I read years ago that pre-shredded cheese doesn't meltt worth a crap. That and the price, is why I have never and would never buy it.

For the sake of a few minutes, we always buy the bar of cheese (Black Diamond, Armstrong, store-brand etc) and I shred it with the box grater. I always keep a bag on the freezer and take out what I need.

I shudder to think about cleaning the meat grinder every time I grate cheese. Do you have a food processor? I use the shredding disc any time I need more than I feel like grating by hand.

I have rarely purchased pre-shredded because as a general rule-of-thumb from the economical point of view, shredding your own cheese is nearly always less expensive when you compare prices. Now I avoid pre-shredded entirely since going gluten-free due to the starches used to coat it.

We have a 3-piece grater/storage container with lid (small and large holes on the grater). The grater snaps onto the container and the cheese falls into an 8-inch square plastic container, and the lid covers the container after you remove the grater. It easily holds an 8-ounce block of cheese.

A good box grater will also work for most cheeses. A micro-plane is another handy tool for some hard cheeses, especially if you have a variety of hole sizes. I also have a drum grater I like to use for small amounts of freshly-grated cheese (that's the grater they use in restaurants like The Olive Garden). It has three different drums for different size shreds.

If you don't like "meat" (from your knuckles) along with your hand-grated cheese, hold the cheese with a cutting glove. FYI: Avoid touching the cheese with your hand/fingers if you are going to store the cheese in the refrigerator for any length because they introduce mold spores onto the cheese surface and cause the cheese to mold quickly. I wear gloves to handle blocks of cheese and vacuum-seal them in a FoodSaver bag once they are open if I don't grate the whole block. I remove cheese I have grated with tongs or a gloved hand.

-Grainlady

The other thing that makes cheese go moldy is if it gets damp. I suppose the spores are there already and the moisture helps them bloom, or whatever it is that they do. The spores are on the surface, and when you grate the cheese you create many more surfaces for them to cling to.

I don't buy the huge blocks of cheese so it doesn't have to last so long. If I only need a small amount, I'll use the wrapper as a holder and use a storage grater (similar concept to this), which is small and easy to handle. I make a big mess with the old box grater. :) If I need less, I'll use a Microplane paddle grater right over where it's going (I received three different ones as a gift a long time ago). If it's for pizza, lasagna, enchiladas or some other cheese dish, however, I use the Cuisinart, handle the cheese with clean, dry hands (that's very dry, not towel dry) and if there are leftovers they always seem to last well at least a week in the fridge without going moldy (I check thoroughly). Disposable food service gloves are sometimes easier than making sure one's hands are really dry, and I've been known to use those instead of bare.

BTW, after opening, if one is storing the remainder of a block of cheese, it's good to dry it off, and maybe even scrape the sides with an angled knife-edge, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and maybe a zipper bag. Zipper bags with the air squeezed out are good because you can see the exhalations of incipient molds. Some cheeses need to breathe, but I'd rather keep them than worry about it, or worry about them absorbing other odors from the fridge. OTOH, I once was on a quest for something rotten in the fridge and after stripping it to the bones I finally figured out that the smell was a well wrapped, very ripe, stinky French cheese (not moldy or spoiled, just really smelly).

Well, it's more that pre-shredded cheese is generally low quality cheese, than any issue with the starch coating it. If you want quality cheese then yes, it's better to spend the $$$.

The problem is that cheese is a 'living' food and doesn't last forever. For example, I keep pre-shredded mozzarella in bags, in my freezer. Useful for a quick defrost when I want a crusty broiled cheese on a sandwich or a casserole.

But for my spouse's caprese salads, which he adores, I buy fresh mozzarella packed in water. Extremely perishable! Definitely a 'use it or lose it' item. I don't rigidly plan our meals, but when I buy the fresh mozz I have to make sure I use it before the expiration date, which can be anywhere from 1-3 weeks.

Since weeks can go by without my making (or eating out) the same thing twice, the pre-shredded cheese is a convenience food, something I keep on hand the same way I keep frozen puff pastry dough, various kinds of sausages, and fresh lemon juice in our second freezer.

I use a box grater for the big holes and a hand mini grater for hard cheeses. It is only fairly recently that I learned many people are scared of the box grater. So I say embrace it, it's a wonder. Learn to use it. Get an aluminum one and put it in the dishwasher after using. I have never hand-washed one.
I never buy pre shredded cheese, either, fresh mozzerella is in it's own category and not the same as block mozzerella.
I only get out the fp when I have a lot of cheese to shred. More than 16 ounces.

