Cheese in the deep freeze.

[jayt90]

I was able to get several rounds (300g) of soft washed-rind Quebec cheese at a reduced price because they were stale dated early in January '06.

My plan is to shrink wrap them in the sous vide device, and freeze, or at least refridgerate for a month or two.

Any suggestions?

[JEL]

i'd say yes, freeze it.........

my cheese making guru has us freeze product all the time, even surface ripened cheese. though the freezing knocks a bit of the bloom off of it....

i think people would be shocked if they knew how much "high end" cheese had been frozen prior to it landing at the even "higher end" cheese counter...

people like steven jenkins would be apalled at the notion, but the reality in the industry is there.....

[jaynesb]

Those sealed goat cheese logs or crottin-type shapes freeze pretty well.

I also freeze grated and shredded cheeses, like mozzarella and cheddar. Before I started doing this, I used to buy it and then use some and the remainder of the package would get moldy really quickly. Now that I freeze it, we have a new ritual where I bang the frozen bag of cheese on the counter until it breaks into proper bits. (I've been known to use a hammer on the bag also.)

My husband makes fun of me because he would very much like to open the freezer and find something to eat/reheat. Instead, what he mostly finds are ingredients! (Rice, stock, cheese, breadcrumbs, nuts, grated ginger as well as many small containers of things he can't even identify...)

jayne

[Mr Wozencroft]

I know an Italian women, living in Cardiff, who swears by putting her Parmesan in the freezer.

Is there any sense to this?

Is this the best way to store it?

How do you store yours?

[Gifted Gourmet]

I always keep it well wrapped in my refrigerator and it lasts for months. Then I scrape off the mold — which is normal and doesn't hurt the cheese. You can also freeze Parmesan if you cut it into 1/2 pound chunks, wrapping it well. Thaw in the refrigerator and use promptly. I have read about freezing Parmesan rinds and throwing them into soup as it cooks ...

[deltadoc]

We buy large chunks of Parmesan and a couple other hard to semi-hard cheese, (I have a special ratio by weight that I use) and I chop them up roughly and grind 'em up in my Robot Coupe. Mix well, and then I weigh out 1-lb portions, and Food Save them in vacuum packed foodsaver bags and into the freezer they go. What's really cool is that the vacuum sort of "recombines" the finely grated/processed cheese back into fairly sturdy chunks, so that when i take them out of the freezer, I can break off a piece and, like, fresh grate it, or re-grate the whole 1-lb and put it into a quart mason jar and into the fridge until its all gone, and then back to the freezer to retrieve another frozen bag full and start again.

We find the taste everybit as fresh as the day the original chunk came into the kitchen, and it makes it so easy to use the cheese mixture whenever its appropriate.

Cheese is a LOT cheaper when you buy LARGE chunks of it at at time. I'm talking maybe 20 lbs of Parmesan alone.

doc

[phatj]

I think I've read that freezing cheeses can adversely affect the texture, particularly when melted. I'm guessing this would be more noticeable for softer cheeses, and also in larger quantities.

[M.X.Hassett]

Freezing and even refrigerating most cheese kills them, cheese is a living thing in a sense.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The best answer of all is this article: Freezing Cheeses which lists the cheeses which respond best to freezing ... and, yes, parmesan is among them!

The cheeses that freeze best are:

Brick

Camembert

Cheddar

Edam

Mozzarella

Muenster

Parmesan

Provolone

Romano

Swiss

Bet it has to do with the amount of moisture in the cheese ... creamy cheeses don't freeze well ... trust me on this because I have tried without success.

[MarketStEl]

Ready to go to the other extreme?

The co-owner of the Green Valley Dairy advised against storing the Pennsylvania Noble Cheddar I had just purchased from him in either the refrigerator or the freezer.

He said that chilling the cheese at all kills its flavor, and that it will actually keep for a decent amount of time at room temperature.

