Cheese is one of the most common products on any table. It is widely used in cooking and for eating it fresh, so naturally, sooner or later the question occurs: can cheese be frozen?
How to preserve cheese this way to keep it edible longer? Is it possible at all?
This and other questions will be answered below.
Make sure you memorize everything!
Related: Fresh Cheese. Useful Tips About Cheese
Freezing Cheese: Possible Or Not?
We are used to the idea that for preserving different products and food longer, the best way is to expose them to the impact of frost. The freezing camera of our fridge seems to be the optimal choice for extending the shelf life of food and protecting its qualities such as taste or texture.
However, we are also aware that freezing may not be a suitable decision for quite a lot of goods.
Of course, if one has ever asked himself whether it is fine to freeze some cheese, this may become a point of concern. When being exposed to the wrong storage conditions, food will get spoiled and useless, that’s what we all know for sure!
So, to figure it out, it would be useful for everyone to check out several most frequent and widespread questions regarding freezing cheese issue. At that point, it will be possible to store this healthy and delicious product longer without causing any chages to its benefits and qualities.
- Can I freeze cheese?
Well, there is no definite answer. To be precise, everything depends on a certain sort of cheese. For the harder types like cheddar or gouda freezing will be the least traumatizing whereas the soft sorts like mozzarella or ricotta are far less frost-friendly.
Anyway, exposing cheese to frost is acceptable only if you are planning to use it for cooking, not for later consuming since when defrosted, it will not look the same appetizing as the fresh one.
- How long can cheese be frozen?
The duration of the frozen cheese shelf life is what interests the housewives most of all! Of course, everyone would like to be sure that the food will remain consumable for the longest period of time possible!
As for cheese, it can remain frozen for six months but not longer. Otherwise, the texture and the external looks will be significantly damaged due to the exposure of frost.
- Can you freeze sliced cheese?
Sometimes we don’t need to freeze the whole head of cheese so naturally, we’d rather preserve some part of it sliced. It is more convenient to use later and takes less space.
The good news is that it is possible to freeze cheese slices and, in fact, sliced cheese becomes frozen very well.
Only make sure that it is wrapped tightly and properly packed to prevent it from drying and freezer burns.
- Can you freeze a block of cheese?
Since cheese freezes very well, there will be no problems with preserving a whole brick of it. However, for speeding up the defrosting process and for more convenient use afterward, we would advise you to cut the brick into smaller pieces first.
These tips will allow anyone to get to freezing cheese properly and avoid common mistakes that often lead to the product’s spoilage and further discarding.
Related: Can You Freeze Goat Cheese?
Freezing Different Sorts of Cheese Nuances
One more handy thing to know is how different sorts of cheese stand freezing since some of them are more sensitive to frost and, respectively, vulnerable.
Take these tips into account since they can be very useful.
Can you freeze string cheese?
Freezing string cheese may seem a bit tricky to someone since this sort of cheese doesn’t look like all the others. Nevertheless, it can be perfectly frozen, moreover, it is far less likely to get brittle or crumbly after defrosting.
Can you freeze queso fresco?
Queso fresco is a sort of fresh soft cheese being one of the most vulnerable sorts regarding the freezing. Not only the texture will suffer, but the taste will also become significantly worse after defrosting.
Related: Tips for How Can You Freeze Cream Cheese at Home
Can you freeze mozzarella cheese?
Even though being able to freeze well, mozzarella, due to its softness, is not quite suitable for freezing because it will not only damage the texture but its flavor will be lost. So freeze it only for further use in cooking.
Can you freeze cheddar cheese?
Freezing cheddar cheese is easy and the frost will influence it very little since it is very hard. It may indeed become somewhat crumbly but no significant damage will be made to it after defrosting.
Can you freeze parmesan cheese?
Parmesan is another well-freezing cheese. To make it freeze even better, grate it and pack thoroughly.
Can you freeze provolone cheese?
Provolone is a semi-hard cheese which makes it perfect for freezing. Feel free to slice it, cut, grate or freeze it whole, it won’t lose its qualities.
Can You Freeze Shredded Cheese?
Freezing shredded cheese can be a good option for preserving it frozen, however, not all sorts of cheese can be grated.
To freeze shredded cheese, remember that hard and semi-hard sorts are the best for it whereas soft cheeses would not be a good choice.
How to Freeze Cheese. Guide and Tips
Finally, it’s important to know what actions to take to get frozen cheese at home and do it correctly!
Several options exist on how to freeze cheese.
- Sliced or shredded cheese
To preserve it this way, cut the cheese in slices of shred it and put it into a resealable plastic package (the one with the zip lock would be the best).
Squeeze out the excess air and close it tightly.
Remember to put the sheets of parchment between the slices to prevent them from sticking together!
- Another variant is to freeze blocks.
This approach is good for storing big head of cheese since cheese blocks take less space in the freezing camera.
Cut the cheese in small blocks and stuff the plastic package with them leaving as little air inside as possible.
Put the expiry date on the package and freeze.
Being kept this way, your cheese will remain edible from two to six months.
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