Important rules for storing homemade cheese
Homemade dairy products, including cheese, are tasty and healthy. They must not only be produced correctly, in accordance with technology, but also stored correctly.
This affects the taste of the product and the retention of nutrients in it. We'll talk about storing homemade cheese below.
Content
How long is it stored?
Homemade cheese does not contain preservatives or other artificial ingredients. Being a dairy product, it has a fairly limited shelf life. How long the finished cheese can sit depends on its type and the conditions under which it is located.
Curd
Curd cheese is quite soft, intended primarily for sandwiches.
This product may release a small amount of liquid when lying down.. It should not be specially drained.
When prepared at home, it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
The peculiarity of fresh cheeses is the rapid absorption of odors. To prevent this from happening, the container must be closed. If additives are added to it (for example, herbs, garlic, etc.), the shelf life is reduced. It is important that the storage container is closed. This will prevent the product from spoiling.
Shelf life of goat
Sheep and goat cheese are perishable. Made at home and not in sealed packaging, they can be kept in the refrigerator for no more than three days.
Rassolny
Brine cheeses are prepared using a brine solution. The most popular of them are feta cheese, suluguni and mozzarella. The recommended storage temperature for them is up to 8°C.
The storage duration depending on the type of product is:
- suluguni – up to 3 weeks;
- feta cheese – up to 2 months;
- mozzarella – up to 5 days.
It is better to store brine cheese directly in brine with a concentration of about 17%. The following can be used as containers:
- glass container;
- enamel dishes;
- wooden barrels in which salting was carried out.
Being in brine extends the shelf life of brined cheeses.
How long to keep soft?
Soft varieties have a soft rind. If they were prepared at home, then they can be stored directly in the same form that was used during their ripening process.
When transferring to the refrigerator, the pieces are wrapped in special paper. and in this form they are transferred to a glass or ceramic container.
You need to select containers in such a way that there is still free space around the product. This is necessary to maintain a stable microclimate around the cheese.
If there is a white crust on the surface of the cheese, it is not removed. Once every few days the piece needs to be turned over, then the product can last in the refrigerator for up to a month.
Solid
Hard cheeses store best. If the humidity is high, they can lie for up to a week., and under more favorable conditions in the refrigerator - up to a month.
When planning long-term storage, hard cheese should not be cut in advance, since the natural crust on its surface plays a protective role and prevents premature spoilage. Remove it immediately before serving.
Conditions and methods
Optimal storage conditions for most types of homemade cheeses are provided by the refrigerator. For a city apartment, this option is the most convenient and affordable.
Basic storage requirements include:
- Low air temperature (from -2 to +6°C).
- Protection from sunlight.
- No direct contact with other products.
- Suitable packaging.
Sudden changes in environmental parameters should not be allowed at the storage location.
In a refrigerator
Properly packaged cheese can sit on the shelf. If the refrigerator has a special compartment that maintains the temperature at 0°C, then the product can be kept there.
The cheese should not lie open, just on a plate, it must be packed. This is necessary to extend the shelf life and preserve the properties of the product.
In brine
How to organize storage in brine for a long period - on video:
Storage according to the Georgian recipe:
Other options
In the private sector, if there is a cellar, it can be used for storing food, including homemade cheese. An alternative option is a cool pantry, which is dark and maintains an air temperature of up to +5°C.
Freezing
Freezing is a way to extend the shelf life of food. This option is also suitable for cheese, but mainly for hard varieties.
When blast-frozen, soft cheeses may become less tasty and may lose their structure after defrosting. After thawing, they no longer regain their consistency.
Defrosting must be done gradually. The refrigerator is best suited for this, where the product is transferred from the freezer.
It may take several hours for complete defrosting. In this case, useful substances may be partially lost. Some types of cheeses, for example, pickled cheeses, cannot be frozen at all.
As packaging for freezing the most commonly used are plastic containers and zip-lock bags. You need to freeze cheese in portions so that you don’t have to defrost excess. Such a product is no longer sent to the freezer again.
Useful recommendations for freezing are in the video below:
7 recommendations for long-term storage
In cases where it is important to ensure that homemade cheese lasts for a long time, The following recommendations from cheese makers can help:
- The larger the size of the piece, the better it will be stored. The product should not be cut, let alone grated, in advance.
- All types of cheese should be kept separately.
- Polyethylene film as packaging can lead to the development of pathogenic microflora, so it is not advisable to use it.
- Soft and hard varieties are not kept together, as they have different shelf life.
- To store cheese, especially soft varieties, it is advisable to use special paper that is designed specifically for this purpose.
- You should not place cheese on the refrigerator shelf without packaging at all - it will quickly disappear.
- When freezing, label the package with the date.
This video will show you how to store homemade cheese:
Conclusion
Storing homemade cheese requires compliance with a number of rules regarding storage conditions. With proper organization, some types of cheese products can last quite a long time, allowing you to diversify the table from day to day.
