We know the struggle. You buy a piece of beautifully wrapped cheese from your favorite shop. As soon as you get home, you tear into that pristinely wrapped package, with perfect folds and creases keeping that cheese snug as a bug in a rug. After taking a few slices, you try to wrap it back up as elegantly as the cheesemonger did, but it ends up looking like a sagging paper grocery bag that got caught in the rain.
The key to proper cheese storage is making sure the cheese is completely wrapped without any parts exposed and the whole piece is secured tightly. Formaticum storage products ensure your cheese gets the perfect ratio of oxygen flowing so your cheese can breathe all while preventing moisture from escaping to maintain optimal humidity. Exposed bits will dry out to a crisp in the cold, arid conditions of your fridge, making the pleat a critical step.
The best way to wrap a cheese and make sure that it’s perfectly protected, and sealed inside the packaging, is by doing a classic French pleat. Don’t worry, it’s simple to execute.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to forming a perfect French pleat.
- Place the cheese in the center of the paper, with the long side of the cheese facing the long side of the paper.
- Bring the edges of the long side of the paper together so that they meet.
- Pinching them together, carefully fold the paper over about a half inch and make a crease.
- Roll the fold downward until it's tight against the surface of the cheese.
- Fold the open sides tight to the shape of the cheese and make an envelope crease just like how you’d wrap a present.
- Tuck both flaps under the cheese.
- Write the name of the cheese and the date on a label, and use it to secure the flaps.
- Store your cheese in your fridge until you’re ready to finish it off!
Check out this instructional video to see this technique in action.