Yup. It is.
Thank you for reading today’s post.
~ karen!
OH you’re still here.
I was kind of hoping to get out of here early today.
OMG you’re still here.
O.K. fine. We’ll talk about Cheese Paper. It’s good.
I spent a couple of months a while back testing some of the most popular methods for storing cheese. But I still wasn’t satisfied that I’d found the best method for storing cheese. There were a few comments in that blog post that I thought were worth giving a shot, one of which was to use cheesecloth to …….. wait for it ….. store cheese.
I know.
We’re so stupid.
I mean, it’s right in the name. The trick to using cheesecloth to store cheese apparently is to douse the cheesecloth with a bit of vinegar. The vinegar helps preserve the cheese and keep it from drying out without making it vinegary. Once you’ve wrapped the cheese you stick it in a plastic bag.
See, now … I was kind of uncertain as to what a vinegar “dousing” was. I knew what a vinegar douche was, but not a douse. I assume a dousing was enough to make the cheesecloth damp.
A damp dousing.
That is where I was entirely wrong. I was very wrong in the wrongest of ways.
After a week wrapped in my vinegar doused cheesecloth, my cheese tasted like a slimy pickled sock . And not in a good way.
I’m sure it’s my fault and there is a way to make this work but now that I’ve eaten the pickled sock cheese it isn’t going to be an option I run to again anytime soon.
Luckily at the same time I had taken delivery of some Cheese Paper. I’d wanted to try it for months but I was just too cheap to buy it. (It’s 9 bucks for a package of 15 sheets of it.) If it didn’t work that’s $9 that I could have put towards a buying a goat named Francis to make my own cheese … completely WASTED. Plus another reader had said she didn’t have any luck with it.
But. I ordered it and tried it anyway. So when I did my vinegar/cheesecloth experiment I also did a Cheese Paper experiment.
Which I suppose I have to tell you about because for some unexplainable reason, you’re still here.
I loved the Cheese Paper. It wraps up neatly and almost sticks to the cheese. It’s different from wax paper in that it’s breathable but also seals in moisture somehow. Like magic paper. And unlike plastic wrap (which won the first Cheese storing showdown) it doesn’t make the cheese wet by trapping ALL the moisture in.
I mean, I knew that plastic wrap was pretty much the worst thing you could use for wrapping cheese, but everything else made the cheese dry out after almost no time at all.
I’ve had cheddar cheese wrapped for about a month now and it’s just starting to look a bit suspicious to me. So it isn’t really that cheese paper will make your cheese live forever, it’s more that the cheese is way better when stored in it. It doesn’t dry out and it doesn’t go all weird and wet the way it does with plastic wrap.
Really I’d probably only use this Cheese Paper for softer cheeses that do a lot of stinking, sweating, weeping and oozing. The kind of cheese that smells like a 2 week old wound. You know, the expensive stuff.
So is Cheese Paper worth the cost?
Yup. It is.
Thank you for reading today’s post.
~ karen!
My grocery store gives me a piece of cheese paper every time I get cheese from the deli counter. I love it. It doubles (at least) the amount of time any type of cheese can be stored in the fridge before it starts to get moldy.
Hi Karen! I was listening to The Dinner Party Download podcast and they had the creator of the Cheese Grotto on and I immediately thought of you. I don’t know if you ever heard of it or if someone else mentioned it but here is the link: http://cheesegrotto.com/ I think it’s a fairly new product/company? cause they don’t have a price on it yet, but it might be something worth keeping an eye on if you have the space in your kitchen for this type of thing. Anyway, thought you might enjoy!
Karen when I saw this post – https://littlellewellynhomestead.wordpress.com/2016/05/15/beeswax-wraps-diy/ I thought of your on-going search for good cheese wrap (beside in your stomach). I think this might be worth a try. Also we were in New Zealand several years ago and visited a winery that had a cheese store attached – have no idea what a place that makes and sells cheese is called – a Cheesery? They recommended storing cheese in small linen bags. Have never tried that as I too store my cheese in my stomach!
Hi Shirley! Thanks. I actually did a post on how to make your own Beeswax Cloth a few years ago. :) I have used it for cheese, but the cheese doesn’t last very long in it before starting to go hard. :/ It works great! It just doesn’t work for long term. ~ karen!
Haha your description of cheese sounds so appetizing.
Do you think this Cheese Paper is the same a freezer paper? That is what my cheese vendor wraps my cheese in. I’m way to cheap to by Cheese Paper.