The KA meat grinder idea came from someone on this forum! I didn't think about how hard it would be to clean. I have a small hand food processor. I could try it.

I had a box grater in the past and really hated the thing. Yes my knuckles would be scraped, my arm would ache and the results not worth the effort. Perhaps it was not a good one. How would I know if it was good or not without trying it? Never heard of a cutting glove.

We always keep bags of pre-shredded cheese in the refrigerator as we never know when someone will be making a salad, grilled cheese, pizza etc. I am not good about planning meals and the kids often make their own. The kids (18 and 21) may slice cheese but they will not grate it. I'm not sure I can get away with not have some shredded cheese in the fridge but maybe I can get a grater and start trying to incorporate some fresh shredded into meals.

We generally grate about 8-oz. of cheese once a week (usually on Sunday for homemade pizza night) and use it throughout the week for other meals, "grown-up" grilled sandwiches (we never use sliced processed cheese products - wasted money for an inferior product), Mexican entrees, etc. I may have 2 or 3 kinds of cheese shredded at any one time, but not necessarily in large amounts.

I use a cutting glove (aka cut resistant glove) when using a cutting mandoline, deboning, and occasionally when using the box grater.

You might want to look at a Zyliss Deluxe Cheese Grater Set. No scraped knuckles.

There are approximately one bazillion cut resistant gloves available on amazon.com. Here is their #1 best seller. Mine came from Williams Sonoma, on sale. I have one to use with my mandolin after a rather unfortunate accident due to my own over-confidence.

Depending on the type of cheese and the amount needed, I may use a box grater, a Mouli (drum grater), or my food processor. I always look at using the box grater as a way to use up the calories I'm going to be getting from the cheese in the dish I'll be eating. :-)

I've not seen the advice to use a KA meat grinder for cheese grating, but I use a KA shredder attachment for grating cheese, and that works very well.

For pizza, I will buy sliced cheese at the market (never shredded), and that works better than shredding it myself. They slice cheese at the deli counter to order, and I get Mozzarella and Provolone already sliced, but Provolone is easy to grate. It is much easier to put sliced cheese on a pizza than grated cheese. BTW, I made pizza dough yesterday so that I can have pizza today or tomorrow, and I have sliced cheese from the market that I will use. It is fairly messy to grate Mozzarella because it is so soft, and I have tried freezing it, which helped only slightly. I usually use Asiago cheese as well or instead of Provolone.

Lars

I have found that smearing a thin layer of butter over exposed areas stops cheese from moulding.

Once a week shreddeding doesn't sound too bad with a cut resistant glove. I also like the idea of just using sliced cheese.

Lars, as I was reading your post I was thinking I know this person! Glad you signed your name.

I confess, for pizza, we often have used the pre-shredded mozzarella. When we purchased it at club stores, the 5 lb bag was about the same price as the block. We have never had any problem with the melting quality of it. We likewise have had no problem with the melting quality of the pre-shredded Tillamook cheddar (the 5 lb bag goes on sale for 11.99 and we purchase 2-3 and put them in the freezer). It is a convenience food for us and we find it perfectly acceptable for quesadillas, grilled cheese, or to give a dish a little extra something. If we ate a lot of cold cuts for sandwiches, then I might purchase the loaves more often but cold cuts are just occasional around here. When the quality of the cheese really matters, like caprese salad above, then, the stuff in the freezer is not what I would grab. Then, I would splurge on buffalo mozzarella which would be wasted on a pizza. Or, I could try making my own mozzarella, but again, that effort would be wasted on a pizza here.

I'm amazed that people think grating cheese is a chore to be avoided unless it can be done by an electrical appliance. And are afraid of box graters? Huh. That's the only kind I've ever owned. I have a cheapo that works fine. I've never cut myself on it. (Tip: When you get down to small bits that would result in your flesh being too close to the sharp bits... just eat that cheese. Or offer it up to your partner. S/he will love you for it.)

Some people have arthritis which can make holding a cold block of cheese to grate it very painful. Some people don't have time to sit down and hand grate several pounds of cheese. Some people would rather play a game with the kids--or supervise homework--than grate by hand. Some people are generally clumsy.

Your experience cannot be generalized to everyone's.

I don't cut myself on the box grater, but I hate when the cheese backs up into it, and when the bottom slips in the dish, and all the other ways it's uncomfortable to use. A laser cut paddle grater is much sharper and much easier to control, though you need a separate one for each texture. I don't use an electrical appliance unless I'm grating more than a pound of cheese, and that's for the time saving aspect, but I would never ridicule someone for using any tool in the kitchen. Or...maybe I would someone trying to open a turban squash with a paring knife, but that's because I'd be fearing the knife would break.

