Today we’re talking about grid-down cheese choices. There are three types of cheese: soft, semi-hard, and hard. Soft cheeses have too much moisture and do not store very long, even when refrigerated. Some of them, like yogurt, cream cheese, and cottage cheese--can be made from powdered milk and previous blog posts have addressed how to make them. So they’re eliminated from our discussion today. Semi-hard and hard cheeses can be stored for a long time. Just how long depends on how it is stored. Examples of hard cheeses include Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago. They have been cooked, pressed, and aged to remove much of the moisture. Semi-hard cheeses include cheddar, Swiss, and provolone, and while they have been cooked and pressed, they are not aged and thus retain more moisture. The shelf life of all cheeses is affected by the processing method, heat exposure, storage temperature, and how it is packaged.
First off, consider the regular everyday food storage methods:
Refrigeration. Simple refrigeration, right? Cheeses are stored at very low temperatures year-round and have an incredible shelf life with nothing more than a wrap or containers to protect it from taking on odors. Semi-soft and hard cheeses will store 2 weeks to 4 months or more, depending on the conditions listed above.
Freezing. All cheeses
will reportedly last at least 6-8 months in the freezer. Unfortunately, a lot of them become very crumbly when thawed and will not grate or slice well.
Cool basement. Before we had electricity and modern refrigeration, early Americans made their own cheese and stored it in cool basements for several months without issue. If the power goes out for good, move the refrigerated cheese to a cool basement or root cellar. Semi-soft and hard cheeses will store up to 4 months.
There are several shelf-stable cheese options:
Grated Parmesan cheese, you know, the one in the pasta aisle with the green lid. At purchase it usually has a shelf life of 6-8 months, unopened, at room temperature. But if you keep it cool and dark, it will last a lot longer. Refrigeration or freezing is even better, if they’re an option. (Incidentally, that green lid fits perfectly on regular mouth canning jars.)
Velveeta processed cheese. This has at least a 6-month shelf life at manufacture. I used to store it, but the kids all said they’d rather do without. However, a lot of people really like it, and it sure works well for getting some cheese in the family food shelves. It should be refrigerated after opening.
Cheese powder. You can actually buy just the cheese powder, like the powder that comes in boxes of macaroni and cheese. It runs $12-16 per pound on Amazon, but can often be purchased substantially less from bulk grocery stores.
Everything else starts to get a bit more pricey.
Bega brand canned cheese boasts a 10-15 year shelf life. It’s quite similar to Velveeta, and runs about $6 for a 7-ounce can on Amazon. It’s not usually found in stores.
Puck brand cheese reportedly tastes very much like cream cheese. Unfortunately, it’s a bit expensive if it has to be ordered online. And while I really want to try it out, it isn’t carried in my local grocery stores, and there’s no way I’m paying $24 for a small jar of it. If anyone has personal experience with it, please respond in the comments below.
Freeze-dried cheese. All the major food storage vendors offer cans of freeze-dried cheese. I am using today’s price of $48.99 for a #10 can of freeze-dried Colby cheese from Augason Farms as an example for calculating the cost per serving. The nutrition facts label states that there are 107 30-calorie (1 tablespoon) servings. However, when fresh cheese is sold by the block or grated in grocery stores, the serving is 1 ounce, and the number of calories is about 90-100. So to make the comparison fair and accurate, we should say that the Augason Farms freeze-dried Colby cheese has 36 1-ounce servings. That’s 2.25 pounds of cheese for $49. The same amount of freeze-dried mozzarella cheese costs $61. It’s about enough for 2 pizzas. In other words, if I had to use freeze-dried mozzarella, pizza and lasagna wouldn’t be on the menu.
Are there perhaps more cost-efficient ways of using the prepping budget?
Yep, there are. You might recall reading way back when that early Americans made their cheese last so much longer than a few months when they didn’t even have refrigeration. Waxing cheese was the most common practice. We’ll cover how it’s done in a future post, hopefully next week.
Whatever you do, do not “can” cheese. It’s a method touted by some preppers as being safe and having been practiced by them or their grandmothers for years. It involved simply melting cheese in canning jars and then applying a lid and band. “They” state that the vacuum seal that forms is sufficient to be safe and prevent food poisoning. It’s not safe and not true.
Links to related posts:
Cream Cheese Perfection--Entirely from Food Storage!
Making Creamy, Thicker Yogurt Faster--Perfect for Making Cream Cheese
1.9.21
I really look forward to your future post on waxing cheese. Thanks!
ReplyDelete—Melanie
When waxing cheese were disposable glovesas the oils and any contamination on your hands will grow under the wax. I've refrigerated cheese i waxed and its still been good 10 years later.
ReplyDeleteWhen i used to wax cheese i would cut the blocks into half sized bricks and put on a bamboo mat with a towel under the mat. I'd rotate it every day to have a different side down for 12 days or so until the cheese had leached moisture out. Change the paper towel daily as it gets wet. The cheese when its drier lets the wax stick better. Also i've had cheese not ore-dried go wet between cheese surface and the wax.. you break it open and it leaks water that often is not good anylonger.
These days i freeze dry cheese then vaccuum seal in jars with o2 absorbers and it stays for years.
Exile1981