Storing Cheese

Image by Jacob EnosI love tips from old cookbooks. I particularly like it when I can figure out whether or not they actually work and why.

Recently, I saw a tip on Lifehacker that caught my attention: to store cheese (keeping it soft and preventing mold growth), spread a thin layer of butter on it. In the comments, someone one-ups this by suggesting that the butter be spread on cheesecloth which is then used to wrap the cheese.

OK. I guess it makes sense. I've also heard of using olive oil.

On the other hand, I've heard that using plastic wrap isn't a good idea. Doesn't the butter essentially seal the cheese like plastic would?

Maybe.

Harold Mcgee offers three arguments against plastic wrap:

1. Trapping moisture in the cheese while restricting oxygen flow promotes mold growth.
2. Volatile chemicals such as ammonia get trapped and cannot escape from the cheese.
3. Plastic chemicals migrate into the cheese.

Butter does seem to fare better than plastic on these. The third is definitely not an issue when there's no actual plastic involved, and I suspect that there's far more gas-transfer through a thin butter layer than through plastic.

Another advantage? The source that Lifehacker referenced suggested keeping the buttered cheese in a cool place. McGee says ideal storage conditions for cheese are 55-60º F (12-15º C) with high humidity. This is significantly warmer than most refrigerators. Butter should keep about a week or so under those conditions.