On Food and Cooking

Cool, Not Cold If cheese must be kept for
more than a few days, it’s usually easiest to
refrigerate it. Unfortunately, the ideal
conditions for holding cheese — a humid 55–
60ºF/12–15ºC, simply a continuation of its
ripening conditions — is warmer than most
refrigerators, and cooler and moister than
most rooms. Refrigeration essentially puts
cheese into suspended animation, so if you
want an immature soft cheese to ripen further,
you’ll need to keep it warmer.
Cheeses should never be served direct
from the refrigerator. At such low
temperatures the milk fat is congealed and as
hard as refrigerated butter, the protein
network unnaturally stiff, the flavor
molecules imprisoned, and the cheese will
seem rubbery and flavorless. Room
temperature is best, unless it’s so warm
(above about 80ºF/26ºC) that the milk fat will
melt and sweat out of the cheese.