I've got cheese – how to store it?
While there are many ways to store different types of cheeses, each cheese requires specific conditions. Depending on the cheeses, you can store them in the fridge or out of the refrigerator in a cool, dry place. You can store cheeses well-wrapped or in airtight bags or containers.
This article is a practical, comprehensive overview of how to store several common types of different cheeses. Read carefully, as, throughout this article, we mention many ways and tricks which can help you keep cheese longer.
If you want to know whether you can safely leave cheese overnight or longer out of the refrigerator, you can check our other article explicitly written on that topic.
If you want to know how to serve different types of cheeses for your guests, you can check yet another article of ours.
Mozzarella cheese and how to store it
How to store mozzarella cheese: To answer about mozzarella cheese and how to store it, we need to dive into details. Mozzarella is generally a soft cheese that is probably the most popular in the United States and many other countries.
Mozzarella originated in Italy. In the USA, you usually purchase it vacuum-packed in a grocery store.
First, let us distinguish between soft, fresh mozzarella and firm moisture mozzarella cheese that is most often sold in stores.
Most mozzarella cheese you buy in grocery stores is typically low moisture vacuum-packed firm mozzarella cheese version sold in blocks in a cheese section. You to store it longer than the fresh version. Store it just like that until you need to open the package and eat it.
Regular low moisture mozzarella is aged 5-15 days according to FDA regulations. Fresh mozzarella cheese is not aged.
How to store fresh mozzarella cheese
Unlike regular grocery store vacuum-packed low moisture mozzarella, fresh mozzarella cheese often comes as a round ball, and it is usually packaged along with a liquid. Most likely, you will find it in a dairy section of the store.
Quite often, it is sold in a container or sealed plastic bags in a liquid bath. But sometimes grocery stores sell fresh- mozzarella in plastic vacuum wraps just like they sell de-moisturized mozzarella cheese.
Fresh mozzarella cheese contains plenty of liquid, and it is better to store it in a refrigerator in an airtight container or in a bowl with liquid to avoid drying out.
As a rule, in compliance with the common practice of how to store fresh mozzarella cheese, you should do the following:
- At home, put recently bought fresh mozzarella cheese in a clean airtight container, airtight zip log bag, or just in a bowl. Add enough clean spring, filtered, or distilled water to cover the cheese completely.
- Tightly close a container or a bag with fresh mozzarella cheese and liquid and put it in the refrigerator. If it is a bowl, you can cover it tightly with plastic wrap to prevent airflow.
- Put a container or bowl on the middle shelf of the refrigerator.
Do above all as soon as possible after purchasing fresh mozzarella cheese to keep its freshness longer.
If necessary, add more water to the container each day or replace old water with new entirely because fresh mozzarella cheese stored in a fridge will keep absorbing liquid.
Do it if the water is getting low and does not cover the cheese completely. This will keep stored fresh mozzarella away from drying out. For even better storage, you can replace the liquid every couple of days.
As a last resort and quick fix, you can tightly wrap balls of fresh mozzarella cheese to trap the liquid and store it like that in the fridge.
The described method allows to store mozzarella cheese fresh for about a week. If you have a vacuum sealer at home, then you can seal fresh mozzarella more thoroughly and store it a little bit longer.
More mozzarella cheese storing tips
On the other hand, some people on forums suggest that fresh mozzarella cheese that comes vacuum-sealed from the manufacturer may last up to 30-40 days in the refrigerator when left unopened. Once opened, you can store it in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Please note that you can touch the fresh cheese only with washed, clean hands and clean utensils. Because fresh cheese is an excellent bacteria breeding ground, and any contamination will lead to quicker deterioration of your fresh mozzarella cheese.
Usually, people do not freeze fresh mozzarella cheese because freezing will mess up its structure, shape, taste, and flavor.
Freezing already opened fresh mozzarella cheese is probably the last option, if at all if you need to keep it for longer than 5-7 days. Frozen mozzarella in a freezer can probably last up to a few months.
Take the cheese out of the fridge and let it warm up for about an hour in a room temperature. If frozen, unfreezing it may take at least a few hours or longer. You can put it in a fridge as explained above, and it should unfreeze overnight.
Should mozzarella be refrigerated?
