Freezing Cheese

Freeze in package sizes of one pound or less…

Sometimes cheese becomes dry and crumbly after it's frozen because of the crystallization of moisture during freezing. There's also a tendency for cheese to lose surface moisture unless it is sealed tightly.

Some kinds of cheese can be frozen with only slight damage to texture or eating quality. Others don't fare so well because they undergo some undesirable changes. The cheeses that do freeze well are the hard and semi-hard cheeses, such as Cheddar, Swiss, Edam, Gouda and Brick. The ones that change when they are frozen are the soft cheeses such as Liederkranz, Limburger and Camembert. Blue cheese and Roquefort tend to crumble after freezing and thawing, so we don't recommend freezing blue cheese or Roquefort.

Wrap well… freeze small…

Whole cheeses such as longhorns or loaves in their original wax coatings are protected against moisture loss if the wax coating isn't broken. It's wise to wrap them again though. It may be more convenient to cut these cheese into smaller portions and wrap them before you freeze them. As a rule, don't freeze individual pieces larger than one pound because they won't freeze fast enough.

Cheese should be wrapped in moisture-vapor-proof material like a heavy duty aluminum foil or freezer paper or put in specially designed freezer bags. Be sure to press the wrapping close to the surface of the cheese so air pockets and drying can be prevented.

Thaw slowly…

When you take cheese out of the freezer, it may look mottled because of the frozen moisture on its surface. Don't worry, the cheese will regain its normal color once it thaws completely. Thaw cheese slowly and leave the wrapper on so it won't lose moisture. Thaw cheese in the refrigerator.

For more information on freezing cheese; contact your local county Extension office.