Tip of the Week: cheese storage

Welcome to my new weekly posts that I'll be doing on top of my regular longer posts. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I no longer have the time to do a long post three times or even twice a week, so I thought a great way of making sure I post at least once a week is to have a quick weekly tip post. Suggestions of things you would like covered are welcome.

I'm starting off with storing cheese only because I recently got an email with household hints saying that cheese is best stored in aluminium foil. I wasn't so sure about this and went on a cheese and foil Google adventure. The tip was not quite right because storing cheese in foil can actually increase its chances of moulding. But boy oh boy, is there some controversy out there about storing cheese!? Everything from parchment paper to Tupperware. Here's what I could find out that seemed the best:

For hard cheeses, avoid plastic wraps, apparently the cheese starts tasting of the plastic. Instead wrap the cheese in wax paper, and then store in an airtight plastic container. This should be kept in the refrigerator drawers where it doesn't get too cold. Each time the cheese is unwrapped, re-wrap in fresh wrapping (seems a bit of a waste I know). Soft cheese is best kept in their original packaging but well sealed.

If cheese does become mouldy, cut away 1/2" around and below the mould. Soft cheeses however should be discarded when mould appears.

Let me know your thoughts on cheese storage. Ha ha, it's amazing what topics are useful for home keeping.