Storing Feta Cheese help

I often buy a packet (smallest I can) to use on a salad or such like, but then may not want to use the remainder for a couple of weeks. I have tried putting the remaining cheese into an airtight container, and also tried a zip lock bag. It always smells very 'off', so I end up throwing it out. Is there a secret to storing it. Should I remove it from the plastic wrap perhaps?
Feta has a very long shelf life unopened but seems to go off very quickly once opened.

Make up more brine (salty water) and cover it in that.

Feta is a fresh cheese and will deteriorate more quickly than aged cheeses like cheddar. Brine is the traditional storage medium, I store my home made feta in olive oil in the fridge. It freezes quite well but will be more crumbly when thawed.

Excellent info, thanks for that. I have the exact same situation so will now know how to get round this. I take it that other bits and pieces could be added to the oil to add another dimension if a person likes that? Chilli, garlic, herbs etc?

When i make feta i usually have a container in fridge of olive oil, feta,sundried tomatoes, and some fresh chopped basil, when its finished use the oil in dressings for salads.

Took words out of my mouth :) I had a friend use to buy marinated feta I use to laugh now she does this as I do.

Like sundried tomatoes I buy Sun Valley Semi Sun Dried about 4.00 put into a mix 50/50 good oil and good balsamic vinegar sealed container in fridge last over a year and costs 1/4 or less price to make. Use oil mix in dressings and likes as you use tomatoes out of it.

And if a person is a bit odd and doesn't really care for dried tomatoes would you use herbs and maybe garlic cloves? Any other suggestions?

Is home made feta difficult to make? Any tips or secret squirrel things a person who has never made cheese before (but always wanted to) should know?

freeze it

It's not difficult to make but you do need a good thermometer and some equipment. Would you like a recipe?

That'd be great thanks. Is the thermometer the same type as used in jam making? If so that's one thing I haven't got but a girl loves an excuse to go buy stuff for the kitchen. :) Just say the word as to what I'll need and I'll sally forth to purchase it happily.

A jam thermometer isn't ideal as they are not designed to be accurate at the low temperatures required for cheese making. However I've had so many failures with other thermometers that I now use my old sugar thermometer and it is adequate if not perfect.

You will need an incubator box or a large chilly bin, a clean bucket, a large pan for heating the milk, a water bath or preserving pan to put the milkpan in when heating, a long thin knife for cutting the curd, a flat slotted spoon for cutting curd, stirring curd and ladling curd into moulds, some clean muslin or other cloth, two feta moulds, a container for brining the cheese, two containers for storage.

Here's the basic recipe.

Feta

4 litres pasteurised un-homogenised full fat milk
⅛ tsp mesophilic starter culture
¼ tab rennet dissolved in 80 ml cooled boiled water
750 ml 12% brine (use un-iodised salt)

Sterilizing solution

Extra virgin olive oil for storage. Pam brand is adequate, Village Press better but more expensive.

Sterilise all equipment.

Heat milk slowly to 37 degrees C (in a water bath is best). Add starter and leave to rehydrate 5 min then stir in. Leave at 37 C for an hour (in an incubator box or large chilly bin).

Add rennet and stir gently 1 minute. Leave at 37 C for 90 minutes or until it gels and you can achieve a clean cut.

Cut curds into 1.5cm cubes, leave in incubator 60 minutes at 37 C.

After the 60 minutes stir curds gently every five minutes for 30 minutes.

Ladle curds gently into feta moulds. Save the whey. Put moulds inside incubator on a rack and leave to drain three hours. After three hours place a small piece of butter muslin over the top of each cheese and turn upside down. Leave in incubator 1 hour. Repeat the turning over and leave to drain in incubator overnight.

Meanwhile make the brine (375 ml whey, 375 ml boiled water, 90 gr plain salt). Chill overnight.

In the morning place each cheese (in its mould) in a container and cover with brine. Refrigerate 12 - 15 hours (for a mildly salted cheese) or longer.

When the cheese reaches the desired level of salt, pour off the brine and cover cheese with good quality olive oil. Keep in the fridge.

The storage oil can be used for cooking, or if you use Village Press it is good in salads.

Rosemry, thyme, or oregno, herbs are good, and chillies, i dont like garlic in oil so never put it in mine.

If keeping for a week I find wrapping tightly in foil really works.

I store mine in a container with olive oil poured over it. Make sure it comes above the feta otherwise it will go mouldy. Then store in the fridge and the oil will solidify. When you need to use it, take it out and leave on the bench so oil becomes liquid again. I use the same oil a few times before I change it. You can add flavours if you want marinate your feta too.

Thank you all for your wonderful replies!

Since I make my own when I have goats milk all the cheeses go into a ziplock bag and into the freezer once ripened a bit on the bench and a few days in the fridge. No problems at all. So I would suggest any left overs go straight into a small platic bag and into the freezer. It only takes an hour on the bench to thaw for your next salad.

Or you could crumble the leftovers into a frittata the next day.

Thanks for that davidt4, I have saved your post to have a go at making my own feta at some point.