# power outage...cheese safety



## gmc2003 (Nov 1, 2017)

We lost power for about 21hrs. Monday night going into Tuesday. I have already tossed out all items in the fridge and freezer. What I haven't tossed is a collection of smoked cheese all various cheddar's and jack's. They were all vacuum sealed. My question is should these be tossed also? I can't find a definitive answer searching the internet. I'm talking 30 to 40 8oz. bricks of cheese. It was hard enough to toss the pulled pork, brisket flat, meatloaf and various other meals/meats I had frozen. 

Chris


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## atomicsmoke (Nov 1, 2017)

All hard cheeses? Tossed them my way.

They are safe.


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## tropics (Nov 1, 2017)

Can't help with that but sorry to hear it.Try sending a PM to Chef jimmyJ
Richie


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 1, 2017)

Holy cow.. that's sad. 
You couldn't get coolers and ice?


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## BGKYSmoker (Nov 1, 2017)

Chees is still good. We are but just a few countries that store our cheese cold anyways. The others been doing shelf stable cheeses for centuries.


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## atomicsmoke (Nov 1, 2017)

nepas said:


> Chees is still good. We are but just a few countries that store our cheese cold anyways. The others been doing shelf stable cheeses for centuries.


And eggs, dry cured sausages, hams...
Was in Spain this summer...laughed at the kids when they said we shouldn't buy eggs from the supermarket as they were not refrigerated.


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 1, 2017)

In Germany milk and eggs sit  out on un-refrigerated store shelves.. super duper pasteurized milk and eggs that are natural with the protective coatings on them still I guess.


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## atomicsmoke (Nov 1, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> In Germany milk and eggs sit  out on un-refrigerated store shelves.. super duper pasteurized milk and eggs that are natural with the protective coatings on them still I guess.


There is also refrigerated milk, more expensive. I wouldn't drink the shelf milk. I have a problem with low temp pasteurization, UHT is worse.


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 1, 2017)

atomicsmoke said:


> There is also refrigerated milk, more expensive. I wouldn't drink the shelf milk. I have a problem with low temp pasteurization, UHT is worse.



People in Germany didn't use milk like we do ..  The don't eat cold cereal or have big glasses of milk with chocolate cakes or cookies.. So not sure if it's a fair comparison to here or us..  I drank warm box milk in the army for years.. It tasted good to me. Once your an adult you shouldn't use milk much.. Or require it as often.  Using the box milk in a recipe  you would never know.


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## atomicsmoke (Nov 1, 2017)

Grew up in (eastern) Europe. Never cared for milk but i was the exception. My brother'd drink a glass a day. With a slice of bread, biscuits, or some home made cookies. My wife and mother in law (also from those parts of the world) have been eating/drinking 1-2 glasses/day since they can remember. 
As you grow older you start to care how your food is made. My point was uht process destroys most if not all nutrients. Fridge pasteurized milk still has little good stuff in it. Raw is the best but big brother in Canada won't let us have it.


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 1, 2017)

atomicsmoke said:


> Grew up in (eastern) Europe. Never cared for milk but i was the exception. My brother'd drink a glass a day. With a slice of bread, biscuits, or some home made cookies. My wife and mother in law (also from those parts of the world) have been eating/drinking 1-2 glasses/day since they can remember.
> As you grow older you start to care how your food is made. My point was uht process destroys most if not all nutrients. Fridge pasteurized milk still has little good stuff in it. Raw is the best but big brother in Canada won't let us have it.



Yeah.. same here.. I like milk with that stuff.. stopped buying it though mostly.. it's not a big deal if you get those vitamins from other sources..

The natural milk just seems to attract bad publicity all the time .. It tends to be recalled often.. as does the cheese. 
People think unpasteurized milk helps strengthening the immune  system.. Not everyone agrees..


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## chef jimmyj (Nov 1, 2017)

First off, Even minimally aged Cheese, by nature of the beast, is Preserved Milk. So there is no need for refrigeration. We are talking firm and bacteria, mold or salt washed soft rind cheeses, not fresh cheese like Mozzarella, Farmer's or Cream Cheese.

On Raw Milk...Since the 8th century BC man discovered that if you pull them things on the bottom of a Cow, Goat, Etc., you get a tasty and nutritious food and man began drinking Raw Milk. It is only the last 200 years that large scale dairy operations began providing milk for the ever increasing city populations. That combination of lack of understanding of bacteria and it's hazards to humans and the lack of sanitation as GREED caused the ever increasing concentration of cattle in feed lots, sheltered buildings and milking parlors that allowed hundreds of cows to be milked in often filthy conditions, with cross-contamination by fecal bacteria, that milk became hazardous, even deadly to drink. More efficient cooling helped and finally in the early 1900's Pasteurization was introduced to the dairy industry in the United States, making large production milk safe to drink but at a price. Cook anything and there are changes that take place. vitamins are lost, beneficial enzymes are destroyed and flavors are changed. Proponents of raw milk health benefits are, just as the Raw Food and Paleo folks, swearing their diets restore health and well being. Fact??? Who knows as there is so much conflicting and biased data. The Raw Milk movement is gathering demand and just as in the 19th century, greed is driving dairy operation to produce ever increasing quantities. As production goes up, Costs go up and corners are cut. This often results in Sanitation suffering and now an otherwise safe product, raw milk from healthy animals contains benign spoilage bacteria and must be cooled to keep it from souring, now becomes contaminated with hazardous pathogens and again people get sick with the related recalls, fines and dairy shutdowns. In thousands of homesteads, small farms and even small higher production dairy operations where sanitation is a priority with the cows utters and milking equipment thoroughly cleaned and sanitized with antibacterial agents, raw milk poses no threat to human health. Considering many generations, up to many of our parents and even some of us, grew up drinking raw milk that Mom or Dad drew from the family cow twice a day, and WE are here to discuss the pros and cons, shows that Raw Milk can be perfectly safe...JJ


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## gmc2003 (Nov 2, 2017)

Thanks, for the replies. Sounds like I don't have to toss it out. 

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Nov 2, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> Holy cow.. that's sad.
> You couldn't get coolers and ice?


We lost power towards the end of the storm(next day actually). So all the ice was gone by that time. 

Chris


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 2, 2017)

Man.. that almost happened to me when we had the 2 day East coast grid outtage.  luckily the store by me had a generator and stayed open . I got there in like 30 minutes as the last few bags were being sold.  I didn't know it was for 2 days at the time . I got 3 bags luckily.


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