Do not stock up on cheese; buy what you need for a week or two unless it is a harder, sturdier cheese. Rewrap the cheese often to prevent mold, also to prevent the cheese from tasting like plastic. You may need to shave off the face of the cheese, which has been in contact with the wrapper. Cheese paper is good to wrap cheese for short periods of time but eventually the cheese will dry out unless you then wrap it in saran wrap. Plastic will maintain the cheese for a longer time period. Hard cheeses can be wrapped in foil to prevent them from tasting like plastic. This also retards them from getting too hard.
TEMPERATURE: The ideal temperature for storing cheese is 42-50°F.
HUMIDITY: The need for humidity in the refrigerator varies with the variety of cheese, but most do well at 65%. The more humid the climate in the refrigerator, the more friendly it will be to molds. White rinds, bloomy rinds and blue cheeses need more humidity and the careful encouragement of their molds. Storing these cheeses in a place closer to the door of the walk-in places them in a slightly warmer temperature that is more comfortable for the molds. Cheeses with washed rinds require more humidity. Other rinds need air circulation and a less humid environment. However, they should not have so much air circulation that their surfaces dry out, as can happen if they’re placed too close to the blowers.
Cold will retard aging to some degree so fresh cheeses are best keep in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
Separate cheeses with white mold rinds or blue veining from others when possible to avoid mold growth. Washed rind cheeses like Taleggio should not be stored too cold as they may crack.
