“In the world of fine cheese, everybody freaks out as soon as you talk about freezing cheese,” says Erin Harris, a recipe developer and cheese specialist with Montreal-based distributor Aux Terroirs. But she acknowledges the practical reasons for doing so, like avoiding waste. “You have to go into it knowing that you're saving that product, but you may lose a little bit of quality in the process.”
Harris offers one rule of thumb: the more processed a cheese is, the more likely it is to freeze well. In this case, processing could mean added stabilizers in the recipe as well as additional steps the milk may undergo during the cheesemaking process, such as standardization (balancing protein and fat content) and pasteurization. On the other hand, Harris says, most smaller-production, handmade cheeses are best enjoyed ASAP after you bring them home.
It’s worth noting that there are exceptions to every rule. Some consider it sacrilege to freeze soft-ripened cheeses, with their bloomy rinds and delicate textures—but Harris has seen some larger-production French bloomies, like Fromager d'Affinois and Crémeux De Bourgogne, stand up surprisingly well to freezing and thawing.
When is freezing cheese a good idea?
Even if there are lots of reasons not to freeze cheese, there are some good reasons to do it—like staving off spoilage, preventing waste, and saving money. And some artisan cheesemakers have discovered an advantage in freezing their own products.
“Freezing cheese is something that came out of necessity,” says Rachael Taylor-Tuller, who co-owns Lost Peaco*ck Creamery with her husband Matthew in Olympia, Washington. To balance restaurant customers’ demand for their chèvre with their herd’s off-season, the couple tried freezing and thawing one-pound tubs of the fresh goat cheese. After thawing in the fridge overnight, the product tasted and performed just as well as it did before.
“Now freezing is a big part of our model,” she says. “It allows us to make sure that every ounce of cheese from every single batch gets sold.”
Allen echoes the idea that freezing cheese is worth doing when the alternative is tossing it in the compost. “People hate to waste food, and cheese can be very expensive,” she says. “If you have a firm-to-hard cheese that you just didn’t get through, think about what recipe you could put it into if you shred it or chunk it and freeze it.”
How do you freeze cheese without sacrificing quality?
Aside from breaking down larger blocks into smaller pieces that chill faster, there are a few other best practices for freezing cheese. One is using high-quality airtight packaging to reduce air exposure.
“Air is the thing that latches onto food and gives you freezer burn. I think vacuum-sealed containers are the best option,” Rosen says. She swears by Zwilling’s Fresh & Save vacuum containers, which have the added bonus of being reusable, and recommends packaging cheese in smaller portions that you can thaw as needed.
You can also vacuum-seal portions of cheese in plastic bags before freezing—Allen’s preferred method for storing shredded cheese left over from sensory evaluation projects—or wrap pieces in tight layers of heavy-duty plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Allen recommends labeling and dating items before freezing for three to six months.
Finally, when you’re ready to use the cheese you’ve squirreled away in your freezer, make sure it thaws properly. A slow, gradual rise from below zero to refrigeration temps will allow moisture to redistribute itself evenly throughout the cheese. “You want the product to come back up to that refrigerated temperature, have any of those crystals thaw out, and let the moisture settle into the product so it’s not wet or or soggy,” Allen says.
Her professional opinion is that an eight-ounce bag of frozen shredded cheese should sit in the fridge for a full week before use—but in practice, she knows that’s a long time to wait for a pan of enchiladas or a melty grilled cheese. “People are usually in a hurry, and I get that way too—after a couple days, I think it’s going to be good to use.”