Generally, you should not refrigerate fresh mozzarella cheese if you plan to eat it within two to four hours from the time you purchase and open it. You should refrigerate it if you plan to keep it for longer than that.
The fresh mozzarella is designed to be eaten fresh within a day or two of making it.
Unopened regular low moisture mozzarella cheese commonly sold in grocery stores does not require refrigeration if you plan to eat it within 2-3 days. On the other hand, people report keeping it unrefrigerated for 5-7 days without too much problem.
You should refrigerate low moisture firm mozzarella cheese if you plan to keep it for longer than 2-3 days, though.
Storing fresh mozzarella cheese in a refrigerator is not a guarantee of freshness. Refrigeration gradually deteriorates fresh mozzarella cheese flavor and structure even if you take all the steps and precautions mentioned in this article.
On the other hand, regular low moisture mozzarella cheese can be safely refrigerated for an exceptionally long time without too much damage precisely due to low moisture content.
Now, to answer the question, should mozzarella be refrigerated – it does not have to be if you are going to eat it within the manufacturer’s suggested expiration time.
And if you keep it in a cool, dry place away from direct heat or sunlight. But refrigeration may extend the shelf life of any mozzarella cheese.
How long can you keep mozzarella cheese in the fridge?
As a rule, you should not keep fresh mozzarella cheese in the fridge for more than seven days. Usually, the fresh mozzarella cheese with liquid in the proper container or bowl can last seven days in the refrigerator if you change the fluid when necessary.
You can keep fresh mozzarella cheese wrapped well in plastic wrap for 3-4 days in the fridge. Hardly will it last longer because it loses water.
But if you use a vacuum sealer, you could store mozzarella for 4-7 days just wrapped without any container or a bowl.
Naturally, the regular low moisture mozzarella you can store for a longer time than fresh, moist mozzarella.
Usually, you can store the vacuum packaged unopened mozzarella, especially de-moisturized one, until the suggested expiration date. This can be months of storing it in a fridge without a problem.
How to store low moisture mozzarella
As you may have guessed already, the primary difference between fresh mozzarella and low moisture mozzarella cheese is moisture content. The manufacturing process for both types is pretty much identical.
The fresh mozzarella cheese undergoes additional do-moisturizing processing and turns into blocks of low moisture vacuum packaged firm mozzarella cheese that you often buy in grocery store chains.
Storing low moisture mozzarella cheese is even easier than a fresh one. Unopened vacuum packaged mozzarella can last at least until the expiration date, if not beyond that. You can keep it on the middle rack of refrigerated.
Even unrefrigerated low moisture mozzarella can often stay good for 5-7 at average room temperature. You can read detailed tips about this in my other article here.
According to FDA regulations, low moisture mozzarella cheese must have an expiration date not less than 120 days from the date it is manufactured. Its string version has 150 days expiration period.
As a rule, you can safely store unopened vacuum packaged regular blocks of low moisture mozzarella in the fridge for months.
How do you store mozzarella cheese without refrigeration?
As it was mentioned before, fresh soft, moist mozzarella cheese can be left out not more than for 2-4 hours without refrigeration, even once opened.
Regular vacuum packaged grocery store firm low moist mozzarella can rest in a dry, cool dark place for a week or longer without refrigeration. But it will start deteriorating within 2-4 days once it is opened.
Therefore, the best way to store any mozzarella cheese without refrigeration is by keeping it in the dark, cool, dry place, either vacuum packed or in an airtight container. You can also use a vacuum sealer to repackage remains if you opened cheese and ate some of it.
How do you make mozzarella last longer?
As explained, fresh mozzarella will last longer if you keep it refrigerated in a container or bowl with clean water, which you will change daily. Low moist mozzarella will last longer vacuum packaged unopened or repackaged using a home vacuum sealer.
If you do not have a vacuum sealer, put mozzarella cheese in the refrigerator in a zip log bag or airtight plastic container.
Parmesan cheese and how to store it
The next question on our list is how to store parmesan cheese. Unlike mozzarella, parmesan is a dry, aged cheese that is easier to store because it can last longer.
Wrapped in wax or parchment paper and then wrapped in aluminum foil on top, Parmesan cheese can be safely stored in a refrigerator. Well-wrapped parmesan cheese can also be kept out of the fridge for a shorter period if the wrap or storage container prevents air from flowing in.
