Information on packing cheese is hard to find. Everything seems to revolve around refrigerators. The info I have found is pretty conflicting. In the past, I just throw the plastic wrapped cheese in my pack and deal with the slimy goo.

I did an experiment with various forms of packing using cheesecloth, wax, and parchment paper in various combinations. None were terrible, but none were great either.

Any good tips?

My cheeses are a sharp cheddar, a nice hard gouda, and a wedge of parm.

I just keep mine in my CCS food back, which I hang at night, and it stays cool enough that the oil does not separate often nor much. Just in zip locks. Along with what you take, I've packed swiss, mozzarella, and brie as well.

I have heard that wrapping the cheese in a paper towel soaked in vinegar helps preserve the cheese. I've never tried it.

I usually get wax wrapped cheeses or smoked plastic sealed cheeses. Some are small, I use one at a time. Keeping them cool is the way to keep them from separating. It's an additional step, but what I have done in the past is to put them in a ziplock and made a cold bag to hang in the shade. I made the cold bag out of an old pair of jeans & a ribbon. I cut the leg of the jeans and made a small pouch, threaded a ribbon thru to make a cinch top. Place zip locked cheese inside, dunk in the lake, hang in the shade..move it if it gets sunny & re dunk if it dries out. Put the whole thing into a ziplock bag if you are on the move or hanging a pack at night. Works like a refrigerator, just don't forget where you hung it.

Cheddar is going to get oily since it's a soft cheese. The other two are harder type cheeses and will last longer.

Wrap cheese in cotton (t shirt, dish towel, etc.), secure with bdb, get and keep wet and hang in the shade- breezier location the better. Evaporation will lower the temp of the cheese 15-20 degrees or more.

Well, i wrapped some Gouda and some Cheddar in cheese cloth and vacuum sealed them. Stored mostly in the center of the food barrel.

I found that the cheese needs to come from the deli cheeses, not the factory cheeses lined up next to the butter and sour cream.

The Gouda held up great and had not gotten oily, but developed a very slight rind by day 9 (7 on trail)

I tried 4 different cheddars. The best was a "Welsh cheddar" that came in a black wrapper had only a slight mush on the edges, probably from being warm more than separating. A close second was a small batch cheddar from a local farm. Third was "Cracker Barrel" brand extra sharp. It had separation issues, but nothing like I am used to. The Crystal Farms... No.

My Parmesan stayed in the plastic until used on day 2, and leftover chunk put into ziplock. Used again on day 4 and remainder eaten on day 7.

I was impressed enough that my next trip will feature "spatzle mit kasse"

I have read (on Canadian Canoe Routes) that you can wrap a cheese in cheesecloth dampened in vinegar, then dip it in wax. This is for long trips.

On my trips of a week or less, I have never had a problem with keeping cheese in a "swamp cooler" like Swampturtle describes.

we used to wrap the cheese with cheese cloth dipped in vinegar when I was at the outward bound school. Never dipped it in wax, mainly because the trips were not that long, but the vinegar helped to prevent mold starting up on the cheese.

The last two years we have brought store bought shredded cheese. we use it for pizza and tacos. If the pack does not get too hot, it stays fine for 5 days.

Obviously how you handle cheese is going to depend on how long you're out. My late summer trip is generally 3 to 4 weeks so what we do is portion whatever cheese we bring at about 100 grams (for two of us) and have it shrink wrapped at the store. I've found that although some cheese, like cheddar, gets a bit oily, shrink wrapping keeps it from going rancid even after 3 or 4 weeks. We also do our menu plan so that softer cheeses get eaten first. Parmesan and other hard cheeses really do well and we can plan to have them late into the trip. Another way to do the same thing is to dip your cheese portions in wax. That effectively eliminates any air and keeps everything reasonably fresh over extended periods.

I just throw it in a ziplock. We do cheddar, monterey jack, etc. which all sweats fat but they still taste good. Just open 1 brick at a time and eat with summer sausage on bagels or tack bread.