Ping Pastorio

I'd be interested in the answer as well. I freeze my cheese (hey,
that rhymes) regularly and it *seems* fine to me. On the other hand,
I've never claimed to possess a particularly refined palate.

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Chakolate

--
I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

IMHO frozen cheese is fine, for recipes.
I find it tends to ruin the texture as a snacking cheese. :-)

So, for snacking any more, I just buy smaller pieces of various cheeses
to refrigerate and for cooking, I buy the pre-shredded cheeses and keep
them in the freezer. They keep forever that way and melt just fine with
no loss of flavor.

Just my 2 cents...

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested in the answer as well. I freeze my cheese (hey,
that rhymes) regularly and it *seems* fine to me. On the other hand,
I've never claimed to possess a particularly refined palate.

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Chakolate

--
I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Have you never heard of aged cheese?

How is that stored?

HTH

--
You take stupid to a new level. -- MFW

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested in the answer as well. I freeze my cheese (hey,
that rhymes) regularly and it *seems* fine to me. On the other hand,
I've never claimed to possess a particularly refined palate.

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Chakolate

--
I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested in the answer as well. I freeze my cheese (hey,
that rhymes) regularly and it *seems* fine to me. On the other hand,
I've never claimed to possess a particularly refined palate.

Chakolate wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

My mother froze good Vermont cheddar all the time in my childhood, and
I've followed in her footsteps, although I generally use the frozen and
thawed stuff for cooking. I've found it dries out a little, but if I'm
going to use in cooking, it doesn't matter to me.

Priscilla
--
"Inside every older person is a younger person -- wondering what
the hell happened." -- Cora Harvey Armstrong

That's true, I've definitely noticed the consistency changes a bit
after a bout in the freezer, particularly with sharp cheddars. Good
point.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

IMHO frozen cheese is fine, for recipes.
I find it tends to ruin the texture as a snacking cheese. :-)

So, for snacking any more, I just buy smaller pieces of various cheeses
to refrigerate and for cooking, I buy the pre-shredded cheeses and keep
them in the freezer. They keep forever that way and melt just fine with
no loss of flavor.

Just my 2 cents...

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I'd be interested in the answer as well. I freeze my cheese (hey,
that rhymes) regularly and it *seems* fine to me. On the other hand,
I've never claimed to possess a particularly refined palate.

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Chakolate

--
I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet <[email hidden]> wrote in news:Omelet-
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

IMHO frozen cheese is fine, for recipes.
I find it tends to ruin the texture as a snacking cheese. :-)

So, for snacking any more, I just buy smaller pieces of various cheeses
to refrigerate and for cooking, I buy the pre-shredded cheeses and keep
them in the freezer. They keep forever that way and melt just fine with
no loss of flavor.

Just my 2 cents...

And a very helpful 2 cents it was, too, thanks. Since I use extra sharp
cheddar for snacking, I guess I won't be freezing it.

Chak

--
alt.support.menopause has a Frappr group! Go see what we look like:

http://www.frappr.com/altsupportmenopause

I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

Chakolate wrote:
|| Hi,
||
|| I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
|| (well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
|| maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.
||
|| Chakolate
||
|| --
|| I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
|| somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances
|| were very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry
|| about that. George P. Shultz

Cheddar, as a "hard" cheese, doesn't need freezing to keep. Where I'm from
in the farm country of Western New England they make huge wheels of sharp
cheddar and just store it in cellars. The more it ages, the better it is.
My dad would simply scape the outer layer of mold off of a particularly
"ripe" piece of cheddar before eating it. If that sounds gross, remember
that it's the mold and bacteria that makes many cheeses "cheeses" in the
first place.

--
Peter
Website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

"Marengo" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:JFRdf.8591$Mi5.4434@dukeread07:

Quoted message said:

Cheddar, as a "hard" cheese, doesn't need freezing to keep. Where I'm
from in the farm country of Western New England they make huge wheels
of sharp cheddar and just store it in cellars. The more it ages, the
better it is. My dad would simply scape the outer layer of mold off of
a particularly "ripe" piece of cheddar before eating it. If that
sounds gross, remember that it's the mold and bacteria that makes many
cheeses "cheeses" in the first place.

