Freezing Cheddar Reality?

[jennyjj01]

Has no one ever tried to freeze perishable stuff like cheese butter margarine etc for extended length of time to see if it is actually eatable afterwards?ie 5 years after expiry

Well, I have.... just recently. Ask me in 5 years how it worked out

All that I read so far is that harder cheeses freeze better for longer, so some Parmesan is in the experiment. I still can't believe that grated cheese lasts longer. I accept that it's easier for portion control, but what about freezer burn and wasted freezer space? Seems illogical.
lol. Stinky cheese of death video
https://youtu.be/LfVexnI_LX0?t=481
But that wasn't frozen for 40 years.

Meanwhile...
I have some 40 year old wine my dad made. Regardless of how it would taste, just having it makes me confident that I have some emergency wine..... I know how silly that sounds, totally illogical, but it's something in my psyche. Sometimes just seeing the wall of reserves gives us the confidence to carry on ..... Must get back to being rational.... examine that rice, test that generator, sample those beans.

[ForgeCorvus]

Meanwhile...
I have some 40 year old wine my dad made. Regardless of how it would taste, just having it makes me confident that I have some emergency wine..... I know how silly that sounds, totally illogical, but it's something in my psyche. Sometimes just seeing the wall of reserves gives us the confidence to carry on ..... Must get back to being rational.... examine that rice, test that generator, sample those beans.

Look, if it keeps you in a happy place it is a good prep..... A bit like having a 'Run for the hills' bag in suburbia or knowing where your towel is, never underestimate mental attitude.


I'm still looking for a supply of Happy Cow tinned cheese (or rather one I won't have to sell a kidney to finance)..... It's looking more like we're going to need yet another freezer

[GillyBee]

I have just found this study suggesting off flavours may develop after a year or so in -20C frozen butter. They don't comment on the edibility. I think that will depend on how bad the flavour is.

Does anyone know how the EU stored its "butter mountain" in times past? I guess they froze it and probably for ages too...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18218731/

[jennyjj01]

Does anyone know how the EU stored its "butter mountain" in times past? I guess they froze it and probably for ages too...

Wasn't it a brilliant First In First Out rotation such that even though the surplus quantity was vast, none of it was actually stored long term?
I seem to recall in about the late 70s, a distribution of about a kg of Europe butter that my parents received free. If I recall correctly there was even dehydrated butter of some sort?

[jansman]

The distribution of EU surplus was rolled out in 84/85. As retail butchers we were legally obliged to take a percentage of EU beef ( fore and hind), and that had been frozen for 8 years. It was quality stuff too as I recall. I don’t remember butter, but I do remember cheese being distributed to the elderly from a community centre next door to our shop, about a kg each.

[itsybitsy]

Has no one ever tried to freeze perishable stuff like cheese butter margarine etc for extended length of time to see if it is actually eatable afterwards?ie 5 years after expiry

Well, I have.... just recently. Ask me in 5 years how it worked out

All that I read so far is that harder cheeses freeze better for longer, so some Parmesan is in the experiment. I still can't believe that grated cheese lasts longer. I accept that it's easier for portion control, but what about freezer burn and wasted freezer space? Seems illogical.
lol. Stinky cheese of death video
https://youtu.be/LfVexnI_LX0?t=481
But that wasn't frozen for 40 years.

Meanwhile...
I have some 40 year old wine my dad made. Regardless of how it would taste, just having it makes me confident that I have some emergency wine..... I know how silly that sounds, totally illogical, but it's something in my psyche. Sometimes just seeing the wall of reserves gives us the confidence to carry on ..... Must get back to being rational.... examine that rice, test that generator, sample those beans.

I grate it to freeze not because it lasts longer, but because it comes out of the freezer quite crumbly if it is in a block and grating resolves that issue for me.