The Great Cheese Freeze

[Pete Franklin]

Does anyone know how well different cheeses freeze?

I have searched all over the net and found completely contradicting information.

On a related note to my Multibird thread, I am hosting a dinner party next weekend and a cheese board is obligatory. I went to waitrose yesterday and picked up the following at a quarter of their original price due to use by date of yesterday:

2x (1/2kg) verdannet Reblochon de savoie
2x (1/2kg) lincholnshire Poacher
1x (200gs) Kaltbach Cave aged Gruyere

With a week and a half to go will they all still be ok? i'm really only concerned about the Reblochon as it is a soft cheese.

Either way this is probably too much (of the same) cheese for one board so my thoughts turn to how best to store it for a bit of longevity. Has anyone ever frozen cheese before? I’m not going to freeze the hard cheeses as apparently they will get crumbly but I’m interested as to what will happen to the soft cheeses?

Maybe I’ll give it a try with a small bit, but what are peoples experience with this slightly taboo idea?


Thanks

Pete

[princeperch]

I freeze hard cheese all the time. To be honest I was a bit unsure to start with so I had to call up my old mum to check whether it was ok to do so.

Not sure about soft cheeses to be honest.

[Simpo Two]

Stilton freezes very well.

Try it, or freeze half for a comparison.

[zakelwe]

Why didn't you buy them next week and then wouldn't have to freeze?

Andy

[Pete Franklin]

because they were super cheap, and i'm a mug for a bargain

[zakelwe]

Pete Franklin said:

because they were super cheap, and i'm a mug for a bargain

It's a good choice and even the soft ones will be ok in that case.

Andy

[dudleybloke]

its cheese.
the more it goes past its sell by date the better it gets!

[calibrax]

dudleybloke said:

its cheese.
the more it goes past its sell by date the better it gets!

Hard cheese, yes. Soft cheese that's too far past the sell-by date is likely to turn your guests into inverted chocolate fountains...

[tenex]

Hard cheese freezes well.
When the exchange rate was much better I used to take a good lump of Parmesan back from Italy in a cool bag.(half the price and double the quality). There was no problem in Italy but the bag was usually searched at Gatwick before a connecting flight. They told me that parmesan had an almost identical x-ray signature to Semtex and had to make sure.
The cheese would be frozen for about 9 months with no apparent ill effect.
Soft cheese also freezes but not as well.I've found that it goes very quickly from ripe/over-ripe/soup,just in a few days after thawing.

I can't see a problem with "supermarket cheese" 10 days past it's sell by. Keep it in the fridge. Should be fine.

[HereBeMonsters]

calibrax said:

dudleybloke said:

its cheese.
the more it goes past its sell by date the better it gets!

Hard cheese, yes. Soft cheese that's too far past the sell-by date is likely to turn your guests into inverted chocolate fountains...

When on a school trip to France I bought my mother a beautiful Camembert. Expiration date that week. It smelt super-funky, but I kept it in my rucksack all day and overnight on the boat. 24 hours later it was in my Mum's hands. That night she opened it, and what I can only say was an explosion of maggots erupted over the dining table. My sister was sick, and the cat went batst at them.

Since then I have never trusted soft cheese nearing its sell by date, anything that's been out of the fridge for too long, or the French.

[21TonyK]

I've frozen hard and soft cheeses and they've been fine. The biggest risk is freezer burn which ruins them. I'd be a bit cautious as I know some of what you have is probably not pasteurised but it does make me laugh when they mature a cheese in a cave for a year and all of a sudden it becomes inedible a few days after you open the pack. I've got unopened blocks of parmesan 6 months past their BB date and they are fine.

[lingus75]

I find that somehow the mature cheese I have frozen doesnt seem to taste as strong when thawed.

[maturin23]

If you're concerned about the Reblochon, then given the weather why not use it to make some Tartiflette and get an Epoisse for the dinner party cheese board instead.

[escargot]

maturin23 said:

If you're concerned about the Reblochon, then given the weather why not use it to make some Tartiflette and get an Epoisse for the dinner party cheese board instead.

This. One million times this.

[Pete Franklin]

escargot said:

maturin23 said:

If you're concerned about the Reblochon, then given the weather why not use it to make some Tartiflette and get an Epoisse for the dinner party cheese board instead.

This. One million times this.

Well i do have a large amount so i guess that solves what to have for lunch tomorrow.

I'll have a test at freezing some as well.

Edited by Pete Franklin on Friday 19th November 11:26

[Bill]

Soft cheese freezes well but needs to be as ripe as you like it as it turns rapidly when defrosted.

[Pete Franklin]

ah good - i guess its as ripe as needed as its already past its best (according to waitrose)

[Team 17]

HereBeMonsters said:

calibrax said:

dudleybloke said:

its cheese.
the more it goes past its sell by date the better it gets!

Hard cheese, yes. Soft cheese that's too far past the sell-by date is likely to turn your guests into inverted chocolate fountains...

When on a school trip to France I bought my mother a beautiful Camembert. Expiration date that week. It smelt super-funky, but I kept it in my rucksack all day and overnight on the boat. 24 hours later it was in my Mum's hands. That night she opened it, and what I can only say was an explosion of maggots erupted over the dining table. My sister was sick, and the cat went batst at them.

Since then I have never trusted soft cheese nearing its sell by date, anything that's been out of the fridge for too long, or the French.

[AlexC1981]

maturin23 said:

If you're concerned about the Reblochon, then given the weather why not use it to make some Tartiflette and get an Epoisse for the dinner party cheese board instead.

I'm impressed! Three words that I don't know the meaning of in one sentence!

[Pete Franklin]

Dont you speak franglais?