A two-kilogram cheese pack offers a clear advantage in price per kilogram. But that advantage disappears quickly where the product does not get stored correctly.
How large is the advantage of a big pack?
The size of the pack directly affects the unit price of cheese.
The gap in price per kilogram between a two-hundred-gram pack and a two-kilogram one runs 20 to 35 percent.
The reason is the cost of packaging and the labour of portioning.
Both items fall in a large pack.
But the advantage holds only where the product gets eaten entirely.
Every hundred grams spoiled or thrown away erases part of it.
An advantage of twenty percent disappears entirely once twenty percent of the product goes in the bin, and that calculation makes portioning obligatory.
| Type of cheese | Fridge (opened) | Portioned | Freezer |
|---|---|---|---|
| White cheese (in brine) | 3-4 weeks | 2 months | Unsuitable |
| Kaşar (block) | 3-4 weeks | 2 months | 3 months |
| Aged kaşar | 1-2 months | 3 months | 4 months |
| Tulum | 1 month | 2 months | 3 months |
| Curd | 4-5 days | 1 week | Unsuitable |
| Mozzarella (block) | 2-3 weeks | 1 month | 2 months |
What happens once the pack opens?
Vacuum packaging removes oxygen from the environment.
That prevents both oxidation and the growth of mould.
Oxygen enters once the pack opens.
Mould spores settle on the surface.
The surface of the cheese also begins to dry.
The loss of moisture hardens the texture.
Those three processes begin at once, and because the surface area of a large block is greater their speed runs high too.
How does portioning get planned?
The plan works from weekly consumption.
How much cheese gets eaten in a week gets calculated.
Weekly consumption in a family of four runs around three to five hundred grams.
A two-kilogram block therefore covers four or five weeks.
The block gets divided into weekly portions.
Each portion gets wrapped separately.
Only the portion in use gets opened; the rest stay as though never opened and the clock does not start for them.
How does a cheese block get cut?
The cutting stays clean and controlled.
A clean knife gets used.
The cheese gets cut cold.
The chopping board stays separate; a board used with other foods carries a risk of contamination.
The block gets halved and then quartered.
It then gets divided into weekly portions.
The cutting gets planned to leave as little cut surface as possible; leaving slices or blocks rather than dicing lowers the total surface area and extends the shelf life.
Which wrapping material gets used?
The choice of material directly affects how long it keeps.
Cling film is the most widespread; it passes no air but also stops the cheese breathing.
That leads to sweating in soft cheeses.
Cheese paper works best; its two-layer structure holds moisture while allowing air through.
Aluminium foil works with hard cheeses.
A vacuum bag gives the longest period.
Where a domestic vacuum sealer exists the portions get vacuumed; that is the most effective method, doubling the storage period.
How does brined cheese get stored?
White cheese and similar brined cheeses behave differently.
The brine acts as a preservative.
The cheese deteriorates quickly once taken out of it.
The portions get stored together with their own brine.
Where the brine runs short a fresh one gets made: sixty to eighty grams of salt per litre.
The container should be glass or food-grade plastic.
Metal containers do not get used; brine reacts with metal and a metallic taste passes into the cheese.
Is freezing suitable?
It varies by type of cheese.
Hard cheeses suit freezing best: kaşar, aged kaşar and parmesan.
Because their water is low the ice crystals stay small.
Soft and fresh cheeses do not suit; curd, white cheese and ricotta release water on thawing and their texture breaks down.
Frozen cheese gets used grated.
It does not go out in slices since the texture has suffered somewhat; no difference registers in melting and cooking applications.
Why does labelling matter?
The commonest problem with portioned products is not knowing which was cut when.
A label goes onto every portion.
The date of portioning goes on it.
The type of cheese goes on too; wrapped, two different cheeses look alike.
The portions sit in the fridge in order of date.
The oldest goes at the front.
That simple arrangement lets a two-kilogram block get eaten at the same quality to the last piece and preserves the cost advantage of the large pack.
What happens when mould appears on the surface of cheese?
That is the situation met most often with large packs, and the response varies by type of cheese.
In hard cheeses — kaşar, aged kaşar, parmesan — the mould at the surface can be cut away.
Mould does not penetrate deeply into a dense structure.
The cut happens at least two and a half centimetres from the mouldy spot and the knife comes out without touching the mould.
The situation differs in soft and fresh cheeses; in curd, white cheese and ricotta the mould counts as having spread through the whole product and the cheese goes in the bin.
Because their water content is high the hyphae reach regions invisible to the eye.
In brined cheese a cloudy, smelling brine is a separate warning; no attempt gets made to rescue the cheese in that case.
Blue-veined cheeses are the obvious exception, but even there any mould of a colour other than the one the cheese is meant to carry means the same thing.
Where in the fridge does cheese sit?
Not every shelf in a fridge runs at the same temperature, and the right place for cheese is fixed.
The salad drawer sits at the bottom and generally runs two or three degrees; that is the ideal range for cheese.
The door shelf is the warmest point; room air enters at every opening and the temperature climbs to eight or ten degrees.
Cheese does not get stored in the door.
The upper shelves do not suit either; being close to the cooling vent, the surface dries.
Portioned cheeses go into the salad drawer inside a closed box.
The box provides a second barrier; it balances the moisture and stops the smell of the cheese spreading through the rest of the fridge.
