Isle of Wight Soft

The Isle of Wight Soft is a soft white surface mould ripened pasteurised cheese. It fits nicely in between the brie and camembert brackets. It is sold at 2-3 weeks of age and has a further 4-6 week shelf life. Ideally, we would like to sell this cheese when it is 6 weeks old but we recognise from the Farmers' Market feedback that there are a lot of you out there who like this cheese when it is young, fresh and still has its acidic flavours.

Remember, cheeses are alive and the great thing about the IOW Soft is the fact that it changes so much. Consume when young for a firm textured sharp, lactic flavour, or keep in the fridge for a few weeks and ripen it yourself for a more Camembert type cheese.

This cheese picked up a silver medal in the Soft White cheese category at the 2009 British Cheese Awards as well as a bronze at the 2010 World Cheese Awards.

Refrigerators typically dry the air around them as they cool, so the best place to keep bloomy white rinded cheeses like the IOW Soft is in a sealed box in the fridge. Keep the cheese in its wrapper, but place in the box a slightly damp cloth that will maintain the humidity of the air inside. Lift the lid every day to allow fresh air in. This method should stop the cheese from drying out over time.

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