelling cheese can taste DIVINE! So take a taste, if you like it then go ahead and get it.
3. Fresh and soft cheese have a short shelf life and have to be treated different than hard cheese. For soft cheese if it smells like sour milk then it is best to toss it out.
4. Mold on cheese rind is called Bloom and is a good thing. What you need to look for and avoid is a slimy, pinkish mold this is bad. Some cheeses with bloom will even give off an ammonia scent this is a natural part of the aging process.
5. Some cheeses are best eaten as soon as you get them home. Only because there smell will proliferate in your refrigerator. Limburger and Sweaty Goat cheese are examples of these cheese. These cheese can last for weeks but the taste will decrease over time.
6. Aged cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano and Fontina have been aged to the extent that ensures their durability. They have low moisture and there is not much that you need to worry about with these types of chees. In some cases age actually heightens the flavor. Greenish-blue molds are good and just need to be scraped off.
7. Blue cheese will only become stronger in taste with age. It is up to you to taste and see if you like the age. An old blue cheese will never hurt you only your taste buds.
8. The best way to store cheese is with cheese paper. Yes they make a special paper just for cheese storage. The next best thing is parchment paper with plastic wrap. This way your cheese is protected from the plastic and your refrigerator is protected from your cheese. NEVER wrap your cheese in just plastic alone.
9. Store your cheese in the warmest part of your refrigerator. Cheese is alive and cold temperatures limit the important bacterial activity of your cheese and will affect the taste.
10. Bring your cheese to room temperature for the best tasting experience.
Chef Lippe 