This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
Cutting soft cheeses
As you may have already noticed, when you have to use a "soft" cheese in a recipe - their exact name is "soft cheese" - such as Camembert, Munster or Mont d'or, it's not easy to make anything other than thick slices.
9,321 5/5 (2 reviews)
Keywords for this post:CheeseStuffCutCrustDecrustSoftColdSoft pasteLast modified on: February 20th 2024
Cutting soft cheeses
Well, yes, you can, with small cubes for example, but unfortunately you run the risk of obtaining a kind of cheese purée...
It's quite normal though, with this kind of cheese, unlike Comté for example, the center is very tender, and so is the rind, which is usually eaten (yes, it's a question of taste too).
So with these "soft" cheeses, it's impossible to cut them properly?
Well, normally not, but there's a very simple trick.
The trick is to put the cheese in the freezer for 1 or 2 hours, depending on its size. Say 1 hour for a cheese like camembert or saint-marcellin, and more like 2 hours for a cheese like mont d'or.
At the end of this time, the cheese has hardened, but is not frozen, so it can be cut much more easily.
This is particularly effective if you need to decrust (remove the rind from a cheese), which is normally almost impossible, but after this passage in the cold becomes perfectly feasible.
Be careful not to freeze the cheese completely, as this time it would be almost impossible to cut as it would be too hard.
The best thing to do is put it in the freezer for 1 hour to start with, then come and feel around to see if it has firmed up sufficiently. If not, go back for another 30 minutes or 1 hour, and so on until you reach the right texture.
Once you've finished cutting the cheese, you'll need to let it come back to temperature, unless you're going to cook it afterwards, in which case there's no need.
To sum up: to be able to cut a soft cheese, nothing beats a little time in the freezer to firm it up.
It's quite normal though, with this kind of cheese, unlike Comté for example, the center is very tender, and so is the rind, which is usually eaten (yes, it's a question of taste too).
So with these "soft" cheeses, it's impossible to cut them properly?
Well, normally not, but there's a very simple trick.
The trick is to put the cheese in the freezer for 1 or 2 hours, depending on its size. Say 1 hour for a cheese like camembert or saint-marcellin, and more like 2 hours for a cheese like mont d'or.
At the end of this time, the cheese has hardened, but is not frozen, so it can be cut much more easily.
This is particularly effective if you need to decrust (remove the rind from a cheese), which is normally almost impossible, but after this passage in the cold becomes perfectly feasible.
Be careful not to freeze the cheese completely, as this time it would be almost impossible to cut as it would be too hard.
The best thing to do is put it in the freezer for 1 hour to start with, then come and feel around to see if it has firmed up sufficiently. If not, go back for another 30 minutes or 1 hour, and so on until you reach the right texture.
Once you've finished cutting the cheese, you'll need to let it come back to temperature, unless you're going to cook it afterwards, in which case there's no need.
To sum up: to be able to cut a soft cheese, nothing beats a little time in the freezer to firm it up.
Lasts posts
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...November 23th 2025495
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20252,0925
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20257,1513
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,6605
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,7105
Other pages you may also like
Cooking time for pasta
What is as good and simple as pasta? Not much, I think, and it's so easy to prepare: boiling water, salted (or not, depending on your taste), a few minutes of boiling and it's ready. The only "difficulty", so to speak, is the respect of the cooking time and the risk of, unfortunately, overcooking...July 18th 201923 K4.6
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20252,0925
Let's rehabilitate the burger
The burger is a sandwich that is very fashionable at the moment, and as for all other sandwiches, the worst (often) rubs shoulders with the best (much more rare). In principle, I'm probably not teaching you anything, it's a sandwich made of a small round bun, rather soft, like a sandwich bread,...April 10th 20219,6304.9
Sausage broth
I've already talked to you about vegetable cooking water, which becomes a precious broth after cooking that would be a shame to throw away. Now let's look at the special case of meat cooking broth, and in particular sausages, which are often poached.June 28th 202312 K5
Wipe meats and fish before cooking
When you want to cook meat or fish, there's a very simple yet very important step to take before you even start: It's to dry, or wipe, each side of the meat or fish, sometimes called "dabbing" or "sponging". But why? And how? Let me explain.April 14th 20248,8194.5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.