Can I freeze cheese? How to store cheese in the fridge

Often cheese literally after a few days stay in the refrigerator loses its taste, becomes moldy, acquires a strange color, etc. You can blame the producers as much as you want to use substandard ingredients, but first you should understand: do we store the product correctly? Whether it is possible to freeze cheese and how to prolong his life - is described in detail in the article.

General Conditions for Cheese Storage

As a rule, after the purchase, we simply put the cheese on the shelf of the refrigerator, believing that it has thus secured its safety. This is really enough if you plan to consume it for two to three days. If it is assumed that the product will hold in the refrigerator for a longer period of time, then you need to know how to store the cheese so that it does not deteriorate ahead of time.

For this, it is required to ensure optimum humidity and temperature. Both parameters should be at the middle level, because too high and too low values lead to cheese damage.

Suitable temperature is plus 6-8 degrees Celsius. The best place in the refrigerator is the lower shelf. The required humidity is 85-92%.

Some tricks

Do not place the cheese in a plastic container, saucepan, covered plate, since the product has the property to absorb foreign odors well. And the cheeses themselves (for example, some types of French) often smell rather strongly. It is better to use foil, food film or parchment paper, which will protect not only from unnecessary aromas, but also from loss of moisture.

The shelf life can be increased by changing the packaging every few days. This does not apply to cheeses on goat's milk, which do not need to be wrapped in anything, so as not to disturb the process of maturation.

If you store the cheese in a plastic bag, put a couple of slices of sugar-refined sugar. This is an excellent prevention of mold formation.

Cut the cheese immediately before use. If you plan to serve it on the table in its pure form, and not as an ingredient in the dishes, then it is recommended to remove the product in about an hour. During this time, he will have time to recover his natural flavor and aromatic properties.

You can not store different kinds of cheeses in one package or container .

Homemade homemade cheese can be stored in the refrigerator for only a few days, using a glass or enameled container with a lid for this.

These are general rules, but you need to apply your approach to each kind of cheese. Before you figure out whether it's possible to freeze cheese, let's reveal the storage features of each kind.

Storage of hard cheeses

These are the usual gouda, cheddar, edamer, parmesan, emmental, gruyer. Semi-hard or hard cheese needs to be wrapped in dense waxed paper, and then wrap it in film or put it in a plastic bag or in a syrnica.

It should be located in the part of the refrigerator where a constant temperature is ensured. That is, in the shelves on the door, which is constantly opened, cheese does not belong. The ideal temperature is plus 4-8 degrees Celsius. In such conditions, the product will last 3-4 weeks. The harder the cheese, the longer it will be suitable for food.

If the cheese is moldy, do not necessarily throw it away. It is enough to cut the damaged areas.

If the semi-hard cheese is dried, it can be "resuscitated" by placing it for several hours in milk. A completely stale product will not save anything, but it can be rubbed and used for cooking.

To cut hard cheese before storage is not recommended, as in this case it will dry faster.

How to store cheese, if there is no refrigerator, no cellar? Dampen the towel in salt water, wrap the cheese with it, place in a ceramic or glass dish with a lid and place the container so that direct sunlight does not reach it. Days 7-10 the product "will live".

Parmesan storage

Parmesan after the purchase should be released from plastic packaging, replacing it with parchment or wax paper. Then, at a temperature of 6-8 degrees, cheese lasts for several months. If, of course, you did not rub it.

Grated Parmesan should be eaten within a week if you do not have a special Parmesan cheese that will allow you to store the product for about a month without losing taste and useful properties.

Freezing of hard and semisolid cheeses

This cheese is suitable for such processing. To freeze the cheese in the freezer, just place it in a freezer bag or a normal plastic bag and send it to the freezer. You can throw a piece of sugar in the container to absorb excess moisture.

It is convenient to mark the date on the package when the product was placed for storage. It is necessary to use cheese for six months, but the optimal period is three months. Then it begins to dry out.

The disadvantage of freezing is that after defrosting the cheese becomes too friable and loses some of the flavoring properties. Therefore, it is recommended to use it not in its pure form, but for cooking hot dishes. For example, pizza.

Can I freeze the hard cheese in a crushed form? Of course. But if you decided to cut it, then lightly sprinkle the pieces with flour or starch, otherwise after defrosting it will be impossible to accurately divide the slices.

If you freeze grated cheese, then in the cooling process, you can get a container with chips several times and shake it well. Then the product will not freeze in one piece. Or just add a little starch to the packaging and shake it for distribution.

If you have a vacuum packer, your cheese will taste better when frozen.

Storage and freezing of pasty cheeses

Mascarpone, Philadelphia, Ricotta, mozzarella and other curd and pasty cheeses are preferably stored in the same package in which they are sold.

The product has a short shelf life. After opening it is best to eat for a maximum of eight days. The period and conditions of storage before opening are always given by the manufacturer on the label, and these instructions must be observed.

Is it possible to freeze cheese of this type if the package is already open? Yes, it will be edible within three to six months. But after defrosting, you will have to heat the product before using it for food.

Storage of soft cheeses

Roquefort, danabula, camembert, brie and even fused cheese are recommended to be wrapped in foil before storage. Every three to four days they should be removed from the sealed package and left in the refrigerator for two hours, so that the product is saturated with oxygen. But in general, these cheeses are better to buy with the calculation to eat two or three times.

If you opened a melted cheese, then it will live in the refrigerator for not more than a week. Further, it is likely to dry up and become tasteless. Prior to the opening, it is quietly for 6-7 months, since this type of cheese is melted at a high temperature, which ensures a long shelf life.

Unlike hard varieties, if soft cheese is covered with mold, it should not be eaten. Simply removing the "superfluous" from the surface will not solve the problem, because the harmful substance could penetrate into the product.

Is it possible to freeze cheese of this type? It is possible, but only for a short time and only in case of emergency.

Storage of pickled cheeses

Hard cheese - suluguni, fetu or brynza - must be placed in a container with brine with a strength of 16-18% or a special serum before shipment to the refrigerator, which will save the product for several months.

Brynza will be stored for 75 days, and suluguni - for 25 days.

So, the answer to the question of whether the cheese is frozen is unambiguous - yes. Another thing is that this occupation from the category of "you can, but you do not need." It is better to buy cheese in the right quantities, if necessary, rather than store excess.