I don't mind scraping off the mold, and if it makes a stronger cheese,
I'm all for it. But I have noticed that while sometimes moldy cheese is
stronger, sometimes it's flavor is completely changed. I just don't want
that to happen to this block.

Chak

--
alt.support.menopause has a Frappr group! Go see what we look like:

http://www.frappr.com/altsupportmenopause

I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

"Marengo" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:JFRdf.8591$Mi5.4434@dukeread07:

Quoted message said:

Cheddar, as a "hard" cheese, doesn't need freezing to keep. Where I'm
from in the farm country of Western New England they make huge wheels
of sharp cheddar and just store it in cellars. The more it ages, the
better it is. My dad would simply scape the outer layer of mold off of
a particularly "ripe" piece of cheddar before eating it. If that
sounds gross, remember that it's the mold and bacteria that makes many
cheeses "cheeses" in the first place.

I don't mind scraping off the mold, and if it makes a stronger cheese,
I'm all for it. But I have noticed that while sometimes moldy cheese is
stronger, sometimes it's flavor is completely changed. I just don't want
that to happen to this block.

Chak

--
alt.support.menopause has a Frappr group! Go see what we look like:

http://www.frappr.com/altsupportmenopause

I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were
very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.
George P. Shultz

In article <[email hidden]>,

Chakolate said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet <[email hidden]> wrote in news:Omelet-
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

IMHO frozen cheese is fine, for recipes.
I find it tends to ruin the texture as a snacking cheese. :-)

So, for snacking any more, I just buy smaller pieces of various cheeses
to refrigerate and for cooking, I buy the pre-shredded cheeses and keep
them in the freezer. They keep forever that way and melt just fine with
no loss of flavor.

Just my 2 cents...

And a very helpful 2 cents it was, too, thanks. Since I use extra sharp
cheddar for snacking, I guess I won't be freezing it.

Chak

Just remember, mold does not ruin it.
You can just trim the mold off and it's fine.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Chakolate said:

"Marengo" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:JFRdf.8591$Mi5.4434@dukeread07:

Quoted message said:

Cheddar, as a "hard" cheese, doesn't need freezing to keep. Where I'm
from in the farm country of Western New England they make huge wheels
of sharp cheddar and just store it in cellars. The more it ages, the
better it is. My dad would simply scape the outer layer of mold off of
a particularly "ripe" piece of cheddar before eating it. If that
sounds gross, remember that it's the mold and bacteria that makes many
cheeses "cheeses" in the first place.

I don't mind scraping off the mold, and if it makes a stronger cheese,
I'm all for it. But I have noticed that while sometimes moldy cheese is
stronger, sometimes it's flavor is completely changed. I just don't want
that to happen to this block.

Chak

I cut rather than scrape mold off.
If you don't mind it drying a bit, it will store better in wax paper
instead of a plastic bag. I've found that slows molding.

Then there is that piece of parmesan I've had for awhile. ;-) A hard
grating cheese for cooking only, I don't wrap it at all. It's hard as a
rock and never molds and was fabulous in some stuffed mushrooms tonight.

You can do that with both parmesan and romano.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Cheddar is freezable, but it will cost a bit in quality. It becomes more
friable - crumbly - after freezing. If you like to eat it out of hand,
you'll notice the changed mouthfeel. If you mostly use it for cooking,
you won't see much difference in finished dishes.

I've kept cheddar for years in my fridge wrapped in cheesecloth
moistened with brandy. Inside a plastic bag. That's probably where port
wine cheddar began. In the meat/cheese drawer.

It will dehydrate some, but it doesn't bother me. It becomes extra-extra
sharp.

Happy cheese

Pastorio

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Cheddar is freezable, but it will cost a bit in quality. It becomes more
friable - crumbly - after freezing. If you like to eat it out of hand,
you'll notice the changed mouthfeel. If you mostly use it for cooking,
you won't see much difference in finished dishes.

