Taste and timing.
Cheese is a natural, living product that continues to breathe, change and develop even after leaving our cellars. Here are a few tips to keep flavor and texture at it’s best.
Handling
- Natural cheeses should stay cold. Refrigerate as soon as possible after you buy Roth Cheese.
- Always re-wrap cheese that has been handled with new, clean wrapping.
- Once cut, cheese gets drier and loses flavor faster, so use shredded, shaved and grated cheeses as soon as possible.
Storing
- Store cheese on the lowest level of the refrigerator—the vegetable or cheese drawer is ideal.
- Cheese should be able to breathe without drying. Simply wrap cheese in waxed or parchment paper and refrigerate. Or place in a plastic container pierced with holes.
- If cheese looks dry, place a slightly damp paper towel in the container to raise humidity.
- Avoid storing cheese near strongly aromatic foods. Cheeses can absorb other flavors as they “breathe.”
- Fresh and grated hard cheeses only last about 2 weeks in the fridge.
- Natural and pasteurized cheese lasts 4 to 8 weeks in the refrigerator.
- If you find mold on hard cheeses, like GranQueso®, you don’t have to toss them. Use a clean knife to trim the mold away. Just cut ¼ to ½ inch from rest of cheese and discard.
Serving
- Cheese is ideally served at room temperature–similar to decanting a fine wine to allow flavors and aromas to develop.
- Always use separate knives and cutting boards to cut different types of cheeses in order to avoid taste mingling.
- To better experience the flavor, take cheese out of the refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
- Bring only the amount of cheese you want to serve to room temperature. Warming and cooling can affect shelf life and flavor.