This Is the Freshest Way to Store Your Cheese, According to a Cheese Shop Owner

Whether you’re buying them for a special occasion or simply enjoy trying new varieties, specialty cheeses can be hard to store once removed from their original packaging. But cheese connoisseur Patricia Michelson has a couple of tricks to make that hassle a thing of the past.

Since 1992, Michelson’s La Fromagerie — which literally means “the cheese shop” in French — has been serving multiple U.K. communities the best cheeses, charcuteries, and wines. And thanks to The Guardian’s “Kitchen Aide” advice column, she shared a neat storage tip that you can immediately try at home using something you most likely already have handy: sugar cubes.

As the tip suggests, start by double-wrapping your cheese in wax or baking parchment paper. Then, line a plastic storage container with a damp kitchen towel or disposable dish cloth before placing your cheese in the container along with two standard sugar cubes. According to Michelson, the sugar somehow helps to regulate the temperature inside of the container (when closed tightly), thereby extending your cheese’s shelf life significantly.

While she cautions that the sugar will eventually melt, she does note that most people finish their cheeses long before that happens. Should you need to replace the sugar, however, make sure to clean the box and replace both the dish cloth and sugar cubes. 

Not someone who keeps sugar cubes at home? You can skip that step and simply place your container on your fridge’s top shelf. In case you didn’t know, that happens to be where the temperature is most consistent.

Now that you have all of that fresh cheese left over, these savory cheese-filled hand pies may be a great way to use it up.

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: The Best Way to Store Cheese, According to a Cheese Shop Owner.