how to store cheese?

[Farhana]

I bought a lot of cheese in 16oz pkg and can't use all of them at the same time, what's the best way to keep them for a long time? Freezing? They are mostly cheddar, mozzarella and colby......... thanks!

[sneezles]

If you are going to use the cheese in cooking then youcan freeze those you listed but they won't be any good for eating out of hand or on salads since it tends to get a bit grainy once forzen.
I have a FoodSaver that is wonderful for cheese. You can vacuum seal a hunk and keep it for ages in the fridge.

[SusanMac]

It depends on what you mean by a 'long time.' Cheese will actually stay good in the fridge for months. Even if it gets a little mold, you just cut if off, and it doesn't affect the rest of the block. Don't know how much room you have. There are a lot of threads around here about freezing cheese, but I'd never, ever freeze cheese. It changes everything, I think. That's just me.

[zwieback]

I buy cheese at Costco quite a bit and I've found that wrapping the cheeses in wax paper and then putting them in a zip lock bag keeps the cheeses fresh. I don't know where I saw the wax paper trick (maybe Alton Brown?) but, it seems to work for me.

As for freezing it, I freeze the big bags of shredded mozzarella and cheddar all the time. But, I only use the frozen cheese for cooking, never to eat straight out of the bag.

[lorilei]

I'm going to presume you don't have a FOODSAVER, which is usually my choice when storing cheese in the fridge for months and months. (I can put it into portions, seal it up, and it's good forEVER, it seems)

My secondary method (similar to zwieback's) is to wrap the cheese TIGHTLY in waxed paper, then in aluminum foil. THis is a technique I read about somewhere -- and it allows me to keep small pieces of leftover cheese for a very long time without the development of any mold.

Susanmac is also right about mold -- perfectly harmless on a hard cheese. You can just cut it off and use as needed.

[SandyM]

Susanmac is also right about mold -- perfectly harmless on a hard cheese. You can just cut it off and use as needed.

I know this - in theory. I just can't join in. :eek:

Oddly enough, my favorite cheese is bleu.

I know. I know. ;)