When you come home from the shop and you have cheese and other fresh produce in your grocery bags, your first instinct is to put all the necessary items in the fridge. Cheese certainly being one of these items. Of course, when serving cheese or using it in a dish, you might wonder just how long you can keep it out of the fridge before it goes bad.
The first thing to remember is that many types of cheese should be served at room temperature. In other words, you should remove the cheese from the fridge several minutes prior to serving. This is done for a number of reasons. The first being texture and the second, flavour. When cheese is served at room temperature, it has a softer texture and this is especially important when it comes to spreading cheeses. As for flavour, the taste is stronger when the cheese is at room temperature.
Flavour and texture are not only important when it comes to enjoying the cheese. If you are serving wine with the cheese, it will complement the flavour of the wine even better. This is particular important when serving cheese like Camembert and Brie.
When serving cheese, the best thing to do is serve smaller portions. Prepare several portions and store them in the fridge with just one portion of each type of cheese on the table. When you notice that a certain type of cheese is running low, you can remove some more from the fridge and give it time to rest at room temperature before serving your guests.
In general, softer cheeses are more prone to bacterial growth while harder cheeses are not. In other words, a hard cheese can stay out of the fridge longer before bacteria starts to take over. In most cases, leaving cheese out of the fridge for a few hours will affect the texture and flavour but it’s usually still safe to eat. Unless, of course, the room or area where it is kept is particularly warm.