I agree with him on the effect of chilling on the flavor. I even notice it with less exalted Cheddars than this one.

[k43]

I have a perverted taste for Boursin aux fine herbes. Usually they go for around $3, but Zabar's periodically has a 99¢ special, so I stock up and freeze them. The defrosted texture is a bit looser, but the flavor is fine.

[Toliver]

During my college days, I worked at one of those shopping mall cheese & sausage stores so I learned a little bit about cheese.

Freezing cheese (or freezing anything) will dehydrate it. The moisture will leach out which will lead to a changed texture when thawed. Normally this means that a cheddar, for example, that has been frozen and then thawed will tend to crumble when you attempt to grate it on a normal kitchen grater. That's why cheeses that have been frozen are more suited for cooking and baking rather than just setting them out for a cheese course.

As for leaving them at room temperature, sure it will make the cheese taste better. I'd be concerned about mold, though. I'm more of a "refrigerate it, slice off what you need and let that slice come to room temperature" kind of guy anyway.

Cheese should always be served at room temperature. We used to give samples of a Colby Longhorn Cheddar to our customers that tasted incredible at room temperature...almost silky and most definitely buttery. It was a revelation.

A tip for cutting the cheese (no snickering from you there in the back of the class!), it helps to have the cheese at room temperature. We'd use a large sturdy wire with handles on both ends to slice through the largest cheese wax-encased wheels. We also had a cutting board with a wire cutter (home versions are usually small...our version was quite large).

To cut portions off the wheel pieces, we'd take these huge, insanely sharp knives and run them under very hot water, carefully wipe the blades dry and easily slice through any cheese. Repeat the knife heating as needed.

[mgaretz]

I just bought a 2 lb block of Cabot 50% reduced fat cheddar at my local Sam's and I know it will mold before I can eat it all. I know that freezing cheddar will render it crumbly - but I primarily use it for making grilled cheese sandwiches and on burgers. So it would be nice to have slices when I want to use it.

My question is - if I pre-slice it and then vacuum seal and freeze it, how will it emerge from the freezer? Will it crumble when being removed from the package or will it stay emough of slice to make it to the bread or burger?

[gfweb]

Vacuum sealing won't change the fact that the cheese has frozen. The more important variable might be the rate of freezing. Fast freeze gives small ice crystals, slow freeze gives larger.

Which is better for cheese I can only guess...but I'd say small crystal is better. To get this you could freeze thin slices, or perhaps use EtOH and ice to get things real cold if you don't have LN2.

[Kouign Aman]

Sliced then frozen will thaw well enough to make it to your grilled cheese sandwich as mostly intact slices.

Chunks wont slice well enough for that.

I havent had a problem w melting characteristics post-thaw. In some ways, the crumbling is a boon, because there's more surface area and it speeds melting.

Yes, a perfect cheese is dandled on its father's knee until the moment of consumption, but pretty darn good cheese can handle a refrigerator/freezer life and still provide pleasure.

And a sale is a sale!

[OliverB]

if you think you'll eat it within the next weeks, why not just vaseal chunks and put them in the fridge? They should be keeping a lot longer that way and you avoid the freeze dry effect. Or even cut into weekly ratios already sliced and vac sealed?

[mgaretz]

Sliced then frozen will thaw well enough to make it to your grilled cheese sandwich as mostly intact slices.

And a sale is a sale!

Thanks. Exactly what I was looking for. It was $5.62/lb at Sam's vs. $13/lb at the Safeway!

if you think you'll eat it within the next weeks, why not just vaseal chunks and put them in the fridge? They should be keeping a lot longer that way and you avoid the freeze dry effect. Or even cut into weekly ratios already sliced and vac sealed?

I thought of that too, but I had also just bought some other cheese from TJ's that also needs to be consumed.

I am lactose intolerant and when I see lactose-free cheese on sale it's hard to pass up. (Cabot's cheddar and TJ's yogurt cheese are both lactose-free.)