How to Crumble Soft Cheese Without Smearing It
I take salad wedges seriously and treat each ingredient with the respect it deserves. I usually don’t mind a store-bought piece of bacon or a jar of pre-shredded blue cheese, but that all changes when I make a wedge. I cook and crumble bacon, get spring onions from my garden, and crumble blue cheese I buy at the cheese counter.
The problem with a proper blue cheese like Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or Cambosola is that it doesn’t crumble well. It smudges and smudges, making a big mess on the cutting board. If you’re more of a goat cheese fan, you’ve probably noticed that this sort of thing happens when you need to crumble a good fresh cheese. Refrigeration helps, but the fridge gets so cold. To keep your soft cheese crumbling instead of smearing, you need to plug in a freezer.
This tip comes from a reader of Cook’s Illustrated and was featured in the July/August issue of their print magazine:
Before Shauna Monahan of Rocky River, Ohio, crumbles a goat cheese log, she puts the bag in the freezer for a few minutes. Hard cheese crumbles neatly without smearing.
The extra cold solidifies the fat in the dairy, helping it hold its shape when you break it up with a fork. (Using a fork instead of fingers also helps keep you cool. Hands are hot.)
Whether you’re using fancy blue cheese or a chevre log, be sure to leave it in the freezer for only two or three minutes and let the cheese warm up a bit in a salad, fruit bowl, or whatever, before eating. . Cheese may crumble better when it’s cold, but it tastes best at room temperature. (And taste is always my main concern.)