How to Cut Cheese for a Cheese Board

Nothing is more delicious than a cheese board with several beautifully arranged cheese varieties garnished with fresh fruit, dried fruits, fresh herbs, chutney, a few green olives or olive oil for drizzling.

But how do you cut cheese pieces so beautifully for your cocktail party when starting with a large rectangular block of Cheddar or an entire round of goat cheese?

Of course, the secret is to have the right tools for the job, and when cutting cheese, the correct knife makes all the difference.

The correct knives to cut cheese

Cheese board knowledge suggests that a cheese knife should not be shared between the cheeses on your cheese board. The true cheese connoisseur may own a selection of cheese knives, each specially designed to handle the characteristic texture of different cheeses.

There is a cheese knife for every type of cheese, from the softest fresh Mozzarella to the firmest aged Cheddar. Since the perfect board contains a variety of cheeses, it is helpful to invest in a knife for each of your favourites.

Or you could ask your cheese shop manager to cut cheese into shape for you - but where is the fun in that?

The sharp knife

Of course, every knife must be sharp enough to do its job, but a sharp blade is handy when cutting washed rind cheeses.

The sharp blade can cut cleanly through the hard rind of a cheese like a Taleggio and peel it back, exposing the luscious, gooey centre.

Parmesan knife

A parmesan knife, sometimes called a grana knife, is a sharp knife with a pointed tip that works well with the hard, dry texture of Parmesan cheese.

The complex, crumbly texture of this Italian cheese makes creating smooth slices impossible, but a parmesan knife can break a large piece of Parmesan into smaller, irregular pieces for a rustic display on your cheese platter.

Soft cheese knife

We love to cut Camembert or ripe Brie with a specialist soft cheese knife. These sharp knives are cleverly designed with holes in the blade to discourage the creamy cheese from sticking.

Soft cheese knives allow you to cut soft cheese into defined shapes with a clean edge, perfect for the cheese board.

If some of your luscious ripe mozzarella does ooze through the holes, the sharp edges will make it easy to smooth the cheese off the knife.

Cheese plane

A cheese plane is like a vegetable peeler; it allows you to cut wafer-thin slices of semi-hard or hard cheeses.

A cheese plane is useful when you give your party guests a taste of a new cheese to see if they like it.

Cheeses that are ideal for cutting with a plane include Jarlsberg, Cheddar and Edam.

Cheese spreader

The cheese spreader is also helpful for soft cheeses, but we use it when we don't need to cut the cheese into a clean-sided shape for the cheese board.

As the name suggests, the cheese spreader is used like a butter knife and is ideal for spreading soft cheese onto bread or loading it onto crisp crackers.

Cheddar cleaver

Like the Parmesan, the iconic Cheddar Cheese has a knife all to itself!

The broad, sharp blade of the Cheddar cleaver is ideal for cutting all varieties of firm to semi-firm cheese. Remember, purists just use it for Cheddar once it's on the cheese board, though.

Pronged cheese knife

A pronged cheese knife is a multi-purpose blade.

Its sharp, narrow blade makes it easy to slice soft, semi-firm and hard cheese cleanly. The prongs make spearing a piece of cheese easy without touching it.

This knife is ideal for Parmesan and Gouda, as this product works best on soft to semi-hard cheeses.

Chisel knife

A chisel knife is a specialised paddle-shaped knife with a wide blade and a sharp edge across the top. It is designed for cutting and then spreading crumbly cheese, like our award-winning tangy Cheshire cheese.

Cheese wire

Although a cheese wire is not a knife, it is helpful for many cheeses. Its sharp cutting edge and minimal surface area make it ideal for slicing through soft, fresh cheese without ruining its shape.

A cheese wire is also ideal for cutting large pieces of hard cheese like Cheddar into rectangular blocks.

Cutting cheese for the board

Once you have chosen your cheese and matched it with the correct knife, you must decide whether to cut the cheese for the cheese board yourself or leave it to your guests. This depends on how much cheese you have for your party guests and how much you want to hold back for another occasion.

If you are cutting a large round of cheese yourself, think of it as a birthday cake. Cut some wedges and then leave the rest uncut to stay fresh.

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