Re the FP: When I make lasagna, after I've grated the harder cheeses, I will often put the fresh mozzarella through, if it's not too wet. It comes out sort of like spaetzle and gets smeared on the sides of the bowl, but it's very easy to handle that way, and the bowl is easy to scrape. Too wet, however, and it just becomes a level layer of goo on the disk, so beware!

I have a Moulinex Fresh Express grater/slicer that sits on the worktop and gets used most days. It's quick to clean and great for cheese and veggies.

My box grater that I tossed out was hard to use. Whatever I was shredding would get stuck. I would push harder and then food would fly everywhere. It was hard to hold etc. Perhaps just a dud.

I made pizza last night, and I ended up shredding the Mozzarella using my KA grating attachment because it was low moisture cheese. If I use fresh Mozzarella, I always slice it instead. I also used slice Provolone on the pizza and Parmesan that I grated using a Microplane. I have enough dough to make another pizza, and so I will probably finish that tonight, although we did not eat all of the first one. I prefer pizzas made with fresh Mozzarella, but this one was okay. Using fresh requires more advance planning, since the cheese does not keep well.

Lars

I'm a 'from-scratch' kind of cook & can't even recall the last time I bought pre-shredded cheese (except parmesan & romano). I'm also super thrifty & always looking for the most I can get for my $$ - which definitely leaves out pre-shredded cheese. I have a couple of 'vintage' shredders called 'All-In-One' which are flat, w/ handles on each end.

I have the same, mine are old...but love them, as easy to store. I cannot think of anytime, that I have bought pre-shredded cheese.....the cost is horrendous, and I hate the extra packaging, as I live on a small Island, so garbage is a problem.

UPDATE: I bought an OXO cheese shredder. Has a nice handle and a measuring attachment. DD and I both have used it and it is much easier than my previous shredder! So far so good.

The 'extra starch' in pre-shredded cheese is bad for anyone with celiac and must eat gluten-free. I learned that a few years back from a friend of my DGD's with celiac. She and her older sister both had to ask at restaurants if their cheese was packaged or fresh grated. I started using my box grater again for hard cheeses and really it wasn't much trouble except for really large amounts. I got used to it (again). I frequently use fresh mozzarella for pizza and caprese and always slice it. I have a rotary hand grater with different size grates for small jobs. It's really good for parmesan.

I keep a wood worker's plane for shaving hard cheeses for different plating/salads.

dcarch

Wood worker's plane...seriously Dcarch? I'll have to give that a try! BTW, I love hearts of palm salad.

This thread has encouraged me to SHRED my own cheese. I use a lot of shredded cheese so I bought a large block of cheddar from Costco, shredded with my Breville, froze half, Mason jarred the other half.

The beauty with a wood worker's plane is variable thickness, and you can sharpen the blade.

dcarch

I "shred" cheese by cutting it up in cubes, then tossing the cubes into my food processor with just the regular ol' standard blade. Pulse it till it gets going properly then let it go to town. Doesn't give you "regulation" type shredding but if you're just going to toss it atop pizza or throw it into a casserole, the shape doesn't matter. I'm too lazy to do it by hand.

MAY good to see you here!! Your way would work for my usual usages.

Hey Cathy! It's been a long time, huh? The whole site has totally changed!

When the kids were teenagers, I used to get free cheese ends from a local deli. They usually gave me 10-15 lbs or so at a time. I would hand grated them on an old flat grater then package in individual packages from pizza. Worked great! Between that, homemade crust and pizza sauce made and canned from home grown tomatoes, it was an inexpensive way to feed the kids and their friends. Yes it is time consuming to hand grate the cheese and my arthritis wasn't too fond of the task but I still grate hand grate cheese though now I buy a better quality.

Jasdip the grating disc on your Breville all in one works great for grating cheese. I use the fine side when I want to grate a larger quantity of parmesan and the coarse side for cheddar cheese.

For hard cheese like Parmesean, I sometimes throw it in the food processor like lowspark suggests - it's what I do when making pesto.

We have a couple of the shredder/storage containers like grainlady mentioned. Ours came from Ikea. I find them very convenient and the shredders that come with them work well. We have micro planes that work nicely when wanting to grate directly on to something. For doing a lot of cheese, the shredding disk on the food processor is nice, but I only use that when the amount is worth cleaning it. Usually, I shred by hand.

My hands are small so when using a big block of cheese, I'll often hack off a piece that I can hold more comfortably and shred that. It makes it a lot easier.