Any cheese experts out there to advise me on keeping a naice cheese naice?

[QuimReaper]

I bought a lovely Chaource when we had company recently but nobody cut into it. (Unheard of!) I had taken it out of its paper, and have had it in a tupperware in the fridge ever since, still virgo intacta.

I'm having company on the 25th and am doing a cheese board and am wondering whether the Chaource will still be good if it's still intact, or if there's anything in particular I should do.

I wouldn't normally question just keeping it in an airtight container in the fridge but almost a month does feel like potentially pushing it, and I don't want to have to cut into it to find out if something's gone wrong before serving it...!

A lot depends on how long it was out of the fridge. If it sat in a room for a few hours then cut it and taste/smell.

Ten days is about the max.

Is it in cling film? That helps - not sure if it won’t be a bit dried out after that time. Best to eat it now I say!

It will be even better by the 25th imo.

My french teacher used to leave her Brie for a month until it was basically liquid

I was hoping someone would say it would mature! It's in a thick rind so surely won't dry out?

Lord no just Tupperware but I will cling film it!

Chaource is a young cheese, so it will get more pungent as it ages, and definitely not to everyone’s taste. It’s best when fresh so the clean flavours come through. It’ll be acidic and very strong by the 25th.

Good cheese should be wrapped in wax paper and left out in the fridge to ‘breathe’. In plastic or boxes they sweat and it ruins the texture and flavour.

If the fridge it’s fine to clingfilm it (or it will go dry and the texture yukky - but it needs to be unwrapped and room temperature before you eat it. And if it’s running off the plate, it’s just right.

Cling film actually makes cheese go off faster, because it sweats and this encourages mould.

Wax paper is perfect because it protects the cheese from moisture loss (which is why when you buy expensive cheese it’s wrapped in this) but also allows oxygen in to discourage bacteria from forming.

I was a chef in Michelin restaurants, I know how to care for cheese!

I thought that - then I went on a mumsnet cheese tasting (many moons ago). They made me do it!

(Tbh - cheese never has a chance to go off in our house.)

Thank you all!

I'm not sure I have any wax paper, would loose-ish cling film work as a compromise?

And I've heard storing it in the veg drawer is a good idea, is that right?

I'll just make sure I have lots of other lovely cheeses so we can ignore the Chaource if it's matured itself inedible

I'd freeze it - we often do this after we have guests around, we because we over buy, the cheese is fine on defrosting.

No cling film, no freezing, the Tupperware is better than that.

If you have baking parchment you can use that to wrap it.

freezing is ok if you are going to cook with it as it makes the texture go crumbly.

Just get a box of crackers and eat the damn cheese! If you won't, I'm getting my coat...

as it makes the texture go crumbly. Not in my experience.

Maybe that’s just cheddar

Just get a box of crackers and eat the damn cheese! If you won't, I'm getting my coat...

I'm not sure a soft cheese like Chaource would survive the freezer would it?

I'd just eat it and buy another

OneSwan has some very good advice.

Cheddar goes crumbly in the freezer.

I honestly don't know what you guys are doing with the cheese in the freezer - the cheese we freeze is often the lovely stuff from Neal's Yard, sometimes Roquefort. Must admit probably not cheddar, we don't tend to buy much of that - except for Montgomery's and we have never struggled to consume that.

soggy to be fair I had a quick dekko online and the consensus seems to be that only semi-hard cheeses might survive freezing, and everything else will suffer - I think you're the one who's found the secret! (All fine for cooking of course, just not cheeseboarding)

I'm thinking about it OneSwan, to be fair this could all become moot during my husband's next late-night sandwich binge anyway

Oh for God's sake I didn't know this was going to be such a pandora's box. Just had another more in-depth look online and read this whole article to get to the bit about soft cheese only for it to say this:

^Soft Cheese:

This is where things get a little sticky. Remember when we said never to wrap your cheese in plastic wrap? Well, here we contradict ourselves a bit. Because when it comes to softer, creamy cheeses like a lovely, gooey, stinky brie or camembert people are in a bit of a disagreement about how to keep them at their peak.

Some, like Eat By Date, argue that wrapping softer cheeses in plastic wrap helps prevent them from drying out. Others, like the folks at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, opt for paper. In the end, if you decide to go the plastic route, just make sure to change your cheese every couple of days.^

Very helpful, thanks

Eat the cheese! Eat the cheese! Come back and tell us how it was... mmmmm