Just like any cheese, you can store parmesan cheese longer if you keep it wrapped or closed to prevent air from coming in and away from direct sunlight. Open airflow will dry out cheese quite quickly.
On the other hand, too tight wrapping with plastic or keep in a plastic container may make parmesan cheese “sweat” and lose some flavor. Here we reveal several easy tricks and tips that many people worldwide use to store parmesan cheese longer.
If you purchased vacuum packaged parmesan in the store, then there is no need to open it if you do not intend to eat it right away. Just keep it in the original package and open it only when you want to eat it. The vacuum package does not allow air inside.
How do you store opened Parmesan cheese?
But how to store already opened parmesan cheese? Once you open it, you better tightly wrap it in wax paper or parchment paper if you do not have wax paper. You can also tightly wrap an extra layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil on top of wax paper.
If you do not have an aluminum wrap, you can use plastic wrap on top of the already wrapped paper.
Why is paper better for wrapping and storing parmesan cheese? Because paper absorbs extra moisture and allows the cheese to breathe.
Some Italian chefs or experts do not recommend wrapping parmesan cheese in plastic for long storage because it will “sweat” too much. I would think the same rule goes for any hard cheese that you intend to store longer.
Note: neither aluminum nor plastic should touch the cheese directly. This way, it will keep its flavor and freshness longer for whatever chemical reasons. That is why you wrap parmesan cheese in paper first, and then aluminum or plastic on top of it.
More tips for storing opened parmesan cheese
In the quick, cheap, and lazy case scenario, once you open parmesan cheese, you can put it in a zip plastic bag, squeeze the air out and then tightly close it. Alternatively, you can lock it up in a clean and dry airtight container.
But most containers still get condensed moisture in them, and cheese needs to breathe. Some chefs recommend leaving a little bit of opening for moisture to come out of the container instead of being absorbed by the cheese to deal with that problem.
Alternatively, they suggest putting it in a box that can breathe – weather paper box, or box with some holes. Then cheese will last for several weeks.
And if you intend to eat the remains of this cheese within a couple of days, then you can put them in a clean plastic container or a bowl and wrap it in plastic wrap.
One more trick that people recommend is to put a piece of cheese in a glass jar with a bit of bread. Somehow this helps to store cheese longer. Probably, bread absorbs extra moisture.
Finally, some travelers suggest that in Italy, in factories, cheese producers advise wrapping parmesan in a clean towel and then put it in the refrigerator.
Therefore, you have many options of how to store parmesan cheese.
Parmesan cheese storing tip: Do not wet opened parmesan cheese, and do not let it touch anything wet or moist. Moisture will quickly deteriorate stored parmesan cheese.
Only if you stored parmesan cheese and it became too dry, then you wrap it with a wet towel and put it in the refrigerator overnight. The cheese will absorb moisture from the towel and become softer.
Are these valuable tips, or what?
Can Parmesan cheese be stored at room temperature?
You can store parmesan at room temperature. But even well wrapped or packaged parmesan will not last beyond a week or few weeks at room temperature. It will start to deteriorate, albeit slowly, because it is aged.
Plus, what is room temperature? Room temperature in Calgary, Canada, will be different from room temperature in Miami, Florida.
Unless you are somewhere north, where room temperature is slightly cool, you’d be better keeping parmesan at temperatures lower than room temperature, that is, in the refrigerator.
Can you leave Parmesan cheese out of fridge?
Yes, you can leave parmesan cheese out of the fridge. But parmesan cheese will not keep its flavor beyond a week or two, and it may spoil even after several days if you leave it without a refrigerator. It is always much better to put parmesan cheese in the fridge as soon as you bring it home.
I wrote a separate helpful article on this blog about keeping cheese out of the refrigerator.
How long can you store Parmesan cheese?
How long can you keep parmesan cheese in the fridge: You can store opened but properly wrapped parmesan for four to six weeks in the refrigerator. Although, some people report they have kept it longer than that.
It is better to store opened parmesan cheese wrapped or stored as I explained on the middle or bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Some people recommend storing parmesan cheese in the bottom vegetable compartment.
Refrigeration allows parmesan to last much longer. And a method of putting a piece of parmesan cheese in a breathable box may allow you to store it in the fridge for up to three weeks.
