Author Topic: Storing Cheese  (Read 7043 times)

AustinReed

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Storing Cheese
« on: September 17, 2009, 01:45:13 PM »
Hello everyone,

This is my first post on this forum and I'm trying to find out a good way to store cheeses.  I recently joined the Artisanal Cheese of the Month Club and I had an idea to store the cheeses in an old mini fridge that I do not use.  I was thinking of using 1 or 2 packets of a  Boveda Humidifier Pack 65% http://www.boveda-direct.com/products/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=2 Which the company says would keep the humidity up in the fridge to the 65% specification. Also I was thinking of wrapping the racks in fabric and storing the cheeses on small plates to make it look more presentable. Any ideas or suggestions on this method would be very much appreciated since I have never done this before and I can't find anyone else searching the web that has done this either. Thanks  :D

wharris

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2009, 02:27:48 PM »
If you are merely storing the cheese as opposed to aging the cheese. I do not see why wrapping it in saran wrap, or putting it inside a ziplock baggie and storing it in your fridge would be bad.

Essentially, this cheese is ready to eat and you are not engaged in any affinage related tasks, so I  would think that you would simply want to preserve it. 

I say: Seal it, and cool it.

But that is just me.

AustinReed

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2009, 02:55:13 PM »
I think the main reasons to do this would be for presentation for when guests or family come over and they have wine/cheese they can choose their own and how much they would like. Wrapping it and throwing it in the bottom of the fridge just doesn't seem as much fun as setting up this small fridge that is not being used. Also I'm sure i'm not going to eat 1.5lbs a month so was hoping for someway to keep it fresh for a long period while having it look nice.  Thanks for your reply  ;)

wharris

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2009, 04:26:35 PM »
Good Point on the display.  Thats a nice touch.

That being the case,  a small wine fridge, with a glass front, should do fine I would imagine.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2009, 06:57:40 AM »
Keeping it long-term optimally might include vacuum sealing it to preserve moisture and keep the baddies at bay.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Cheese Head

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2009, 01:23:58 PM »
Austin, welcome to the forum, good question, presentation is important!

For your purposes, I like the idea of a small wine cooler type fridge, has front window and you can set it to correct temperature, but two problems, cheaper ones have non-flat wavy wire racks and still have humidity problem so I suggest keeping in packaging from your New York USA supplier (Artisanal Cheese of the Month Club) until ready to serve.

If you go to the forum homepage and search the whole forum on "Wine Coolers" or "Wine Fridges" you will find some reviews and a post of a couple currently on sale from USA based Kohl's department store chain.

Also, there is some info here on small presentation containers.

Again welcome!

AustinReed

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2009, 06:46:48 PM »
Wow Thanks! I really appreciate all the helpful information, I will check out the Wine Coolers.

AustinReed

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2009, 02:32:43 AM »
Hi Everyone,  ;)
So I bought a humidor humidifier (a little stick with water absorbing crystals that release moisture over time *advertised at 70% humidity for 60cigars*) and popped it in the mini fridge. I checked the humidity a day later and it only rose to 42%. So I stuck a wet cloth towel in the water catching container that goes under the freezer part and waited another day.  When I checked it the humidity had risen to 43%! Any ideas on pushing that Hygrometer up to 28% more humidity?

Thanks!  :D

-Austin

Cheese Head

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2009, 02:50:38 AM »
Austin, I wouldn't have thought there would be enough moisture in that tray to get you up high.

I'd have a look through the Equipment - Caves Board, lots of different ideas for raising humidity.

AustinReed

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2009, 04:10:53 PM »
I think the problem might be that the refrigerator was set to medium instead of medium low. I just set it to medium low and the humidity rose without effecting the temperature much. It's still at around 50 degrees in there but the humidity rose a bit (forgot the exact percentage).  I'll play around with thermostat a bit and see if I can raise the humidity some more. 

Tropit

  • Guest
Re: Storing Cheese
« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2009, 03:01:19 PM »
I also use an old mini/wine-fridge, that I got for free at the end of an estate sale.  My shelves are not so great, but I plan to make some out of hardwood.  Other than that, it works great.  The fridge does offer a bit of mystique and cache to my cheeses to guests who come over.  They all want to know what kind of goodies I have in there ...LOL.

As for storing cheese in this type of, "cave," it really depends on what type of cheese you are keeping.  If you have moldy cheeses such as camembert, or stilton, wrap them loosely in cheese wrap & store those each in a separate plastic Tupperware type of container, with the top slightly ajar if they get too moist. Hard cheeses can be slipped into a plastic baggy with a paper towel and left slightly open.  Semi-soft cheeses place on a sushi mat will also help to keep air circulating around the cheese.  The more cheese you have, the higher the humidity will be.  If it is still too low, put a semi-covered bowl of water in the bottom of the fridge.