Soften Creamy Cheeses With A Warm Water Bath

A rule of thumb for creamy cheeses like brie or camembert is that they’re best enjoyed at room temperature, but when you’re hungry and pull it out of the fridge, you’re stuck waiting an eternity for the cheese to come to up to temp. America’s Test Kitchen has a solution for us that won’t ruin the cheese: a warm water bath in a tightly sealed plastic bag. It takes a fraction of the time, won’t ruin the texture or flavour and gets the cheese into your face sooner.

Just put your wrapped (or wrap it in plastic wrap first) wedge of cheese into a zipper-lock bag, push out as much air as you possibly can, and seal the bag shut. Then drop the cheese into a pot of 26°C water, and leave it in there for 45 minutes or so. When you return to it, it should be just soft enough to eat, and you’ve shaved off what can be an hour or more of waiting for the cheese to soften up on its own straight out of the fridge.

Of course, if you’re patient, just let the cheese come to temperature naturally. Patience is, after all, a virtue. However, if you’re hungry after a long day or just like time-saving instant gratification, this method won’t alter the texture or flavour of the cheese and will bring it to temp in much less time than leaving it on the countertop to warm up. Have a better method? Let’s hear it in the comments.

The Quickest Way to Warm Up Soft Cheese [America’s Test Kitchen]