Hi Audrey, no it’s definitely not the same as freezer paper. :/ Like I say, I’ll probably just use the cheese paper for good cheese that I buy like certain blue cheeses and such. So at that rate I’m sure a box of 12 sheets will probably last me a year. When I looked at it that way I realized it really wasn’t much money. :) ~ karen!
I just store my cheese in a pyrex container with a lid. Works fine for me!
But then, I’m not in the camp of people that really is concerned with cheese turning hard/spoiling, because who on earth can keep cheese in their fridge for a whole month and not eat it?!
Feta, though, goes bad fast if not under that salty water. Gross, rank, rotten feta = no good.
Just bought the cheese bags using your link for cheese paper – enjoy your .50 cent affiliate earnings:) But seriously, I’m kinda excited about this. I found good paper sandwich bags that I like too. I still use ziplok bags, but when I can, I try not to.
We use wax paper and then tuck it into a plastic bag and seal it, store it in the cheese drawer, not the door. Our cheese never dries out this way, albeit it does get a better wrap job from me than the man in the house. I used to use the excuse that it was a waste of cheese to coat the inside of a plastic bag with it, but it was really to extend the life of the cheese (my grandfather taught me this) We have great luck with this method, but it also could be that a “good” block of cheese, usually 2-5 year old cheddar, our preference for ultimate flavor that does not resemble chewing on a plastic processed cheese wrapper, does not last long in our house with two avid cheese consumers!
Obviously you all not eating your cheese fast enough.
Are you there? Oh, good you’re still there. Funny and informative APU.
I will give these a try…my son and I are avid cheezers..lol…
So did you ever figure out how much vinegar constituted a dousing?
Well, it does come with stickers!
I will try the cheese bags from Amazon-thanks for the info! And yes, the vacu-suck machines are a pain for short term use!
Great tip. I went to Amazon and see that there are also Cheese Bags. I was a little dismayed to see that there was actually a used one for sale, though.
I wondered the last time around… and I’m still wondering… Why not just EAT the cheese? Surely it can’t go bad within a week or two? (especially in your fancy refrigerator :-) )
Crêpes! Karen, by the 3rd photo and your comment about hoping to get out of here early, I had spit out my coffee in laughter! Bahahaha! You are too funny girl! Love love love your humour! (you don’t mind if I send you the dry cleaning bill right? ?)
I’m not sure why this works, but I wrap cheese in a white paper towel and then store in a ziplock bag. It doesn’t get slimy or moldy and it doesn’t go dry.
Hi Karen, did you change the mobile version of your site again? Maybe it’s the American version, maybe it’s because I have an iPhone 5, but after every single picture here there is a flash ad: 10 for this page, not counting pop ups. I know you need to advertise, but it gets hard to read you when ads are this inundating. I can’t find a contact button for you, or I’d have written off post. Only a subscribe button, which comes up even though I thought I’d been subscribed for a few years now… Your thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Amber! Yes, I’ve just changed advertising partners and the mobile site seems to have an insane amount of ads. I’ve asked that they tone it down but apparently it’s not as simple as that. It’s an all or nothing thing. Meaning ads after almost every photo or no ads at all. I don’t like it either. I’m trying to figure out how to remedy it. There are no pop ups. At least there shouldn’t be. If you’re referring to the subscribe button at the top, , that’s just a button that runs across the top of my website at all times for people new to the page. It goes way when you scroll down and shows up if you scroll up. Yes? ~ karen!
I notice that you labelled the cheese with my birthday. Cheddar, too! Thank you! I’m getting a bit concerned, though; it hasn’t come in the mail, yet. By the way, unless you simply insist on naming the goat after the Pope, for cheese, you need a goat named Frances.
Actually I have great faith in Glad’s Press and Seal. One side sticky, I wrap my cheese tightly and it last sooooooo long . I also use it for celery cleaned and cut bunches.
I think it’s a great idea..glad someone mentioned.ca:)
Did you order from.com? Then there’s shipping..exchange?
Thanks for your trials!
My Mom taught us to store cheese wrapped in tinfoil (aluminium foil) in the fridge. For long-term storage, grate and zip lock and place in freezer.
I also do this and it works perfectly to maintain cheese in the fridge.
Hi Annarica. I tried that in my last post on testing cheese saving methods and the cheese just ended up going hard and mouldy I’m afraid. ~ karen!
Lol! Maybe it’s an African cow thing….:) I am not sure how I missed a post tho, cos I love your blog site so maybe it got lost en route to a satellite and got sidetracked and never reached Cape Town in sunny SA!
