# Cheese that is long past "Best if used by" Date



## prowler53 (Oct 6, 2019)

I have about 12 Lbs of Cheddar, Swiss, and Colby that is unopened and has been sitting in my fridge for almost 2 years.  All in original plastic package and the Best By date has expired 1.5 years ago.  Was going to Smoke cheese this weekend when I remembered I had this cheese in a spare fridge in my basement.  No signs of any mold so I wondered if it was still safe to eat or should I just toss it?


----------



## SmokinAl (Oct 6, 2019)

I had some like that, that a neighbor gave me. It had an oily coating on it, but I just rinsed it off real well, dried it & cold smoked it. It turned out just fine. If there is any mold on the cheese, just cut it off.
Al


----------



## bradger (Oct 6, 2019)

yes, it is fine like smokinAl said if there is any mold cut it off.  A best by date is just saying it may not taste as good after that date as before. Remember smoking anything helps to preserve it.


----------



## chef jimmyj (Oct 6, 2019)

Cheese is Preserved Milk. Vac-Packed cheese usually has not been contaminated by mold at the processor. Refrigerated and still sealed, should last years...JJ


----------



## pineywoods (Oct 6, 2019)

As the others said it's fine Best By Dates on many things are just a gimmick to try to get you to throw it out and buy more. Such as bottled water exactly how does it not taste as good after xyz date. There are lots of products like that that they stamp a best buy date on just like cheese


----------



## atomicsmoke (Oct 6, 2019)

For hard cheeses they should change "best by" to "best after". The older the better (if packed properly). 

I just bought 4 blocks of parmiggiano reggiano. Wont probably get to them for 1-2 years.

Smoke away.


----------



## prowler53 (Oct 6, 2019)

Thanks....I smoked it up this AM.  I'll wait a couple weeks and see how it tastes.  I usually don't have cheese laying around that long, but I bought about 40 lbs when it was on sale and never got it all smoked.


----------

