Bake Mont d’Or Cheese Perfectly: Expert Tips You Need to Know!

One of the true joys of winter is baked Mont d’Or cheese. This warm, gooey delight serves as an effective remedy for the seasonal depression that hits hard during the lengthy month of January. It’s not only comforting but also requires minimal kitchen prep. Just add a splash of white wine and pop it into the oven in its own box! The only issue? It tends to overflow, spilling its molten core all over your oven tray. You might try to contain this cheese eruption with aluminum foil, but you still end up losing precious cheese. To avoid this mess, there’s a simple mistake you need to correct. Apparently, we’ve all been making the same cooking error, according to a cheesemonger!

Most online recipes for this hot box of cheese suggest preheating the oven to 392°F (200°C), or even as high as 428°F (220°C), and then roasting the Mont d’Or for about 25 minutes. However, this cheesemonger advises otherwise: “If the Mont d’Or overflows during baking, it’s because your oven is too hot!” explains a consultant from Fromagerie de l’Espérance in Paris, part of the Quatrehomme group, a third-generation cheese refining family and winner of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. He continues: “For baking this cheese, you should set your oven to 356°F (180°C), no higher. Otherwise, it might indeed bubble over. Then, set your timer for just 15-20 minutes of baking; that’s all it really takes,” he notes.

Another tip: be careful not to use too much white wine! While many recipes propose adding about 1.7 ounces (5 cl) of dry white wine, in reality, a single tablespoon is more than enough, the cheesemonger advises. This should help prevent future overflows!