That’s entirely possible! Maybe it took a left at Botswana. ~ karen!
Here’s an idea. Why not just buy a smaller block of cheese, and eat it. My cheese never has a chance to dry out, go slimy, grow a fur coat etc. You guys can’t possibly be REAL cheese eaters. Can anyone explain to me why we are getting our cheese in long skinny slabs? And why hasn’t some enterprising manufacturer come up with an appropriate container?
I agree Suzanne. I thought i had missed the point slightly – my cheese never lasts long enough to have a problem with storage :-)
Purchasing in smaller quantities and consuming cheese in a week or so makes sense to me as well. I think the long skinny slabs are often on sale for a few dollars less which is why I think they are so popular. However if you are unable to store cheese properly or consume it quickly enough before it goes bad then it really isn’t worth the few dollars saved.
If I want a solid cheese I purchase a small amount. If I needed grated then that is exactly what I purchase and don’t buy the big long slabs any longer.
I’m so glad you revisited the whole cheese thing, and tried the papers. I’ve been buying the cheese bags for a few years now, cause wrapping sounded like too much work. (yes I am that lazy) Just toss the hunk of cheese in the bag and fold it over once. It felt like an extravagance, but it does keep expensive cheese longer. All cheese is expensive IMO. I re-use the cheddar and parm bags, but not the ones for Stilton or other soft cheeses. I’ve convinced myself that I’m actually saving money vrs tossing out moulded cheeses. Currently 15 bags cost $12.45 on Amazon.ca I wish your shop links went to .ca instead of .com so I could buy via your link and you would get credit for it! Or is there already a way to do that? Anyway, hope you’ll be adding this product to your shop, it is a good one!
Hi Susan. If the product is available in Canada from the same seller then it usually links to Amazon.ca. If not it doesn’t. :( I clicked on the cheese wrapping papers to see if they worked and it sent to Canada for me. ~ karen!
Hmmm. It links me to the .com site and stays there. Probably because I shop both the .com and .ca Amazon sites A LOT. Because I live MFN. I would love for you to get some credit for my Amazon purchases. If you have a link to the .ca site could you put it up or send it to me? I’d be happy to start my shopping from your site if it pays you a little bit – as a way to thank you for your blog, I just love it.
Here you go Susan … https://www.amazon.ca/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=390961&linkCode=ur2&tag=tharofdost08-20 If you start from there anything you buy will earn me around 4-7% of the purchase price. :) Thanks very much. ~ karen!
Just a reminder that many cheeses can be frozen if you’ve bought too much. Hard cheese like cheddar freezes well but the texture will be more crumbly when defrosted; tastes the same though. I don’t have cheese in the fridge long enough to worry about storing it. Love me some cheese :-)
I know, but I like to have it right there in the fridge so I can cut off a few slices to have with crackers. Goat’s cheese however, I love to freeze. I buy the big log then portion and freeze it. It freezes PERFECTLY. ~ karen!
It would be worth buying extra cheese to put it in the pretty paper……. and as we are talking about cheese –
Karen, the seed calculator page, is that supposed to put in the from and to dates automatically? Coz it didn’t. Here in Germany, country lore (Eisheilige Tage – The Ice Saints days) states that any annual plants, veggies etc should only be put outside after 15th May (this year) because you are then free of frost. Of course, the first year I was here didnt know and lost all of my annuals for bedding and containers. The nice ladies who garden explained why.
My mother always told me the rule was to set plants in the ground on Mother’s Day, any earlier and they’d freeze. And then, from the time I could babble, the rule was that we had to buy her flowers for Mother’s Day and plant them for her. She passed on 2 weeks ago. (I’m in Oregon)
Oh Bobbles. I’m so sorry. :( ~ karen
Hi Maggie. If you enter the your first frost free date in the date portion of the calculator (for my region it is somewhere around May 13th) and hit enter, then the calendar will automatically fill with the dates appropriate for you for planting seeds and for setting out. ~ karen!
Duh! Automatically entering date European format! went back to page and saw the little (mm/tt/yyyy). Didn’t realise Canada and US had same date formatting. Now I just have to remember where I put the seeds ……..
I think ham on the bone needs to have the fat cut off and then wrapped in cheesecloth. Fat goes yukky first. I like cutting it off, scoring the ham and painting it with maple syrup or honey and baking it a bit.
Yep, you were born with the perk gene and funny sarcy, not nasty sarcy. I bet it takes ten years for us to get cheese paper. You guys are so industrious.
