Guide to Buying Healthy Economical Cheese

Since most cheese comes without additives, I wasn't that concerned about the cheese I purchased until I moved to an area with high groceries prices.  It was then that I started to look closer into the cheese issue.  Luckily, I discovered I could save considerably on monthly grocery expenses as well as avoid unwanted preservatives found in certain types of cheese.



So, when buying cheese, the first thing you'll find is that all cheese is not created equal.  Look at your labels and you will find that some cheese is filled with artificial ingredients and additives.  These are usually the wrapped pre-sliced varieties, the individually wrapped cheese snacks and the shredded cheese.  Fortunately, it is very easy to avoid these types of processed cheeses.  Instead of buying the processed cheese, try getting your cheese from the deli or grabbing a brick of your favorite type of cheese and cut it on your own once you are at home. 

Buying Cheese in Bulk
Though slicing your own cheese may seem like a time consuming hassle, it really isn't.  As long as you know what you are doing, you can buy large bricks of cheese at your wholesale store of choice; Sams Club or Cosco, and then keep it in your refrigerator for months.  There are only a few things you need to know before getting started.

1. Avoid touching the cheese.  Touching the cheese with your fingers will begin the process of molding.  
2. Keep your brick in air tight packaging.  Prolonged exposure to air will promote the growth of mold.

If you follow these two guidelines, you will be able to slice, shred or chop your own cheese and a large brick of cheese will last for quite a long time.

How to Cut and Slice Bricks of Cheese
So once, you've purchased a large brick of cheese, you'll need to take measures to be sure the cheese will last once cut open.  So, in order to prevent molding, the best thing to do is to place the brick of cheese on a cutting board and make a clean cut right through the plastic.  If you are cutting cheese in order to make slices for sandwiches, only cut a chunk big enough for what you think you'll use in the next two weeks.  Once you've cut the chunk off the brick of cheese, immediately wrap the exposed end of the brick with cling wrap.  Pull the plastic tightly over the exposed portion of cheese so that no air touches it, and then wrap another piece or so of cling wrap around the sides of the brick to assure the first piece of plastic stays tightly fastened to the cheese.  Place the brick of cheese back in the refrigerator.  This will assure your brick of cheese will last a long time.

Next you will take the chunk of cheese that you cut from the brick and cut it with a sturdy cheese slicer.  If you've never used a cheese slicer before, play with the angle with which you slice the cheese in order to get thin or thick slices.  If you want to shred the chunk of cheese, do so immediately and store unused portions in a plastic bag.  For longer storage, try to remove as much air as possible from the bag without crushing the shredded cheese.  Shredded cheese can also be stored in the freezer for quite some time.  However, it will last longer if left on the brick and refrigerated, so try to shred only what you will need in the next couple of weeks and refrigerate it.

So whatever you need to use cheese for, I'm confident you will find that buying cheese in bricks and doing your own processing will be much more economical as well as help you to avoid unwanted food additives.