How Long Can You Age Cheddar?

When it comes to cheese lovers, many want to try new things and an easy option is to look for older types of cheddar as these tend to be rarer. While the average cheddar you find in your supermarket will be aged for somewhere between two months and eighteen months, it is possible to find older cheddars from specialty retailers. While there is no real answer to the question of how long you can age cheddar for, there are some guidelines to consider while making it, such as whether or not anyone will care to eat the finished product.

Standard Cheddar

As mentioned, most of the cheddar you find in your local supermarket or similar store will not be older than 18 months in age. Age is frequently displayed in terms of sharpness as the flavors in cheddar intensify (becoming sharper) as it is aged longer. Because of this the average mild cheddar you find in stores will have been aged for two or three months. Sharper cheddars are usually aged for closer to a year and extra sharp cheddar is usually aged for about eighteen months. Of course, there will always be some variation in terms of the aging process, but these are the approximate standards.

Older Cheddars

Despite extra sharp cheddar being the longest aged you will usually find in a grocery store, it is not the oldest one available by far. Most retailers that specialize in cheese will have a variety of older options for people to try and use for special occasions. It is not uncommon to find specialty vendors selling premium cheese that is somewhere between two years old and five or six years old. Some vendors will even have older cheeses at seven years or even ten, but these tend to be less popular due to their strong taste.

The Taste Issue

The reason that most people prefer cheddar that was not aged for as long is that its flavor will be less intense. Most people will describe the flavor as much sharper and stronger, meaning that they do not have the flavor most people are looking for. That being said, most people who love cheese would still like to try cheddar that has been aged for longer at least once in their lives simply for the experience.

Your Aging Limit

Although there is truly no limit to how long you can age cheddar for, after a certain amount of time it becomes an issue of practicality. Cheddars that are aged longer require storage space for more time and therefore tend to be more expensive and many people don’t love the end result. Therefore it comes down to personal preference. The oldest cheddar sold in recent history was 40 years old and the result of an accident in which it was forgotten for decades. Some people enjoyed the flavor finding it creamy and intense while others found it barely edible due to the intense flavor. This variation truly shows that cheddar’s age depends on preference.