Unfreezing Smoked cheese??

[Wayne_R]

I am now questioning my choice of freezing cheese I smoked last week. I did 2 blocks of cheddar cheese from Costco last week smoked with maple.

One is for a Christmas gift for my dad and one is for me to try (1st time doing this).

How long will it take to thaw in fridge? And should I have froze them in the first place or just left them in fridge (would it have gone bad in 2-3 weeks till Christmas).

Anyone with smoked cheese/preserving cheese knowledge out there?

Thanks

 

[Michael Plunkett]

Hi Wayne,
The frozen cheese should thaw in 6-8 hours or so in the refrigerator, no problem there. You may notice that the cheese is a bit more brittle after being frozen and won't slice as nicely, it will crumble more easily when you apply pressure to slice. It will still taste great so no worries. Cheese should keep for several weeks in the refrigerator provided you have stored it in an air tight container or zip loc bag. For longer term storage, use a vacuum sealed bag if you have one available.

 

[Marc]

Wouldn't have frozen them. Just wrapped well or vac packed and into the fridge.
That said. I would unwrap from the plastic and wrap tightly in a couple of paper towels and allow to defrost in the fridge for a couple days. At that point make sure the exterior is dry and wrap tightly in wax paper or plastic.

 

[Jon Des.]

Cheese seems to keep much longer if you wrap cheese tightly with either wax paper, foil, or plastic wrap and then bag it.