How To Care For Your Cheese…

So, you’ve spent some time carefully selecting the perfect artisan Irish cheese for you, under the guidance of a impassioned cheese expert! But now you have it under your care, you aren’t sure how exactly to care for your cheese…

We worry about our cheese heading off out into the world, so we’ve put together up a few easy tips to help you care for your cheese in the best way possible.

How to Care for your cheese - indie füde

How To Care For Your Cheese…

Travelling

In a list of helpful hints on how to care for your cheese, ‘travel’ might seem like a strange please to start. However, as soon as that cheese is in your hands – you should really start considering how best to look after it. Nothing too complicated here, but try to keep your cheese somewhere cool. And it’s best not to alter it’s temperature up and down too much. So consider the boot of your car, rather than the heated footwell. If there’s a plane involved – the hold is a brilliantly cool spot. That said, cheese is pretty resilient – just try not to get it too warm. Cos cheese sweat in not good sweat!

Storage

Cheese is always best when enjoyed freshly cut. However, they can be stored in a cool environment for anything from a couple of days to several months, if you care for your cheese correctly. The general rule is a soft cheese will last less time than a hard cheese.

Ideally you would have a temperature controlled environment – like a cave (!) or designated cheese fridge – to keep them in. But unfortunately not many of us are lucky enough for that! So, the vegetable drawer of your fridge makes for a great substitute. Harder cheeses are also perfectly happy in a cool garage or shed. The shed also makes a good home for that sightly stinky soft cheese you have been lovingly ageing… We have been told off for storing them in the fridge before!

Cheese is happiest wrapped in that lovely cheese paper our cheesemonger has wrapped it in for you. So keep it that way. It’s easily reused too – so don’t throw it away. You can rewrap what you have left with the same paper! Bee wax wrap is also a great reusable cheese wrap. We’re always happy to use it to wrap your cheese for you in store. And there’s even a discount for those who do!

Serving

The first step is to plan a little in advance and take your cheese out of it’s cool place and move it into a slightly warmer room. Serving cheese at room temperature allows it to show off it’s full flavour. We recommend removing the cheese from the fridge at least two hours before you intend to enjoy. Keeping them loosely loosely wrapped in their cheese paper, until serving.

Remember to serve your cheese with a number of knives to hand, so you have separate knives to cut blue cheese and mould ripened cheeses such as Brie. This is the best way to care for you cheese if you might have some remaining ( !?! ). You don’t want your blue cheese getting too friendly with your brie!

Don’t forget these cheeses are a labour of love and the cheese makers have spent years of perfecting the production process, so it’s important to care for them. A great way to honour the cheesemakers is to make sure to know the cheeses story – and make it your mission to inform your guests! The team at Indie Füde are full of interesting facts about our artisan cheese, and their makers. So please, do ask! You can always get a hold of us via email should you forget!

How To Care For Your Cheese After It’s First Outing…

So there’s some cheese left, now what? What ever you do, don’t let any go to waste!

As long as you kept a hold of your cheese paper when you were serving your cheese, this is the best way to rewrap the cheese. It allows the cheese to breathe but not allowing it to dry out to quickly. Cling film, if used for any length of time, tends to allow too much moisture to build up, encouraging moulds to grow on the surface of the cheese. Kitchen foil is good for wrapping moist blue cheeses. Pop it back into the same cool place you had it before.

And what if some of your cheese is a little unsightly? Don’t worry, we know how to care for your cheese right up to the last minute – and can heartily recommend any number of fabulous ways to use up ‘ugly cheese’. A grilled cheese sandwich is up there with the best – as almost ay combination works a treat. Or perhaps our Macaroni Cheese recipe is more you thing! The possibilities are endless…

And most importantly – if you have any queries, just ask! We are only an email, facebook message or instagram DM away…