I've kept cheddar for years in my fridge wrapped in cheesecloth
moistened with brandy. Inside a plastic bag. That's probably where port
wine cheddar began. In the meat/cheese drawer.

It will dehydrate some, but it doesn't bother me. It becomes extra-extra
sharp.

Happy cheese

Pastorio

Does the Brandy keep it from molding???

I've never tried that.
I wonder how cheese would keep in a small jar of 97.5% Ethanol? ;-)
(aka everclear).

Works great for strawberries...
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <JFRdf.8591$Mi5.4434@dukeread07>,

Marengo said:

Chakolate wrote:
|| Hi,
||
|| I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
|| (well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
|| maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.
||
|| Chakolate
||
|| --
|| I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
|| somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances
|| were very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry
|| about that. George P. Shultz

Cheddar, as a "hard" cheese, doesn't need freezing to keep. Where I'm from
in the farm country of Western New England they make huge wheels of sharp
cheddar and just store it in cellars. The more it ages, the better it is.
My dad would simply scape the outer layer of mold off of a particularly
"ripe" piece of cheddar before eating it. If that sounds gross, remember
that it's the mold and bacteria that makes many cheeses "cheeses" in the
first place.

I've got a chunk of Double Gloucester that's like that. ;-)

Priscilla

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

Chakolate said:

Hi,

I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Cheddar is freezable, but it will cost a bit in quality. It becomes more
friable - crumbly - after freezing. If you like to eat it out of hand,
you'll notice the changed mouthfeel. If you mostly use it for cooking,
you won't see much difference in finished dishes.

I've kept cheddar for years in my fridge wrapped in cheesecloth
moistened with brandy. Inside a plastic bag. That's probably where port
wine cheddar began. In the meat/cheese drawer.

It will dehydrate some, but it doesn't bother me. It becomes extra-extra
sharp.

Happy cheese

Pastorio

Does the Brandy keep it from molding???

Yes. And flavors it slightly, at least on the outside.

Quoted message said:

I've never tried that.
I wonder how cheese would keep in a small jar of 97.5% Ethanol? ;-)
(aka everclear).

Haven't tried it.

Quoted message said:

Works great for strawberries...

Haven't tried it.

Pastorio

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

Chakolate wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I just bought a large brick of rather expensive extra sharp cheddar
>(well, expensive for me, anyway). Is cheddar freezable? I'd like to
>maybe cut it into fourths, and freeze it to make it last longer.

Cheddar is freezable, but it will cost a bit in quality. It becomes more
friable - crumbly - after freezing. If you like to eat it out of hand,
you'll notice the changed mouthfeel. If you mostly use it for cooking,
you won't see much difference in finished dishes.

I've kept cheddar for years in my fridge wrapped in cheesecloth
moistened with brandy. Inside a plastic bag. That's probably where port
wine cheddar began. In the meat/cheese drawer.

It will dehydrate some, but it doesn't bother me. It becomes extra-extra
sharp.

Happy cheese

Pastorio

Does the Brandy keep it from molding???

Yes. And flavors it slightly, at least on the outside.

Quoted message said:

I've never tried that.
I wonder how cheese would keep in a small jar of 97.5% Ethanol? ;-)
(aka everclear).

Haven't tried it.

Quoted message said:

Works great for strawberries...

Haven't tried it.

Pastorio

The strawberries are cleaned, cut in 1/2 and stored in a mix of red wine
(blackberry) and 1/2 grain alcohol.

They keep at room temp. ;-)

And go great on any low carb dessert as a topping.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

"Bob (this one)" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've kept cheddar for years in my fridge wrapped in cheesecloth
moistened with brandy. Inside a plastic bag. That's probably where
port wine cheddar began. In the meat/cheese drawer.

It will dehydrate some, but it doesn't bother me. It becomes
extra-extra sharp.

Okay, thanks, that's good information. I can work with that.

Chak

--
alt.support.menopause has a Frappr group! Go see what we look like:

http://www.frappr.com/altsupportmenopause

I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told
somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances
were very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about
that.
George P. Shultz