Parmesan Cheese

dannahaz

You can freeze it too. I buy a big block and freeze it in smaller chunks. I grate it fresh.

V.Lucky

I always grate and freeze in a plastic tub - and I am still alive to tell the tale lol

Just use from frozen when required.

pudding06

I find that it goes off quickly if left in plastic so wrap in foil tighly and just cut off any offending blue bits if they form

i use loads so it doesnt last long but I keep the rinds for ages and put in minestrone when I make it, and they never go blue. ( fish it out before eating you just want the taste)

pudds

Quasar

Parmesan cheese needs to be stored in cling flim if you want to preserve its top freshness. However even when it gets old an hard, it is perfectly suitable for grating.

Even the hard edge (we call it a "skin" in Italy) when it gets so tough you can barely cut it, can be put into a soup while it's cooking, to give it an interesting ooomph.

On no account buy the tubs of grated parmesan as this deteriorates quickly because too much air gets into contact with it. One of the signs of deteriorated parmesan is a faint smell of sick.

EagerLearner

I am a parmesan lover and leave it in fridge for ages - I like to pleasure delay and not have it all in one week!

I get it from LIDL as they have such a good price, then their sell-by dates lat ages, plus I gnore those dates anyway...

newleaf

Seakay wrote:

It's usually okay clingfilmed if it's a whole piece, but if you've grated some, or bought some freshly grated, then it's best left in a bowl in the fridge, possibly in a paper bag if you want it covered, because it is likely to go mouldy if covered with plastic.
You can keep whole pieces in paper, but it really does go rock hard and dried out. It is still perfectly edible, and good for cooking etc, but it becomes very hard to grate on an ordainary grater.

I always buy a piece of fresh Parmesan, Lidl's is cheap, and shave some off the block as needed with a potato peeler. Store the piece wrapped in greaseproof or baking parchment.

skint_spice

Hi

I hope someone can help. I bought some grated parmesan today but in my hurry bought much more than usual and the packet says "once open use within 5 days". is it ok to freeze it in small amounts?

Pink.

Hi skint-spice,

Yes grated parmesan is fine to freeze. If it's frozen as a block it can become a bit crumbly when it's defrosted so I always grate it before freezing.

Pink


Edit: I just had a look and these older threads might help:

Parmesan cheese

PARMESAN waste not, want not

skint_spice

Thanks for that, shows how mean I'm getting that I couldn't bear to throw away something!

nikflo

i've got a lump from lidls in my freezer now, hope it defrosts ok.