Is it possible to freeze cheese and store it in the freezer: housewives share their experience
When buying cheese in large quantities, you risk forgetting about it, and then seeing a surprise on the refrigerator shelf - a dried out or even spoiled block of an expensive product. If there is too much cheese, try storing it in the freezer. Some varieties of the product will survive just fine frozen for a few extra months. This is also a convenient way to always have a preparation for pizza and other dishes on hand.
Which cheeses go bad in the freezer?
Ready-made cheese is not stored for a long time; the shelf life in the refrigerator varies from 1 to 2 weeks, depending on the consistency of the product. Low freezer temperatures affect the shape and taste of the product, but this is the lesser of the evils, because the shelf life increases by several months.
The housewife must understand that it will no longer be possible to cut an even snack from frozen blocks of cheese. The structure becomes looser; cutting the product without crumbs will no longer be possible.
There are also varieties for which freezing is contraindicated. These are almost all soft varieties of cream and cottage cheese:
- ricotta;
- feta;
- mascarpone;
- feta cheese;
- Philadelphia;
- homemade curd cheeses;
- Processed cheese product is not suitable for freezing.
Will withstand freezing
Feel free to store hard varieties, as well as semi-hard ones, in the freezer. There they will not lose their taste and aroma. These types include:
- gouda;
- Cheddar;
- Parmesan;
- eden;
- Dutch;
- brie;
- Camembert, etc.
Some housewives successfully freeze soft cheeses for a couple of months: suluguni, feta cheese, etc. To do this, they fill the whole block with brine or whey and put it in the freezer.
How long can you store different cheeses in the freezer?
The freezer is good at extending the shelf life of food. Even at standard -18 degrees, the cheese will last for 3-4 months. If you use lower temperatures, the cheeses will last longer, but do not forget that cold damages the product.
Important nuance
The larger the cheese is cut, the longer it will last. A whole block will remain edible for up to six months, cheese slices - 3 months, shavings - a month and a half.
How to cut for storage + ways to use cheese preparation
This item contains both a collection of strict rules and several interesting storage experiments. All the tips will be useful on the farm.
Several important rules for storing hard cheeses in the freezer:
- Be sure to pack the product, otherwise it will become airy and absorb foreign odors. Use airtight plastic containers, a sheet of foil, or parchment.
- By the way, it is better to place cheese in a separate compartment of the freezer, away from fish, meat and other products with a pronounced odor.
- Mark the date of placement in the freezer on the package of cheese so that you do not forget about the product and do not accidentally use it after the expiration date.
- Never refreeze.
- Do not put different types of cheese in the same package so that their smells do not mix.
- If the purchased cheese is already wrapped in a plastic bag, then there is no need to replace it with a new one. This is especially true for elite varieties of blue cheese.
- Do not attempt to store expired product at low temperatures.
Advice
Do not buy expensive blue cheeses in large quantities, although the freezer allows you to store them for a long time, their quality is still noticeably reduced.
How to cut cheese for storage, different ways:
- The most convenient form of freezing is cubes. They are then used in different types of dishes: soups, salads, baked goods.
- Whole cheese is cut into pieces of 250-500 g.
- The difficulty of storing cheese in slices 1-1.5 cm thick is that the pieces stick together. The method is long, but it works: just make partitions between the parchment plates.
- Try freezing grated cheese. It is distributed in portions into bags, all the air is squeezed out, and secured (it’s good if there is a fastener). Another option is to make grated cheese from an already thawed whole block.
On the question of defrosting
It must happen gradually. First, remove the product and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. After a few hours, remove the cheese from the appliance and let it thaw on the counter. The more evenly the thawing process occurs, the more the type of cheese will be close to the original.
Important
The magazine purity-en.htgetrid.com draws the attention of its readers that after defrosting, hard cheese must be used within a week, but better in the first three days. This is why it is worth freezing the product in portions.
Now about the main thing: how to use defrosted cheese further? Snacks made from it no longer look so aesthetically pleasing, so distribute the fermented milk product over hot sandwiches, sandwiches, the shavings will be useful for filling pizza or pasta, the cubes will quickly dissolve in the cheese soup.
Buy cheese for your own pleasure and enjoy the taste longer than the manufacturer prescribes.Freezing can significantly extend the shelf life of the product.