Store Parmesan pieces in the refrigerator at 39 to 46 F degrees, which equals 4 – 8 C.
How do you store parmesan cheese long term: Unopened parmesan cheese wrapped in a vacuum-sealed package can last for up to about four months. In some cases, users report, an unopened vacuum packaged in its original bag parmesan may be stored even up eight or nine months.
Can you freeze parmesan cheese?
Yes, you can freeze parmesan cheese because the low moisture content in it allows freezing without too much damage to its stricture.
However, freezing the whole block of parmesan cheese is not recommended as it will be hard to unfreeze and grate it, if necessary.
Therefore, chefs recommend grating parmesan (shredding into small, long pieces) before freezing.
And divide grated parmesan among smaller packages so that you would have to take out and unfreeze as much as you need.
You can store frozen grated or non-grated parmesan in the freezer for up to 8-12 months.
How to store grated parmesan cheese
Grated parmesan cheese is usually even more sensitive to the effect of air and moisture than non-grated cheese. For this reason, Storing grated parmesan cheese is recommended in re-sealed zip log plastic bags or airtight containers.
Grated cheese means pretty much the same thing as shredded cheese.
You can easily store bags or containers with grated parmesan cheese in the fridge for about 5-7 days. Please put it on the middle shelf somewhere in the back of the refrigerator.
As a rule, you can store grated cheese like how you would store grated parmesan cheese – in bags, containers, or plastic wrap. If you purchased already shredded cheese at the store, then store it by the expiration date.
According to our research, some people report that they sometimes store well sealed, shredded, hard long-aged cheese like parmesan for months.
Do you have to refrigerate grated parmesan cheese after opening?
Unless you intend to eat it within 24 hours, you should refrigerate grated parmesan after opening. Grated parmesan cheese goes bad quicker than a block of it.
Suitable parmesan cheese storage container
You should not be surprised that you can buy a particular parmesan cheese storage container on the internet. Yes, they make those too. You can use a parmesan storage container, cheese storage container, or butter storage container, or a jar. Just check online.
How to keep grated and block parmesan cheese from molding
Keeping mold away from block parmesan cheese. To keep parmesan cheese from molding, you can wrap it in wax or parchment paper, which keeps moist and mold out. Others say that wrapping it in a dry paper towel works too.
Note that the old paper will eventually contribute to mold growth by absorbing and storing moisture. Therefore, make sure to change the paper now and then.
Mold starts growing primarily on the surface without affecting deeper layers of cheese. If you see a moldy spot growing on the cheese, cut it off well, and the rest of the cheese should be fine.
Tip: Opening a lid of the container with stored cheese and wiping dry inside moist now and then also helps to keep mold away.
Keeping mold away from grated parmesan cheese. You can keep grated parmesan cheese from molding longer by keeping it in a sealed bag or container, preventing airflow. And put them in the fridge.
These measures will prevent mold from growing too fast, and grated parmesan cheese will last longer.
Mold spreads faster on grated cheese. Unlike block cheese, grated parmesan cheese should be discarded if you notice mold on it.
That is why I recommend dividing grated cheese into smaller portions and putting it into several different bags or containers. This way, if one part may get mold and other pieces may not develop it.
You can also wrap grated parmesan cheese in parchment or wax paper, as explained above. Make sure to wrap cheese well and then put it in the refrigerator. Freezing will help to keep mold away from grated cheese for an extended period.
Tip: Black mold is the worst and the most dangerous. Throw out whole cheese without any reservation if it is affected by black mold. Blue or green mold is much softer and not as bad, but I would also be careful.
Conclusion about how to store parmesan cheese
Try different mentioned ways to store your parmesan cheese and see which of them works better for you.
Feta cheese and how to store it
How to store feta cheese?
The following frequently asked question is how to store feta cheese. Feta cheese is fresh soft cheese of Greek origin with a crumbly structure. It is not aged like hard cheeses like parmesan or jack are aged and thus spoils faster.
How to store feta cheese in the fridge
As a rule, you should store feta cheese refrigerated and fully covered with water or brine in a tightly closed container or a glass jar to avoid drying out. You can add some kosher or sea salt to the mixture to preserve feta better. About 1 tsp – 1 tbs per cup of water is well enough.
If feta comes already salted, you do not need to add extra salt to it. Too much salt will dry feta out.
