We’ve written before at HuffPost UK that the most common place to keep your olive oil may also be the worst place (guilty as charged).
Although we know that some cheeses tolerate a little mold better than others, our beloved cream cheese should ideally be stored safely so that the spores cannot form in the first place.
And while most of us know that most cheese should be kept in the refrigerator, it turns out that some of the refrigerated cheese is far worse for your cheddar than the rest.
What is the worst part?
According to Better Homes & Gardens (who spoke with cheese experts at Wisconsin Cheese and Tillamook), storing the cheese on the front shelves of your refrigerator or in the refrigerator door (my preferred ricotta container) is a no-go.
This is because the temperature fluctuates – albeit slightly – when you open and close the refrigerator door, and the closer your cheese is to the refrigerator door, the more likely it is to be affected by these fluctuations.
“All packaged cheeses can be stored together in the cheese drawer or vegetable compartment, where the temperature is more stable and the humidity is higher,” Madeline Kuhn, an expert at Roth Cheese, told the publication.
She added that while the vegetable drawer is a good option, you may want to divide your Parmesan into smaller portions, as strong-smelling vegetables like onions can affect the flavor.
Hmm. Any other advice?
Yes, professionals really, really don’t want you to wrap your cheese in plastic wrap.
Patrick Ochs, executive chef at Pubblica Italiana and Dalia at The Celino Hotel, told Business Insider: “Plastic wrap literally suffocates the cheese, causing it to lose flavor and trap moisture.”
This can cause your cheese to mold faster and, according to the chef, can also give your favorite dairy product a plastic taste.
Incidentally, in the same Business Insider article, Adam Brock, director of food safety and quality at Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, echoed Kuhn’s sentiment about keeping cheese in the vegetable drawer.
Very cold spots (like right next to your freezer) might be too cold, he says, while the front of the drawers and the back of the door might get a little warm.
Looks like I really need to take my mozzarella away…
