Eating cheese directly out of the refrigerator is a temptation that plagues all cheese lovers, but it’s important to wait and let your cheese warm up to room temperature before serving it. Waiting can be difficult, especially when that cheese plate is just sitting there calling your name and begging to be devoured, but your patience will pay off. It’s a scientific fact that cold cheese is just not as flavorful.
Cheese consists of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat molecules, but it’s the fat molecules that give a cheese all its tastiness and fat reacts to temperature. When a cheese is cold, the fat molecules contract and hold in all the flavor. The fat cannot spread across your taste buds as easily if it’s cold, and then it’s too late. However, when a cheese is warmer the fat molecules can relax and the flavor is released. This is exactly why the thought of warm gooey cheese makes your mouth water.
According Nora Singley of The Kitchn, “fat means flavor” and she recommends pulling your cheese out of the refrigerator at least an hour and a half before serving, and even earlier for runnier cheeses like Brie and Camembert. Fresh cheeses don’t need as much time as that and you’re safe with just half an hour to adjust to room temperature.
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Sweet Basil Catering.
Fat content is an important factor in a cheese’s flavor profile, so don’t miss out by eating cheese cold. Be patient and step away from the cheese. Read a book, run some errands, or do anything that will help you pass the time. The wait is worth it.
Feature Photo via Murray’s Cheese
Jamie Ditaranto
Jamie Ditaranto is a senior at Emerson College and an online editorial intern for culture, who enjoys writing, photography, and travel. She finds a way to sneak cheese into just about every meal and is a sucker for free samples.
