Soft cheeses should be served soon after purchasing. As a general rule, the harder the cheese the longer it will remain fresh.

• Cheese will continue to ripen.
• Hard cheeses will generally keep for several months.
• Cheddars and Swiss cheeses will keep for several weeks.
• Blue cheeses keep for between 1-4 weeks.
• Soft cheeses will keep one to two weeks.

Cheese should be refrigerated at temperatures of 35-45 degrees. It is best to store most cheeses in waxed butcher paper or waxed pastry paper so it can breathe.