Slicing Cheese for Your Holiday Cheese Board

From rounds to wedges and blocks, different types of cheese come in different shapes and sizes and can be cut using a variety of cheese tools. To make it easy, we’ve put together a simple guide with tips and tricks for cutting cheese like a pro.

 
1. Pick Your Tool
The texture of the cheeses you’ve chosen will help determine the type of tool required for slicing. We recommend having the following tools on hand to fit a variety of styles of cheese:

Chef’s Knife – A strong sturdy blade is ideal for cutting through hard cheeses like Roth® Grand Cru®.

Serrated Knife – A serrated knife makes it easy to slice semi-soft cheeses like Roth® Havarti.

Wire Cutter – Soft and crumbly cheeses like Roth® Buttermilk Blue® stick to a knife so a wire cutter is recommended to help make a clean cut.

2. Determine Your Shape
Varying shapes like tiles and triangles will create striking patterns when building a holiday cheese board. Let the natural shape of the cheese be your guide when determining the best shape to cut it into.

Semi-Soft Block – Roth® Havarti is one of many semi-soft cheeses made in blocks so it can easily be cut into tiles or cubes.

Hard Wedge – Hard wedge-shaped cheeses like Roth® Grand Cru® should be sliced into smaller wedges or triangles.

Soft – Soft cheeses like Roth® Buttermilk Blue® can either be sliced with a wire cutter or simply crumbled and placed on a cheese board in chunks.

3. Make The Cut
While cheeses can be cut well in advance of being served, different styles of cheeses are easier to cut at different temperatures.

Hard Cheeses – Hard cheeses are easier to slice at room temperature. Remove these cheeses from the fridge 30 to 60 minutes before slicing.

Soft and Semi-Soft Cheeses – Soft and semi-soft cheeses hold their shape better and are easier to slice when cold. Try putting softer cheeses in the freezer 5 to 10 minutes before getting started.

Click here for more tips and holiday cheese board inspiration!