Essentially, you should store it like how you would store fresh mozzarella. But, while mozzarella can stay fine in water, feta is softer cheese and may fell apart in clean water. That is why feta must be better stored in brine rather than plain water.
How to make simple brine for storing feta cheese
Take 9 parts water and 1 part salt (10%). Mix and then boil. Once the solution cools down, put feta into ready homemade brine.
For making brine, people report using regular table salt, kosher salt, or sea salt. Do not use iodized salt as iodine kills bacteria that help to make cheese out of milk.
Other ways to store feta in the fridge
Many people report that adding some olive oil will help to preserve feta even better for up to four weeks in a refrigerator. Oil forms a layer onto the liquid, preventing oxygen from assisting bacteria in growing.
If you do not want to mess with water or brine, you could drain feta a little bit over the drain and wrap it in wax or parchment paper. Then put it in a zip log bag, glass jar, or container, and put it in the fridge like that.
Stored this way, feta will survive less than four weeks, but longer than if you put it in the fridge in a bowl. And if you close the bag or container tightly, that may extend the freshness of your feta for several days or even a week.
How long can you keep feta cheese in the fridge?
Depending on how you store it, you can keep feta cheese in the fridge anywhere from several days to up to almost a month or longer in some instances. If you store it in a suitable container, jar, or in a zip log plastic bag, it could last one week or even longer once opened.
If you put open feta cheese in the refrigerator without taking any precautions for storing it, the cheese will likely be suitable anywhere from two days to up to a week. But people report that open feta cheese in a regular bowl lasted for longer than a week in a few instances.
Here is a trick. Much of the feta sold in US grocery store chains are not authentic feta. It may contain preservatives that make it last longer.
Feta is traditionally a Greek cheese, but many other nations incorporated it into their cuisine a long time ago. More authentic feta sold in ethnic grocery stores like middle eastern, Armenian, Bulgarian, Greek, and others, may also last longer if you store it the same way they kept it in the store.
People also report that feta cheese kept in original whey brine in a refrigerator may sometimes last for months in the fridge. Some say even a year or two. Since we have not tried to store feta cheese like that for long, we recommend eating such feta within the first week or two.
Feta cheese storage temperature
The best storage temperature for feta cheese is fridge temperature at 39 to 46 F degrees, which equals 4 – 8 C.
The exception is olive oil marination when feta cheese entirely covered by olive oil in a closed airtight container or zip log bag can be stored at room temperature for several weeks at a time. Read below for more.
Can feta cheese be stored at room temperature?
As a rule, feta cheese cannot be store at room temperature for longer than 24 hours when it starts spoiling and losing its taste and flavor.
However, there is also an option to put feta in the container or glass jar, fully cover it with olive oil, tightly close the lid and store it without refrigerating. You can store fresh feta this way for up to four weeks or even longer in few instances.
Note that it is not recommended to use extra virgin olive oil for storing feta cheese. Use regular olive oil.
Can you freeze feta cheese?
You can freeze feta cheese. But because it is soft and contains plenty of moisture, freezing will damage its structure and taste.
Freezing feta cheese may work when you plan to crumble it into a salad or other dishes after unfreezing.
If you need to freeze feta cheese, then you should drain the liquid out of it. Then put it in a plastic wrap or bag. And then freeze it. Do not use a glass jar because the glass may break in the freezer.
General tips for how to store any cheese:
- As a rule, hard cheeses like parmesan or jack do not require refrigeration. But they will last longer if refrigerated.
- Any cheese must be served warm on the table as it is the established practice.
- Avoid freezing soft cheeses with high moisture content because that moisture expands when frozen and damages the cheese structure on a molecular level. The cheese will be softer and not as good as the original.
- The longer the hard cheese was aged (kept in the cellar to ripeness) by the manufacturer, the longer it can stay alive in the fridge or freezer or out of the refrigerator.
- Do not forget to squeeze the air out if you re-seal cheese in a plastic zip log bag for further storing.
- Some experienced cheese makes recommend buying pre-grated cheese only if you plan to use it right away. Otherwise, it is better to buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself just when you need it.
- Make sure containers, bags, utensils, and your hands are clean before touching the cheese you plan to store to avoid contamination, stimulating bacteria growth.
References: