Cheese has a lot of moisture in it and the freezer drys out moisture for some reason. Cheese will go for a good 6 months without loosing any flavor if well vac sealed. If it starts to get mold you just scrape it with a knife dipped in vingar and remove the mold. Learned this from Mrs Scar who used to work at Hickory farmsThe only one that didn't get crumbly was the Mozz'.
The others were various Jacks.
Hmmm-wonder what else it could have been---My freezer is always at " 0˚ "---too cold?
Bear
Cheese has a lot of moisture in it and the freezer drys out moisture for some reason. Cheese will go for a good 6 months without loosing any flavor if well vac sealed. If it starts to get mold you just scrape it with a knife dipped in vingar and remove the mold. Learned this from Mrs Scar who used to work at Hickory farms
Tommer,I picked up the 3440 for $93 on Amazon. The FoodSaver link has them listed for $155. I have picked up on many threads here that vacuum sealing, before freezing, does great things for longer term storage. I have destroyed good food because of freezer burn. One of my primary reasons for smoking will be sausage. I hear that nitrites are not needed if sausages are smoked, vacuum sealed and then frozen. I am going to the n'th degree for sausages because all of the commercial foods like sausages, cold cuts and ham have preservatives which make me ill. Preservatives are by nature poisons. Smoked cheese is a life long favorite so I fully intend to journey down that road. Long live smoked cheese!
I can tell by looking at it that you should not eat that. Just send it to me and i will get rid of it for you.
Po box 235
Springdale Wa,
LoL
That would have been my guess too, but I vacuum packed some & froze it for about a month, and it got crumbly.The reason the cheese gets crumbly is all freezers now are frost free which means that they remove moisture. Putting the cheese in a vacuum bag is the only way to go and would slow that down and or stop it altogether. I don't know for sure as i have never frozen any smoked cheese. It never last more then a month anyway and i smoke around 15 lbs at a time.
I double seal both ends of everything I vacume pack - it's worth the extra space.
When you first slide the bag in the sealer, push it in as far as you can. Then set it to seal & slowly slide it in until it seals a second time. You will have 2 seals next to each other.
Mr T's "Smoked Cheese From Go To Show" w/ Q- View
DuaneS, I take it you are asking about hard cheese. Hard cheeses such as cheddar will keep a very long time. I have some in the packaging it was purchased in that is over three years old. I do that so that it will age as we prefer a sharp cheese. I keep it at temps between 70° and 35°. Soft cheese should be kept in refrigerator at 35°. I have some Limburger that is 11 years old and is the best cheese I have ever eaten. If you have smoked it, I would suggest that you preserve it in cheese wax as this will allow the cheese to age even better along with destroying any bacteria that may be on the surface.
I will soon post a thread on aging, smoking and preserving cheese. Hope this helps a little. If you have questions, please ask.
Mr. T
When in the kitchen, “Learn to deal with the facts, not tradition or sympathy.”