CAN YOU FREEZE CHEESE?

You will want to know if you can freeze cheese if you are a cheeseaholic like me. Or, you want to stock up or be prepared for any unknown circumstance.

I love cheese and there’s no denying that. It makes such a great grab and go snack or fills the void when dinner isn’t quite ready. It’s like grabbing a cookie but much healthier.

And, when I’m at a gathering and I cannot find something that fits into the confines of my nutritional lifestyle, I can always snuggle up to the cheese platter.

The varieties are endless and the price range expansive. The options are only limited by your palette and maybe your pocketbook.

Come follow me down cheese alley to find out if cheese can really be frozen.

Thankfully, the answer to this question is an astounding YES. To quickly shed light on this topic, just walk down the frozen food isle in any grocery store. There you will find an endless array of prepared foods in the freezer section. They can range from lasagna, macaroni and cheese, cheese tortellini, cheese ravioli, pizza, hot pockets and even cheesecake. And by no means is this cheese list exhaustive.

If you can find it in freezer food, then there is a way to also preserve the main ingredients. In this case, cheese. You can also consult with the National Center for Home Food Preservation here.

WHICH CHEESE FREEZES BEST?

Mozzarella cheese is most often seen in the freezer section of the grocery store. So, this is a popular cheese that can be frozen. I like to buy it in large blocks and cut it down to one-pound chunks for freezing. My favorite brand is Gallbani because of its soft fresh texture. The freezer will create some weeping which you will just blot dry by pressing a paper towel onto the cheese once it has thawed. This will gently remove the moisture. It can be used for slicing and shredding as you normally would.

Goat milk mozzarella also freezes nicely. Here, there is no weeping and very little drying. Can be eaten fresh or in cooked dishes upon thawing.

HARD CHEESE

Another type of cheese that freezes well is parmesan. This cheese is much harder than the semi-soft mozzarella. Because of its hardness you will have no weeping. This is nice to have on back-up for Italian food favorites. The more recipes or meals that you can create with what you have in your kitchen or storage area means an easier time when looking ahead.

SEMI-SOFT CHEESE

Prepackaged sliced cheese such as Havarti or mozzarella are both semi-soft cheeses. The freezing process tends to dry them out slightly. This means the cheese can be crumbly. However, the slices can still be eaten out of hand, in a sandwich or melted in a cooked dish. As a cheeseaholic, the flavor remains the same and the slightly dryer texture does not pose a problem.

SOFT CHEESE

Soft cheese such as cottage, ricotta and cream cheese do not lend themselves well to freezing. However, if you first cook the meal or dessert, freezing will be more successful. Blocks of cream cheese frozen then thawed have a very grainy and watery texture. Using them in uncooked dishes is not recommended. However, freezing an already baked cheesecake holds up well.

REPACKAGING

Depending on the variety of cheese that you purchase, dictates how you will prepare it for the freezer. When buying large blocks of cheese, I suggest cutting it into one-pound blocks. Wrap in freezer paper, then place in Ziplock freezer bag. Label, date and seal the bag.

When purchasing already sliced cheese or half pound chunks, I leave in original packaging and freeze. You can put these packages into a freezer Ziploc bag for added protection. I rotate my cheese often, so I do not bother with this step.

HOW LONG WILL CHEESE KEEP IN THE FREEZER?

For the best quality, frozen cheese keeps up to six months in the freezer. Rotating the cheese is the best method of ensuring the oldest is consumed first.

To avoid running out of cheese, having some on hand in the freezer makes the perfect back-up. Weather the stormy seas of the unknown with tasty ingredients to make delicious meals.

CAN YOU FREEZE CHEESE?