Cheese going off? (Constantly?!)

[Glamourcide]

Okay, this is the FIFTH block of cheese in as many weeks that has either gone rancid within a couple of days of being opened, or has gone off in its original, sealed packaging.
My fridge is kept at a constant temp of 3-4 degrees C, nothing else ever goes yuck, and I've tried every storage option I can think of - wrapping tightly in a freezer bag once opened, wrapping in cling wrap once opened, storing in airtight containers, storing on higher or lower shelves and in the little flap things in the door of the fridge... I've even tried buying different brands, but nope, my tasty/cheddar just keeps going off

I had to take a brand-new block back to the supermarket the other day for a refund as I could see the mould growing on it before I even opened the packet - I'd bought it about 4 or 5 days before and the use-by date on the packet said January 2011.

Can anybody help me out? I'm sick of buying expensive (well, not really, but $6ish for 500g is a fair bit) cheese and not being able to use it. Where should I be storing it in my fridge? How should I be storing it? Can I freeze it and cut lumps off to use to stop it going rancid? Blah! I love my cheese but I'm really getting annoyed at never having any good cheese to use because it's gone off


Oh, and btw, this has never happened before, it's only been the last 6 weeks or so it's been weird... fridge appears to be fine, nothing else is going warm or off so I don't think it's the thermostat, I can't figure it out!

[Tinks]

Maybe it could have something to do with where you keep it in the fridge?

[Trillian]

Do you keep your cold food in an esky between the home and the supermarket? If you are taking it home in a warm car, even in winter the cheese can sweat in the packet and that may be causing it to go bad because its going from a cold fridge, to a warm car, back to a cold fridge.

[Visitor7]

I agree, where are you storing it? And how are you storing it between the supermarket and your place?

ETA: I just found this from the Food Safety Information Council website (foodsafety dot asn dot au)

Controlling fridge temperature

If possible keep a fridge thermometer in the fridge to make sure the temperature stays around 4-5 degrees Celsius. Many fridges only have temperature settings of ' high' or ' low' or a series of numbers without showing the actual temperature.

You do get some clues when your fridge is having trouble coping. If the motor stays on most of the time, or if your milk, cottage cheese, meat (particularly mince meat) or other perishables are going off quicker than they should, then this is a sign that your fridge is struggling and needs maintenance and/or adjustment. To check if your fridge is operating at the correct temperature you need a thermometer in the fridge. When you have one you might get some surprises. The temperature inside your fridge will vary several degrees as the fridge goes through its cycle. It will also vary markedly from one section to another. If the temperature drops too low, you can get undesirable freezing.

Remember that in summer conditions you may have to adjust your fridge to cope with the extra warm conditions.

[Glamourcide]

Hmm, that might be it, Trill. It's only a 2 or 3-min drive from the grocery store to my house, and I always get the bags of cold/freezer stuff out first, but in between unloading the kids and all that, it's probably just sitting in the boot of the car for about 10-15mins all up... might get the small esky out of the shed and see if that makes any difference.

Got a little thermometer in the fridge already, as DD1 has a penchant for fiddling with the temp control knob - we always check it every time we open the fridge so that's how I know the temp is constant

Where is the 'ideal' place to store cheese in the fridge? Top shelf, bottom shelf, in the 'drawers' at the top of the door? I usually have it on the top or second shelf, towards the back (as butter etc is also on the top shelf and gets used more often), is that okay?

Thanks for the tips!

[Trillian]

Not in the doors as the opening and closing of it can alter the temp. On the top shelf would be the best I think.