Which Cheeses Freeze Well?

[Scirocco]

We have made a couple of trips to WI and will be going back again in September. The first time we went, I got a little overzealous with my cheese purchases and tried to freeze some of it. Some fared well, others didn't. But, did I take notes?? NO!

Sooooo, am asking advice from fellow Cheesehounds on which ones freeze well. If I recall, it seemed that the softer cheeses did better (mozzarella, provolone, colby jack, etc) than the firmer ones (cheddars, asiago types, etc).

Cheeses I typically get...
bricks of cheddar
colby jack
string cheese (that one I know freezes great)
butterkase
muenster
bricks of various goat cheeses
provolone

I also get tubs of cheese spread such as the horseradish/cheddar spread, port wine or just plain cheddar spread. Those are plastic sealed under the lid. Would they freeze well?

Thanks for any help!

[bermudagourmetgoddess]

I freeze blue cheese and when ready grate it over salad's....it helps when watching my girlish figure ;)

[Scirocco]

LOL!! That's exactly part of my problem. We LOVE cheese and love to stock up on the good stuff when in WI. But if it's all open and available to us in the fridge or we feel like we need to eat it "before it goes bad".......well, those skinny jeans become problematic...

[ChefJune]

Hard cheeses really don't need to be frozen at all. If you wrap them well and store them in the fridge, they should last as long, and not lose texture. If they develop mold, it is quite fine to cut off the moldy top layer and eat what is underneath.

[Scirocco]

I may have been the medium firmness cheeses that got grainy (and that's what happened, it crumbled after thawing). It was a over a year ago, so I can't really remember which ones didn't fare well (as my mother would say, "that's why you write things down!" Mothers always know best.). :)

Agreed on the string cheese. Good to know about the goat cheese. That was a new purchase for me this time.

Ok, so this leads me to another question.....if I don't freeze stuff like colby or cheddar, roughly how long would it last unopened in brick form?

[hotoynoodle]

shrink-wrapped it should last for months. even just in saran, i keep it over a month with no problems.

[janeh]

I often buy large quantities of shredded cheese on sale for an organization that I work with. I used to buy more blocks of cheese but the texture was often poor when thawed. The shredded cheese is used mostly for grilled cheese, quesadillas, salads etc - the taste is fine and it melts well. Perhaps you might experiment with shredding and freezing some of the cheeses that you like but that won't otherwise hold up well?

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, I think both the very soft cheeses (like fresh goat cheese) and the very dry cheeses freeze well. It's the ones in the middle where freezing them will cause the water to separate out that don't freeze as well.

Cheese can keep for a long time. After all, it is an aged product. If cheddar can age for years in an aging cave or cellar, there's no reason why it shouldn't keep in your fridge indefinitely -- provided that it hasn't been exposed to mold during the cutting and packaging process.

[daily_unadventures]

Interesting, the ones I generally freeze are big blocks of aged cheddar and Parmiggiano because I buy them at costco. They freeze fine.

[hotoynoodle]

harder cheeses will freeze better than softer ones, but they have a very long shelf life anyway since much of the moisture is already gone. however, medium cheeses, like cheddar and colby, tend to get grainy if frozen.

string cheese is near to indesctructable and won't need freezing. same with those spreads. unopened they last a very long time and won't require freezing.

[janeh]

I was overcome by a bargain and bought way more goat cheese than a rational person would (might) have - it froze very well!

[yumyum]

Second this. A fellow Boston hound and I share a big batch of goat cheese every summer and it freezes beautifully. If wrapped properly and defrosted gently, the texture doesn't suffer at all.

[hotoynoodle]

curious then to ask: did you eat it raw after thawing, or cook with it?

[yumyum]

Both. Texture absolutely superb.

We buy pounds from the goat cheese lady at the Brookline Farmers Market, divvy it up into weighed pieces and freeze until needed -- double wrapped in Saran, air is the enemy here. It could be that this cheese is wonderfully fresh and moist in the first place, so any loss of moisture is undetectable.

I was skeptical at first too! Try it!