02. Conserving cheeses

How is it best to conserve cheese?

Cheese is a product that is living, and therefore it needs to breathe!
Basic rules: when you buy a cheese, in theory it should be at its best; healthy, balanced and well shaped.
A product carrying the Androuet label should ideally be consumed within 48 hours. However it is useful to know the rules and tricks for storing the cheese in the best conditions at home.

Avoid completely enclosing the cheeses in a box or the plastic wrapping. It is not a good idea to store cheese for a long time unless you have the means to do so. It is therefore best to buy the cheeses and store them as effectively as possible in order to profit from their full flavour potential.

This being said, there are certain varieties of cheeses that can be conserved for longer than others. For example, presses, cooked cheeses and blue cheeses store well. They are best kept whole however.

Some advice from our cheese specialist on how to conserve cheese:

- Wrap each cheeses individually to conserve their flavour. It is best to use the original paper they came in.
- Conserve the cheeses in the bottom of the fridge, in the vegetable drawer, which is the coldest and most humid part of the fridge.
- Avoid a temperature which is too cold or too hot.
- Soft, bloomy rind cheeses (Camembert, Brie) and washed rind cheeses (Munster, Livarot) can be kept out of the fridge for 2 to 3 days if they are at their best, as long as they are left in their packaging and wrapped in a humid cloth.
- Take the cheeses out of the fridge at least one hour before serving and prepare your cheese platter in advance. A cheese which is too cold will lose a large part of its flavour.