Use these serving, storing and handling tips to keep your cheese tasting its best.

Serving

  • For best flavor, remove cheese from the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes prior to serving to bring to room temperature.

  • Avoid placing strong, pungent cheeses next to mild cheeses on your serving tray. Also, have individual knives for each cheese served to avoid crossing flavors.

  • When possible, minimize moisture loss by allowing guests to slice their own portions rather than cutting servings in advance.

  • When tasting cheese or serving different varieties, start with the mildest or freshest and work up to the sharpest or more aged flavor.

  • When designing a menu, consider when you want to serve cheese. Serving cheese after the main course, prior to or in place of dessert, adds a unique touch. If served before dinner with cocktails, remember that cheeses can be filling so serve in limited quantities and variety. 

Storing

  • Cheese is alive and is always evolving. Use within two weeks of purchase.

  • Wrap and refrigerate leftover cheese as soon as possible.

  • Use fresh wrapping to rewrap cheese after it has been opened. While plastic wrap is okay, but it doesn’t allow cheese to breathe enough and could kill off your rind and mold development. More breathable wrappings include waxed paper, parchment paper, or butcher paper.

  • Store cheese in the warmer parts of your refrigerator, such as the produce bin or top shelf away from the fan. Don’t store near the freezer compartment or in the meat bin, as you’ll risk accidental freezing.

  • Keep cheese away from other aromatic foods in the refrigerator because it easily absorbs other flavors. (such as onions, leeks and garlic)

  • Freezing natural cheeses is not recommended. Doing so causes loss in texture and moisture and could alter flavor. If you must freeze, thaw in refrigerator and use the cheese as an ingredient in a dish rather than served on its own.

  • Mold is  natural part of cheese making and aging, so if your cheese grows excess mold, you can slice the cheese an eighth of an inch below the mold and the rest of the cheese will be fine. If you aren’t sure or if the cheese has become overly dry, develops slimy texture, it’s best to discard. 

For some more helpful hints and some fun tid-bits visit, Tips for Cheese Lovers.