Here's how to store cheese so it stays fresh: wrap it in cheese paper or parchment (not tight plastic), tuck it into a loose bag or container, and keep it in the vegetable or deli drawer of your fridge. Rewrap it in fresh paper every time you cut into it. Cheese is alive. It needs to breathe a little. Here's how to store cheese so it stays fresh, flavorful and happy for as long as possible.
Why not plastic wrap?
Plastic wrap traps moisture against the cheese. That can make the surface slimy, give it a plastic-y taste and invite mold. Cheese paper (or parchment or wax paper) lets a little air and moisture move while still protecting the cheese from drying out. If plastic wrap is all you have, it's fine for a few days. Just change it often.
How to wrap cheese
- Set the cheese in the center of a sheet of cheese paper or parchment.
- Fold the paper around it snugly, like wrapping a gift, creasing the edges as you go.
- Tape it closed or slide it into a loose zip bag or a container with the lid cracked.
- Label it with the name and date. Future you will be grateful.
Use fresh paper each time you rewrap. And give strong cheeses (like blues) their own container so they don't share their personality with everything else.
Where to keep cheese in the fridge
The vegetable crisper or deli drawer is the best spot. It's a little more humid and holds a steadier temperature than the door or the top shelf. Keep cheese away from raw meat and strong-smelling foods, since it can pick up odors.
How long does cheese last?
It depends on the cheese. As a general rule, the harder and older the cheese, the longer it keeps.
- Hard and aged cheeses (aged cheddar, parmesan) last the longest once opened.
- Semi-soft cheeses (jack, flavored cheddars, gouda) keep well for a few weeks wrapped properly. Unopened, ours are good through the date printed on the back of the package, usually 6 months to a year out (blue cheeses, less than three months).
- Soft cheeses (brie, fresh goat cheese) are best eaten within about a week once opened.
Trust your nose and eyes. If it smells off (sour, ammonia-like) or feels slimy, toss it.
Can you freeze cheese?
You can, but we don't love it for your cheese board. Freezing changes the texture, so firm cheeses often turn crumbly once thawed. Frozen cheese is best used for cooking: mac and cheese, casseroles, melty sandwiches. If you do freeze it, wrap it airtight, freeze it in smaller pieces and thaw it in the fridge. Soft cheeses don't freeze well at all.
What to do if cheese gets moldy
It depends on the cheese, and here we follow USDA guidance:
- Hard cheese (like cheddar): cut off at least 1 inch around and below the moldy spot. Keep the knife out of the mold so you don't spread it, then rewrap the rest in fresh paper.
- Soft cheese (like brie, cream cheese or fresh goat cheese), plus shredded, crumbled or sliced cheese: throw it out. Mold can spread through soft cheese where you can't see it.
Cheeses made with mold on purpose, like gorgonzola and other blues, are a different story. That blue is supposed to be there. But if you see fuzzy mold that doesn't look like the rest of the cheese, treat it like any other: cut it away from a hard cheese, toss a soft one.
No cheese paper? No problem
Parchment or wax paper wrapped loosely in a zip bag does the job nicely. Some people keep cheese in a lidded container with a damp paper towel tucked in the corner for a little humidity. Just don't seal soft cheeses airtight for long. They like a tiny bit of air.
Storing cheese after a party
Leftover board? Pull the cheese off within two hours of setting it out. Scrape away any jam or crumbs, rewrap each cheese in fresh paper and get it back in the fridge. Cheese that sat out longer than two hours, or that touched fresh fruit juice all night, is better tossed than saved.
Bring it to room temp before serving
Cold mutes flavor. Take cheese out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving so it can wake up, and put leftovers back within two hours. Need ideas for what to serve it with? Our Wisconsin cheese pairing guide has you covered.
Cheese that arrives ready
When you order from us, your cheese ships nationwide packed to arrive fresh (we pause cheese shipping in June, July and August, when it's too hot to travel). Read more about how we pack and what to do when it lands on our shipping and freshness page, then stock your fridge from our Wisconsin artisan cheese. Local to River Falls? Choose pickup at checkout. More cheese questions? Ask the Cheesemonger.
Now that you know how to store cheese, stock up on a few favorites from our artisan cheese shop.
