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Cheese is a must-have in the kitchen during summer — perfect for adding to salads or topping burgers — but it often dries out and goes hard in the fridge if not stored properly. Fridges are designed to remove moisture from the air to prevent food from becoming mouldy, but this dry air can spoil cheese and make it tasteless, as cheese needs moisture to retain its flavour.
If you leave cheese uncovered or store it incorrectly, hard cheeses like cheddar can become cracked, while softer cheeses like mozzarella will turn rubbery. However, the experts at The Cheese Lover, says it takes only a few minutes to store cheese the right way to keep it fresh, as all you need is a container and some sugar cubes.
They said: “A useful way to ensure a long lifespan for your cheese is to pop a small sugar cube inside your container. The cube will absorb excess moisture, and prevent the cheese from sweating.”
It might sound bizarre, but sugar cubes are hygroscopic, which means they absorb and retain moisture to create a more stable, humid storage environment.
This helps prevent the air around the cheese from becoming too dry, while also absorbing any excess moisture that could encourage mould.
Sugar cubes are an old-school but surprisingly effective way to keep cheese fresher for longer, which is especially useful in summer, when people often have lots of cheese on hand for picnics, barbecues, or ‘picky bits’ dinners.
How to use sugar cubes to keep cheese fresh and flavourful
To begin, you need to wrap cheese up in a breathable material to stop it drying out. Most professional cheesemongers use special wax paper but common kitchen baking paper also works really well.
Do not wrap cheese up in cling film as plastic retains too much moisture, which can cause most cheese to go mouldy. Tin foil alone tends to be too loose and will not cover the cheese properly, but it can be used since we are storing cheese in a container.
Once you have wrapped up the cheese, place it in a sealed container that has a lid. This keeps the cheese covered and protects it from the dry air of the fridge.
Then, simply place one or two sugar cubes inside the container with your cheese. This will keep the moisture levels inside the container balanced so your cheese stay fresh for longer than it usually would.
