A cheese making kit keeps for 24 months from packing, and the best before date is printed on the outer box. That is the longest shelf life of anything we make, and we aim for every kit to leave us with at least 12 months still to run on the date. Store it at room temperature, somewhere dry and away from direct sunlight, and all you ever need to add is fresh whole milk.
There is one important difference between a cheese kit and, say, a gin kit. A cheese kit contains an active ingredient, and that means the date is worth respecting rather than treating as a suggestion.
What is actually in the box, and how does each part age?
Take our Cheeses of the World kit as the example. The consumable ingredients are vegetarian rennet, citric acid and cheese salt, and they sit alongside the equipment: a thermometer, moulds and cheesecloth.
Citric acid is a dry, stable acid. It is the ingredient behind the quick acid-set cheeses such as ricotta, paneer and queso blanco, and kept dry it holds its strength for a very long time. Damp is its only real enemy, because it will clump if it gets any.
Cheese salt is salt. It does not go off. It seasons the drained curds, and in halloumi and feta-style cheeses it does preservation work as well, which is why a low-salt halloumi should be eaten within a couple of days.
Vegetarian rennet is the part that ages. It is a microbial coagulant from Rhizomucor miehei, and its job is to make milk separate into solid curds and liquid whey. Like any coagulant, it loses potency slowly over time, and once it does, it does not announce itself. You only find out when the milk sits there stubbornly refusing to set.
What happens if you use a cheese kit after the best before date?
Quality declines rather than the kit becoming unsafe, which is the general rule for every best before date. But cheese kits are in the small group where that decline actually stops you making anything.
In flavour-led kits, an ingredient past its best simply tastes gentler. In kits with active ingredients, the wine yeast in our hedgerow wine kit and the rennet in the cheese kits, the ingredient may stop working reliably. Old rennet is one of the three classic reasons a batch fails, along with using UHT or ultra-pasteurised milk and getting the temperature wrong when you add the rennet or acid.
So the practical advice is simple: use a cheese kit before its date. With 24 months from packing and at least a year on the clock when it arrives, that is hardly a hardship, and the first cheese takes about an hour.
How do you store an opened cheese kit?
Very well, as it happens. The kit ingredients last a long time once opened, which is the whole point of a kit that makes five, ten or forty cheeses: you are meant to spread your batches over weeks or months rather than blitz them in a weekend.
Reseal everything properly after each session. If you want extra peace of mind, decant opened ingredients into grip-seal bags or small sealed boxes and label them, because citric acid and cheese salt look very similar in an unmarked bag. Keep them in the same dry cupboard, away from steam and direct sunlight.
A couple of specifics. Mix the rennet fresh, just before use, in cool, non-chlorinated water; cooled boiled or bottled water is ideal, because chlorine from the tap weakens it. And the cheesecloth wants a hand wash in warm water with a drop of washing up liquid and a spell of air drying, not the washing machine or the dishwasher.
The Cheese Mould Kit is the outlier in our range: reusable moulds and muslin, no food ingredients and no best before date at all.
How long does the cheese you make keep?
Far less time, and that is by design. Our kits make fresh cheeses, not aged ones, so eat them within the time given in the recipe, typically a few days to a week, sealed in the fridge.
A few notes from the kitchen. Squeaky cheese curds are squeakiest on the day, and naturally lose their squeak after a day or two while staying delicious. Halloumi and feta-style cheeses are brined rather than salted, and the brine is single-use, so discard it after each batch. Mozzarella and burrata are best eaten young, while they still have their gloss. And leftover whey is worth keeping for a day or two in the fridge: it goes into bread, smoothies or a surprisingly rich stock.
Keep everything clean, use fresh pasteurised milk, and discard any cheese that smells off or grows unexpected mould. That is the same judgement you would apply to any fresh dairy in the fridge.
Which cheese kit suits a slower pace?
If you want to make cheese once and see how you get on, the Cheese Making Kit for Beginners covers five fresh cheeses including mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone, with the first one ready in about an hour. If you would rather work through a long list over a year, the larger kits give you more recipes to spread across the shelf life. Either way the maths is the same: 24 months from packing, at least 12 months on the date when it reaches you, and rennet that prefers to be used sooner rather than later.
Cheese kit shelf life FAQs
How long does a cheese making kit last?
Twenty four months from packing, with the best before date printed on the outer box. Every kit leaves us with at least 12 months still to run on that date.
Can I use a cheese kit after the best before date?
We would not recommend it. The rennet is an active ingredient and may stop working reliably after the date, and milk that will not set wastes both the milk and the evening.
Does rennet need to be kept in the fridge?
No. Store the kit at room temperature, somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight. Mix the rennet fresh just before use, in cool non-chlorinated water.
Do the ingredients keep once the kit is opened?
Yes, a long time, so you can spread your batches over weeks or months. Reseal them, or decant them into grip-seal bags or small sealed boxes, label them and keep them dry.
How long does homemade cheese keep in the fridge?
These are fresh cheeses rather than aged ones, so eat them within the time given in the recipe, typically a few days to a week, sealed in the fridge.
Fancy a go at mozzarella this week? Take a look at our cheese making kits.
