Freeze Cheese?

[ChrisGreaves]

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Because I am cheap, when I see both "plastic" Mozzarella AND (Foodland now stocks) Asiago on special, am inclined to ignore my shopping list and stock up on cheese.
Trouble is, once I get it home, I am inclined to eat it.
All.
So I decided to experiment with freezing it.
Into plastic bags go two slabs of Mozzarella and two slabs of Asiago - one of the few things I miss about Toronto.
I label each bag with today's date, and YOU think I am going to pop them in the freezer, don't you?
But first I rest them on the window ledge inside my back porch.
I am cheap, so why should I spend money on electricity to freeze them when nature will do it for me.

Tomorrow morning I will pop them in my freezer, ready-frozen.
Cheers, Chris

[HansV]

I once froze some leftover Gouda cheese before I went on holiday (vacation). When I returned and let the cheese thaw, it was edible, but the structure had changed; the cheese had become slightly brittle. It was not a great success.

[Jay Freedman]

We routinely freeze coarsely grated parmesan, and it keeps perfectly well.

[Skitterbug]

Shredded Cheddar, Swiss and Mozzarella also freeze nicely!

[ChrisGreaves]

I once froze some leftover Gouda cheese before I went on holiday (vacation). When I returned and let the cheese thaw, it was edible, but the structure had changed; the cheese had become slightly brittle. It was not a great success.

Hi Hans.
I have found that too; the frozen Asiago, at the time I take it out of the freezer, or a after couple of days thawing gently in the fridge, is crumbly. That doesn't stop me crumbling it some more and sprinkling it on toast for grilled-cheese, or across a soup ("Dead-ducks-in-a-pond") or, at a pinch, sweeping it into a small glass bowl and, well, eating it pinch by pinch.

We routinely freeze coarsely grated Parmesan, and it keeps perfectly well.

@Jay I would think so, after all, crumbly frozen/thawed grated cheese can't alter all that much in texture, can it?

Shredded Cheddar, Swiss and Mozzarella also freeze nicely!

@Skitterbug Trust you to come up with my second-favorite cheese (Swiss)

Thanks all; Chris

[hlewton]

We have some Swiss cheese frozen from Christmas when our plans fell apart due to weather. Planning on using it next weekend. After reading this, I think I better check it out so I'm not surprised and still have the time to get some more.

[StuartR]

I have no idea what you are discussing when you refer to Swiss cheese. The Wikipedia list of Swiss cheeses shows at least 25 different named cheeses from Switzerland. I am pretty sure that the product called "swiss cheese" in the US is none of these, but I don't know what it is!

[hlewton]

Well to me it has always been cheese with holes throughout it and can be mild or sharp, etc. Check this link out to see what it means to many of us here in the US. Swiss Cheese

[hlewton]

WOW, glad I remembered about the BB Code. You should see the length of that link without using it.

[StuartR]

I wonder if it tastes like emmental

[hlewton]

I wonder if it tastes like emmental

No idea. Never heard of that.

[HansV]

Emmental is the quintessential cheese with holes...

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[Skitterbug]

Interesting thing to me about cheese is that actually the names of the cheese or the place of origin doesn't tell much about the cheese. Terms can be applied - sharp, mild, medium, smoked flavor, etc. But hey, that really doesn't explain much about the cheese. Limburger cheese - what does that tell you? Me, nothing.

Anyway it's just me - pondering.... probably not making any sense but hey, to me cheese is cheese.

[ChrisGreaves]

... but hey, to me cheese is cheese.

@Hans: Are you sure we can't implement that friends/enemies doo-dad in phpBB?

I can attest that cheese is not "just cheese". No connoisseur me; I am a pig for cheese.
I do know that the wedges of Asiago I now purchase from Foodland (a.k.a."Metro", was "Dominion" in Canada) in Bonavista, has a different taste from the wedges I bought from Loblaws in Toronto. The latter was tangier, had a bit more bite.

@Skitterbug I believe that you are far away and upwind of that rail-tanker problem.
Roughly how far are you from East Liverpool OHIO, where this latest Climate Cage began?

Cheers, Chris

[hlewton]

Emmental is the quintessential cheese with holes...


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Looks very much like what I meant when I said Swiss Cheese.

[hlewton]

Interesting thing to me about cheese is that actually the names of the cheese or the place of origin doesn't tell much about the cheese. Terms can be applied - sharp, mild, medium, smoked flavor, etc. But hey, that really doesn't explain much about the cheese. Limburger cheese - what does that tell you? Me, nothing.

Anyway it's just me - pondering.... probably not making any sense but hey, to me cheese is cheese.

Limburger cheese is my absolute favorite cheese, has been since I was about 6 o 7 years old. Believe me, that is a long time ago. I prefer the bricks of it but there is a local company that produces a spreadable version of it around here. They even advertise it as the "stinky" kind.

[Skitterbug]

@Skitterbug I believe that you are far away and upwind of that rail-tanker problem.
Roughly how far are you from East Liverpool OHIO, where this latest Climate Cage began?

Cheers, Chris

We are approximately 400 mi from this horrible disaster and I wish we'd were further away. Scary business indeed!

[ChrisGreaves]

So I decided to experiment with freezing it.

This article briefly suggests that we NOT freeze Mozzarella Cheese.
Cheers, Chris

[Skitterbug]

So I decided to experiment with freezing it.

This article briefly suggests that we NOT freeze Mozzarella Cheese.
Cheers, Chris

The information may be helpful for how to freeze various items but it isn't helpful when it says that freezing Mozzarella (soft cheese) is not a good idea. Why not? That's the question that is lingering now. Maybe because it becomes a bit more crumbled rather than stay smooth? Whatever the reason the writer of the article is worried about, it apparently doesn't bother my use of frozen Mozzarella since the product still works in recipes as needed - for me anyway. I am not a "fancy" chef. Just a simple home cook.

[HansV]

Freezing and unfreezing mozzarella is OK if you want to use it in cooking.
But if you want to use it in a salad, for example Insalata Caprese (slices of tomato and mozzarella with basil leaves), the altered texture of the cheese would make it less appetizing (while still edible).

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