Cheese

You can cut the green off anyway

Applewood smoked cheddar seems to keep really well, although it rarely has the chance to.

Ready grated cheese is a waste of money. I buy a kg of strong cheddar at a time and grate it in the food processor using the grating disc. It takes less than a minute to grate the whole lot, most of which goes into the freezer and a smaller portion in the fridge for immediate use.

I'm the only one who eats cheese here unless the kids are visiting. So I grate a whole block of cheddar and freeze it in a large container. It separates easily when frozen so I can help myself to as much as I want. I never buy ready grated cheese. It doesn't taste the same to me. My son said it's coated with potato starch to keep it freeflowing. I don't know if that's true but would help explain the taste.

I buy a block of cheese which lasts about two weeks. If there is any left I use it for cooking...in all sorts of dishes.

Go for it Sister!

Thanks * Friday* I will feel better eating my 60-80g cheese now!

That’s crazy - about the 40g I mean. It depends on your size and weight, your metabolism, your age and your ability to digest and utilise calcium, fats and other minerals. Some of these ‘studies’ are undertaking by students at university as part of their degrees and are limited in number and scope, and often very amateurish.

I agree that there is much misinformation around saturated fats though and that (genuine) new research is suggesting quite strongly that not all saturated fats are equal and that some do have hitherto unsuspected health benefits. But it’s a bit of a minefield if you are not scientifically literate.

I read in the paper today that a study found that eating 40g of cheese a day protects against heart attack and stroke - but it must be 40g, no more and no less.

It's reassuring that there are other cheeseaholics out there too. There's only me to eat it but I have a wide selection in my cheese drawer. I don't have milk in any way so cheese provides my calcium - I tell myself. It doesn't have time to go off. As a gesture to weight control I've started to buy 'light' cheddar and it's really very good.
I've been trying to think of a cheese I don't like and nothing comes to mind although I wouldn't eat any with maggots in!

I just buy what I think I’ll use. Get them to cut it on the deli counter,

M&S Cornish Cruncher keeps well

We have a large plastic box in the fridge for cheese. We usually have extra mature cheddar, parmesan, brie or camembert, stilton, philadelphia cream cheese and sometimes cambozola, feta or halloumi. Cheese lasts for ages. Some we cook cheese, eg cauliflower cheese or pizza but most we just eat it, we never throw out any cheese.

Like Annodomini I use my food processor and freeze.

If your cheese goes mouldy you can just slice it off and eat the rest of it. If it has dried up, slice that off as well but you can melt that down to eat. Wrapped in foil I find it lasts longer.

I buy a large block, cut it into chunks and freeze it. Then we've always got a handy size piece to use.

I buy a smallish block of Wensleydale nearly every week and cut it into 1" cubes. I use one each day, thinly sliced. Just last week I found that the last two cubes had gone mouldy in the fridge which amazingly hasn't happened before.
I also buy ready finely grated Pana Gradano and add 1 tbsp to my lunch each day as I read somewhere that it helps to keep your BP normal.
Both these are stored in greaseproof paper in an airtight container in the fridge and apart from the fore-mentioned one mouldy incident it seems to work.

I recently discovered Montagnolo D'affine (sp). it doesnt last long enough to spoil, except my waistline.

Blimey unless it’s completely mouldy all over I cut the bits off and still use it, talking about cheddar of course, not sure about soft cheeses.
Remember my mum always cutting the mould off and we didn’t have a fridge, just a larder.

I'm another of the 'scrape off' brigade. Been doing it for many years and doesn't seem to have had any adverse effect.
Mind you, I daresay many who know me might dispute that second sentence!!

Amazed anyone needs to throw cheddar away - have you looked at the sell by dates on the packs? Apparently they'll keep almost for ever!

I keep mine in the packets with a klippit on, and squeeze most of the air out. If the edges go a bit dry & hard you can still grate that bit and use it in cooking, and any mould is just scraped off. I don't actually find cheddar goes mouldy but parmesan does sometimes, a tip I read was to wrap it in kitchen roll to stop it sweating, before putting it back in the packet.

We don’t use cheese very much but I buy the large packs and as soon as I open it, I put it back in its pack and make sure as much of the air as possible is out of it and tightly closed and packed and then put strong elastic bands around it and put it back in the fridge. It seems to keep well for as long as I need it and I very rarely waste any.

I suspect it depends a little on what kind of cheese we are talking about, but I halve the piece because otherwise it won't fit into the cheese dish and wrap the half to be kept in greaseproof paper and then pop it into a freezer bag and keep it in the fridge until we have eaten the first half of the piece. Næe bother, as the say north of the border.

Some cheeses freeze well; others don't. The ones that crumble on being de- frozen should be grated before going into the freezer.

Before cheese goes mouldy, it doesn't matter if it is dry, chop it finely and put it in a jar and dampened it with a little milk, cream or yoghurt. After a day or so in the fridge it can be spread on bread or biscuits. You can add dried dill or other flavourings if you like. Here in Denmark this dish has kept its German name and is called Potkäse (cheese in a jar) if you want to keep it for a longish time you add a teaspoonful of brandy or rum.

Toss any bits of cheese leftover at the end of the week in the food processor- pop it in the freezer, you can add to this every week until needed. Don't worry about mixing different cheeses this just adds to the flavour when used in sauces etc.

In our house we have opposite problem. We buy 2 large blocks of cheddar from Aldi, brie, stilton and gorgonzola and we always run out before Saturday when we shop.