I did one post about using cheese cloth. Was it me that inspired you? Truly? I am so honoured.
We wrap ham in cheesecloth in Australia to stop it going slimy. I dont put it in a ziplock bag after though. That takes away the “Little House on the Prairie” feel of it all and you would not be allowed to wear your rough linen apron whilst doing this. Don’t argue.
Try it with no ziplock. Buy the godamm cheese paper. You are allowed to be slightly less than perfect just once or twice. Jeez, you can even get cellulite on one butt cheek and not be perky for a day or two.
I still think you have a secret boyfriend, but I am not nagging or anything. Bet ya do, huh!
Hmm. I’ll see about the cheesecloth sans the plastic wrap. I’m not sure it’ll work but I do like the idea of using it for slimy ham. Can’t help being perky. Perky with a side (large side please) of sarcasm. It’s my way. ;) ~ karen!
those beeswax cotton food wraps that you can wipe off with cold water and soap are supposed to work well on cheese too
I know! I actually used to use mine on the cheese, but it did have a tendency to get a bit hard if I remember correctly. Although it’s entirely possible I’m not remembering correctly at all, lol. Maybe I’ll try again. Here’s my post on Beeswax Fabric by the way!
Hey! I made the beeswax wraps 3 weeks ago and love them! The skeptical husband wasn’t sure at first and wanted to buy more plastic wrap but he’s come around and really likes them too!
I got a book on cheese-making and one of the things the cheese cloth works for is hanging the cheese so the whey comes out and that thickens the cheese and you can shape it by putting it into a form in the cheese cloth. Also, I once read that you can put cheese on a plate under a bell dome that’s on another plate with vinegar … so the humidity stays in there and keeps the cheese moist and I tried it and it worked pretty well.
So dang it – expensive cheese paper works, too … hmmm.
In the Alps (Austria, Switzerland and Germany) the herdsmen and dairymen use cheese cloth for MAKING cheese, exactly the way Brenda has described. Not for storing it. In order to keep cheese fresh and tasty untill someone comes along and wishes to buy some, they use a vacuum sealer. Yes, according to them that is the best way to store cheese. In a fridge of course. And if they don’t know how to store cheese, I don’t know who does.
Yes vacuum sealing is great for just about everything, but here I’m talking about storing your cheese in the fridge so you can actually grab some and use it. No one’s ever going to open up their food saver bag, cut off a few slices of cheese then haul out the food saver to reseal it again. I sometimes go in and cut off cheese a few times a day. If you buy cheese in bulk, like at Costco I use the Food Saver. Especially for huge hunks of parmesan. ~ karen!
I’ll try the cheese paper, but my cheese doesn’t usually last long enough to go bad in my ziplock bag. Sometimes I don’t seal it – I just fold it around the cheese, so I’m probably not getting all the moisture problems. I remember my mom wiping the cheese down with vinegar, after cutting off the bad parts, but we didn’t use cheesecloth for that purpose. I wonder what container (glass, assuredly) we used to store the cheese before the proliferation of all our plastic containers? I can’t remember leftover containers except maybe cottage cheese cartons with wax paper or aluminum foil? We had the sets of Pyrex containers with glass lids, and they were pretty awesome. When is the goat showing up?
The same company (Formatica) makes cheese bags which I have very happily used for over a year. The same package (there are 15 in a package) has kept me going for about 18 months now. I reuse them (does that need saying??) as long as the cheese wasn’t truly icky in them. Can’t say enough good about them from my experience – vastly increased cheese life span in my fridge. If you don’t label the bags it makes for a truly exciting cheese roulette too.
I love the cheese bags, too. Since we open and close and reopen the package many times as we make our way through an enormous block of Swiss, the ability to just fold and tuck a bag closed is so much easier than wrapping and sealing. And we find we can reuse the bags for the next block of Swiss. Until they tear, we don’t throw them out.
Cheese Roulette! I love your humor Muff!
crap– Paula wins!!
LOL. Well I post always, always at midnight ET. So, next time be ready. ;) ~ karen!
wow –a chance to be first!!! Have a good night!!
Again, a post that has very funny timing for me. I arrived home from the grocery store tonight around 9:30 and tossed out the better part of an entire block of cheese from the fridge to make room for the new one that I purchased. Incidentally, I price matched it for a cost of $4.44 plus I had a $1 coupon :)
I will try this cheese paper and hopefully ‘this’ block of cheese will last a bit longer than the last one. Thanks.