Can you freeze cheese? All your freezing questions, answered.
How to freeze cheesevictoriabee – Getty Images
Whether you have a dinner party that you’e prepared a cheese board for or bought a particular type of cheese for a recipe you didn’t end up making, cheese is one of those foods that you often find left over in your fridge.
To reduce food waste and save money, you may have thought about freezing excess cheese. But, can you freeze cheese and what are the rules if doing so? Here’s our definitive guide to everything you need to know about freezing cheese.
Can you freeze cheese?
The short answer is yes, hard cheeses and most semi-hard cheeses can be frozen. Cheddar, Gouda, Emmental and Parmesan for example will freeze and maintain their flavour well, however the texture will most likely be compromised slightly.
Creamier cheeses such as Brie, cream cheese and Camembert should be avoided when freezing as they have a higher water content, which means they will be susceptible to damage caused by ice-crystals forming in the freezing process.
How do you prepare cheese for freezing and how soon does it need to be frozen?
When freezing most foods, even cheese that can be kept chilled for longer than most perishable goods, it’s best to freeze as soon as possible. Do not freeze after the use-by or sell-by date.
The best way to freeze hard or semi-hard cheese is to grate it or cut it into smaller cubes. If freezing a larger block, once defrosted it will have lost its natural moisture and will have a tendency to crumble making it almost impossible to slice – it certainly won’t be cheese board-worthy. However freezing cheese definitely has a place in our freezer drawer, it’s great for saving excess cheese going to waste and always handy to have a little supply at the ready to use in cooking.
How do you store cheese properly in the freezer?
Highly flavoured foods if not properly wrapped will transfer their smell and flavour to other items in the freezer, so putting cheese into an additional freezer-proof…
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