A home cook has shared a simple hack to keep cheese fresh for longer – and all you need to do is keep the supermarket packaging and use it to cover the exposed end of the block of cheese
Having to bin a hard or crusty block of cheese, particularly when it’s one of the priciest items in your trolley, is a real pain. Cheese dries out and loses its taste quickly when it comes into contact with air and cold fridge temperatures, particularly if you open the packet and forget to reseal it.
You might think wrapping your cheese in clingfilm would keep it fresher for longer, but this can actually backfire as it traps in humidity and makes your cheese more likely to turn mouldy. Tight wrappings around cheese not only encourage mould growth but can also lead to discolouration, a slippery surface, and even leave your cheese tasting of plastic.
READ MORE: Luxury hotel offering Elemis spa treatment with a free £101 beauty gift
Fortunately, cooking guru Nanna Bea has revealed a simple tip to keep your cheese from getting dry, advising that your best bet is sticking with the original supermarket packaging.
Nanna Bea suggests in her online tutorial: “When you’re opening a block of cheese in a wrapper, cut off the end, take out your cheese and then pop [the cut of wrap] back on the block.”
Simply slice the desired amount of cheese using a sharp knife, cutting through the packaging too, reports the Express. After slicing, just use the part of packaging you’ve cut off as a protective cap for the cheese, which acts as a simple yet effective shield against the air.
Cheese aficionados take note – it’s essential to keep your cheese wrapped up, just as the packaging intended, to ensure longevity.
Wrapping it this way shields cheese from the fridge’s harsh conditions and bacteria while letting it breathe enough to retain moisture and avoid drying out and becoming inedible.
Supermarket cheese is best preserved by this method, but for deli cheese, storage should be tailored to its specific moisture content due to differing types.
A clever tip involves using white vinegar to prevent mould growth on cheese, potentially extending its life by an extra six weeks.
In Nanna Bea’s comment section, several individuals were astonished by this seemingly obvious cheese opening technique, with many admitting they had been clueless about this approach.
A user confessed: “I had no idea to store cheese this way… no wonder it goes bad quickly.” Another added: “I did not know this – this is an amazing hack thank you!”
Yet another chimed in, saying: “Mind blown! I was this many days old before I knew this!”