how to best store cheese without refrigeration.

What is the best ways to store cheese without refrigeration.  I know my mother making cheese used cover the round out of the press in layers of wax and cheese cloth to age and there was almost never a problem there.  But are there other answers?(better answers)  Mostly she made friable cheddar.  You could throw in in the skillet and brown it on one side, flip it over and brown it on the other side and never melt it.  I have been told since that was improper temperature control while cutting the curd in.

Hi C,
It would last a long time stored inside a cow ;), just kidding.

If you asked about storing cheese without electric refrigeration, I would suggest a root cellar for some cheeses, and in a jar down an old well for some cheeses. Both would keep them relatively cool.

You've now inspired me down a rabbit hole of the longevity of different cheeses and what stores the best. I agree with Matt and the classic Permie answer of "It depends."

I am not sure what your intent is for storing cheese without refrigeration.

Years ago my aunt and uncle went on a month-long road trip.

They were visiting folks all over the country.

We had a picnic out of the back of their car when they stopped at our house.

Bread, crackers, fruit, and cheese that was not refrigerated.

The cheese was just wrapped in cloth.

Since then I never worry about cheese not being refrigerated.

Unrefrigerated for a day, no worries, for most cheeses, in my book. But longer term, you could probably go with something like a zeer pot: https://www.instructables.com/A-Practical-Zeer-Pot-evaporative-cooler-non-electr/

There are loads of ways to build them...

Check out my homemade cheese cave.
https://permies.com/t/58724/Cracking-bees-wax-leads-forgotten

Here are a few options, in no particular order:
  In a root cellar.
  In a spring house.
  Use a swamp cooler.
  The type of cheese matters a lot.  Generally the drier and harder it is the better it can be stored at room temp.  Parmesan can be stored at warm temps, and heavy salted butter can be stored at warm temps.  They can be mixed together with some starch water to be turned back into a soft cheese.

I age and store homemade natural rind cheeses year-round without refrigeration. I use a room in my house that stays at a fairly even temperature and is well away from sources of heat and sunny windows. I live in a climate where opening the windows at night will cool the house down, so we use that for cooling, and the room has some thermal mass to help it keep cool through the day. The humidity changes throughout the year - more humidity in winter, less in summer, so more moulds and slower drying out in winter, less moulds, faster aging, and more drying out in summer.

Keeping the storage/aging area rodent-free is essential. For smaller amounts of cheese, old-fashioned meat safes made from metal with punched-out holes, or wooden ones with flyscreen-type sides are good for keeping things from eating your cheeses while allowing airflow.

For brined cheeses such as feta the humidity is not an issue, and I've found that by adding a bit more salt to the brine, they will keep better in warmer weather.

Ideally you'd want a place for aging cheeses to stay between 46ºF and 60ºF (8ºC and 15ºC) for most cheeses. I've found that between 60ºF and 68ºF (15ºC to 20ºC) can be fine too, and they even put up with the odd heatwave (although sometimes they will leak a bit of fat on hot days and end up drier as a result). For storing cheeses (or very slow aging) lower temperatures are fine when you can find them.

Clothbound cheddars will store longer, as the cloth binding slows the drying out process. Waxed rind cheeses may have some issues if the temperatures fluctuate too much, but if done well, they will store well too.

Natural rind cheeses will dry out a bit in storage over time - how much they dry out will depend on temperature and humidity as well as how long they are stored for, and how big the cheese was. This drying out is not the end of the world - it makes for good parmesan-like cheeses for grating or for enjoying in thin slices.

Larger cheeses will store for longer than smaller ones, but once they're cut open, will dry out faster, so small batch cheeses can still make a lot of sense for storage if it will take you a while to eat through a large cheese. My approach is just to make small batch cheeses through most of the year and enjoy the seasonal variations.