Freezing cheese?

13 years ago

One of my best investments in the last few years was buying a chest freezer. It saves $ by letting me take advantage of sales on frozen foods/meats, plus I make large batches of food and separate them into single servings and freeze them.
I was in a hurry one day about a week ago and put a bag of stuff in the freezer without noticing that there was a package of sliced Swiss cheese in there. It was frozen for a week prior to being discovered, but when I defrosted it, it was fine.
I had previously been under the impression that one should not freeze cheese?

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Comments (4)

grainlady_ks
13 years ago
This is information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation with the link at the bottom. -Grainlady

Freezing
Cheese

Cheese keeps best in the refrigerator. If necessary, hard or semi-hard cheese can be frozen if cut in 1-1/2- to 1-pound sizes and packaged in moisture-vapor resistant material. This cheese may become crumbly and mealy when frozen, but will retain its flavor.

Cream cheese, cottage cheese and ricotta cheese do not freeze well. However, if combined with heavy cream, cream cheese can be frozen for later use in dips or as icing on frozen sandwich loaves.

Recommended freezer shelf life:

Hard cheese (such as cheddar and Swiss), 6 months
Soft cheese (such as Brie), 6 months

Here is a link that might be useful: NCFHFP - Freezing Cheese
User
13 years ago
I freeze cheese all of the time. You can't slice it after it has been frozen, but the shreds and crumbles are great for cooking and baking. I've never tried freezing the slices, but that would be great to keep on hand for sandwiches.

I only use cream cheese for dessert recipes. I usually keep it in the freezer so i have it on hand when i want it. It has always thawed well for me.
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The mayo would be my hesitation to freeze. Some recipes would freeze better than others me thinks. I would probably prep some of the parts ahead in kit form. Maybe grate the cheese now and portion in 1 lb zip lock getting all the air out. You could even add the spice and pepper. Chives and/or another herb would add nice color and flavor. Assemble the night before the first event and fridge them. (i think you have three balls to make?) The no-freeze lists are fine, even the first one posted if you read the copy. It was mentioned to not expect fresh when thawed, but perfectly edible to cook with. I recently roasted a half dozen red peppers and a few dozen halapenos, chopped/sliced, then froze in small useful portions. A bag of limes i juiced and froze in ice cube trays. Meyer lemons i freeze whole and grate a bit as needed... Many things freeze fine if used in cooking or cubed fruit going straight into a smoothy. Saran is a nice tight way to seal something like a cheese ball to keep its shape and get all the air out but it should be further sealed in something heavier like a freezer thick zip-lock. Or foil. Or freezer wrap, parchment. I use to make something i called an AntHill. Lined a small half dome soup bowl with saran, then line it with paper thin provolone from my deli. Lay in some nice herb leaves, chives, basil, parsley, thin slivers of sundried tomatoes...then another layer of thin prov...a layer of nutty pesto, then my cheese ball filling...usually white cheddar, cream cheese and some spice. Fold over the excess saran and chill overnight. Flipped over and un-molded it had a nice see-through design of herbs. Sprinkled with a trail of toasted black sesame seeds for the ants. It was my holiday go-to dish for a few years. Easy to travel to parties. Something like that, kept cold in a ceramic bowl in a chilly part of the fridge, i would be fine making it 4-5 days in advance. I would not freeze it for NewYears if i made it today. But i would shop for the ingredients and have them ready to make a day or two in advance. Cheese grated, herbs washed, and ready for assembly the night before.
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lucillle
Original Author
13 years ago
The sliced Swiss is exactly the same as pre-frozen, I had some in a sandwich today. No crumbling, no mealing, just sliced cheese.
I may experiment and try deliberately freezing some for a longer time and see what happens. If it does meal up, I can always use it in a baked recipe.
My refrigerator is small but the chest freezer is huge, so when possible I use the refrigerator for fresh veggies, sour cream, iced tea, and so on, and try to use the freezer for as much as I can.
azzalea
13 years ago
Let me specifically address freezing cream cheese. I ALWAYS have several pounds of it in the freezer. There's such a range of price for it (.89 on sale, up to 2.50 when it's not) that I buy loads when it's cheap, pop the boxes into ziplock bags and toss into the freezer until needed.

'They' say not to freeze it because when defrosted, it gets an odd, splintery texture. Here's the fix. Let the cream cheese (in the package) defrost completely to room temp. Put in your electric mixer and beat 5-10 minutes and it will smooth out beautifully. Alternatively, you can put the defrosted cheese in a microwave container, zap 1-2 minutes, then stir with a spoon. Either way, the cheese will taste and look perfectly fine. I use it in cheesecake, for dips, and as a spread.

And by freezing cream cheese, you can save many, many $$$ in the course of a year

Freezing cheese?

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grainlady_ks

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Freezing cheese?

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grainlady_ks

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lucillle
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