Cooking tip
This is how the pasta trick makes Parmesan last longer
© Alex Bayev / Adobe Stock
Hmmm, delicious Parmesan freshly sprinkled over the finished pasta dish… What could be better to spice up Italian cuisine a bit? It’s just a shame if the cheese in question has started to go moldy. We reveal what helps against it.
Little by little we want to enjoy it: ours Parmesan. But since we usually use it sparingly and use it over a long period of time, it often happens that the popular cheese goes moldy in the fridge. Fortunately, we can slow down this process – with a simple trick.
Life hack: How to keep your Parmesan fresh longer
Some people are probably already familiar with the mold problem when it comes to Parmesan in one piece. The tasty hard cheese often doesn’t last as long as we would like. But one of the most popular food combinations – pasta and parmesan – can help even when raw:
Simply Put the hard cheese in a bag or box with raw pasta and seal it – then store both together in the refrigerator. What’s the point of that, you ask? This is easy to explain: Moisture is behind the mold problem. The raw noodles attract moisture and create a dry environment. Rice can also be used as an alternative.
Further storage tips for cheese etc.
For unsealed foods, such as vegetables, an open bowl of salt in the drawer can help. Salt also binds excess liquid and keeps various foods fresher for longer.
When it comes to cheese, the consumer advice center recommends storing it in the top compartment of the refrigerator at around eight degrees Celsius. In the best case scenario, it should not be packed airtight so that it can continue to ripen and release moisture, according to the portal – it also keeps better in pieces than in slices. According to the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), different types of cheese should be packed separately because their flavors could influence each other. “Cheese is best kept in a cheese dome, sealed plastic containers or waxed paper, which protects it from drying out but still allows it to breathe,” it says. Cling film is often not suitable as the cheese will start to sweat and mold more quickly.
Another fridge tip: Of course, permeable packaging is susceptible to odors in the refrigerator. A flat bowl with a few tablespoons of baking soda or baking powder that is open in the refrigerator should help here. This trick helps neutralize refrigerator odors for about a month.
Sources used: chip.de, merkur.de, verbraucherzentrale.de, laves.niedersachsen.de, rezepte-und-tipps.com