Cheese – 40lb.round of opened grana padano cheese

cheese

I bought a 80lb. round of Grano Padano cheese and had it opened horizontally to use 1/2 of it for wedding. We "chunked" out a good portion of the center so the guests could nibble on it while tasting wine. The other 1/2 we would like to save for another wedding that is 3 months away. We want to keep it uncut and do the same thing for the Pre-dinner wine tasting. My question is: What is the best way to preserve it? I might be able to cryovac the whole piece and freeze it, but I understand it might lose some flavor and become crumbly. I can also refrigerate it. Would wrapping it in wax paper, then heavy duty aluminum foil, be the best way? I would be grateful for any answers!

Best Answer

yellow/clear cheese wax

I think your best bet might be to re-wax the cut surface with cheese wax, available from cheesemaking suppliers, and then store in the fridge, unless you have a cheese cave handy. In general a vertical halving will reduce storage loss by minimizing the cut surface - you could have had the same cheese availability by vertically halving the wheel (with a smaller cut surface) and then horizontally slicing the half you were using, opening it like a book if looking for the "whole round of cheese" look.

Your other best bet might be a bit too late, which is to be sure wedding one has paid for the whole cheese, and wedding two is prepared to pay for a whole cheese, so that if you open it up in 3 months and have a problem, the problem is only "smaller profit" not "taking a loss on trying to store cheese for 90 days after opening."

Linked item is just one I found as an example, not affiliated or even a customer.