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I buy parmagiano-regianno and find it goes off and starts going moudly at the back (circular bit) after a couple of weeks. Do you keep it in the fridge, wrappe

by LandR 8y ago

I buy parmagiano-regianno and find it goes off and starts going moudly at the back (circular bit) after a couple of weeks. Do you keep it in the fridge, wrapped, what? How do you store it so it lasts so long?

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
I have a "Foodsaver" (vacuum sealer) that I use with the block. I'll open the bag, cut off what I think I'll use either immediately or within the next few days, and then vacuum-seal the bag again. Before I had that, I would usually wrap the cheese in a layer of wax paper, followed by a layer of foil, and put that in the freezer, taking it out as I needed it. Hard cheeses in the freezer will turn white and may no longer be useful to eat shards of on their own, but they're still fine for grating and melting.
crazygringo 8y ago
Mine stays good for 6+ months in the fridge, I buy a big hunk. Moisture and mold control is essential though. There are five key things to do: - Keep it in a sealed container, otherwise it'll dry out completely in a couple weeks and become inedible - Put a single folded-up paper towel in the sealed container to absorb gradual amounts of moisture that come out. Otherwise condensation will form on the cheese and mold will grow quickly - Replace the paper towel with a new one every 2 weeks (it'll be slightly damp) - Keep the hunk solid (don't pre-cut) and always grate/shave from the "oldest" area. Mold only grows on the surface, so as long as you're using it once every week or two, the surface doesn't exist for too long, so zero mold - Cut off the rind before any of this, since otherwise it would accumulate mold eventually. Save rinds in the freezer until you make minestrone or another appropriate soup, and cook with them -- they'll stay solid but the soup will absorb all the flavor from the rind, and then you fish it back out at the end Maybe it sounds like a lot of work, but a $50 chunk can last half the year if you're using it by yourself every couple days for scrambled eggs, simple pastas, shavings on salads, and so on. It turns out to be a pretty affordable luxury.
throw7 8y ago
I wrap my cheese in a lightly damp paper towel of white vinegar. I suppose that is probably sacrilege and passes on some vinegar taste, but I don't notice and it generally keeps the mold away.
throwaway2048 8y ago
Cut the mold off, it wont kill you, its completely safe to do so with hard cheeses.
- HelloNurse 8y ago
  Or abrade the mold off. Don't be afraid to cut beyond the rind into the proper cheese: almost all of the surface of a piece of cheese is interior in any case and the rind is important for whole wheels aging on a shelf, not to preserve a wedge in the fridge for a few weeks.

by LandR 8y ago

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

I have a "Foodsaver" (vacuum sealer) that I use with the block. I'll open the bag, cut off what I think I'll use either immediately or within the next few days, and then vacuum-seal the bag again. Before I had that, I would usually wrap the cheese in a layer of wax paper, followed by a layer of foil, and put that in the freezer, taking it out as I needed it. Hard cheeses in the freezer will turn white and may no longer be useful to eat shards of on their own, but they're still fine for grating and melting.

crazygringo 8y ago

Mine stays good for 6+ months in the fridge, I buy a big hunk. Moisture and mold control is essential though. There are five key things to do: - Keep it in a sealed container, otherwise it'll dry out completely in a couple weeks and become inedible - Put a single folded-up paper towel in the sealed container to absorb gradual amounts of moisture that come out. Otherwise condensation will form on the cheese and mold will grow quickly - Replace the paper towel with a new one every 2 weeks (it'll be slightly damp) - Keep the hunk solid (don't pre-cut) and always grate/shave from the "oldest" area. Mold only grows on the surface, so as long as you're using it once every week or two, the surface doesn't exist for too long, so zero mold - Cut off the rind before any of this, since otherwise it would accumulate mold eventually. Save rinds in the freezer until you make minestrone or another appropriate soup, and cook with them -- they'll stay solid but the soup will absorb all the flavor from the rind, and then you fish it back out at the end Maybe it sounds like a lot of work, but a $50 chunk can last half the year if you're using it by yourself every couple days for scrambled eggs, simple pastas, shavings on salads, and so on. It turns out to be a pretty affordable luxury.

throw7 8y ago

I wrap my cheese in a lightly damp paper towel of white vinegar. I suppose that is probably sacrilege and passes on some vinegar taste, but I don't notice and it generally keeps the mold away.

throwaway2048 8y ago

Cut the mold off, it wont kill you, its completely safe to do so with hard cheeses.

HelloNurse 8y ago
Or abrade the mold off. Don't be afraid to cut beyond the rind into the proper cheese: almost all of the surface of a piece of cheese is interior in any case and the rind is important for whole wheels aging on a shelf, not to preserve a wedge in the fridge for a few weeks.