Parmesan cheese

[Candocook]

Barbara's post reminded me that vinegar is a good way to keep cheese. There is an old fashioned cheese keeper--they used to be on the counters of the "general store". It is a large glass vessel with a ridged bottom. Vinegar was put in the bottom and the cheese then put in to rest on top of the ridges.
Hence, if you moisten a paper towel with vinegar and wrap your cheese, it will help preserve it also.
Personally I would not freeze parmesan. Freezing hard cheeses (chunks) changes the texture and makes them very crumbly. While parm is hard and dry, it still has a moist component to it when you shave it. I think this woud be lost if it was frozen. I have seen this happen with cheddar.

 

[RDG]

There are two Parmesan types: the young one, to eat alone, eventually with just a point of honey or apricot marmalade, or some vinegar drops, and the old one, (more old, more expensive) good for grating on foods.
If you are speaking about the first, I don't freeze it: it's better to eat it till soft, and grate it as soon as it becomes hard.
The second one may be in pieces, or already grated: it's better not to freeze the first, while you can freeze the second one, over all if it is not sold in ermetic envelopes. Also the Parmesan crusts are very good , grilled on the flame.

 

[Barbara]

As GB says, the Tilia is the FoodSaver brand and I think the one to get. I have had 3 now. They are readily available for big discounts in lots of places.
My first one-many years ago--was the very basic one. Just drew the vacuum and worked very well (until it didn't!! I think it might be reclaimable). THe next one was one with all the bells and whistles that allow you to seal in canisters at not a full vacuum (saves strawberries, lettuce, etc.). That one really never worked particularly well for me--particularly the canister seals. It finally just stopped.
I have gone back to the plain pipe rack--vacuum and seal. It was $50 on Amazon and it does everything I need it to. If I really want to marinate something quickly I can pull a vacuum with this one. But I have saved enough on sealing cheese alone to pay for every one of these. I would NEVER be without one.
Tuesday Morning often has them. Amazon has the full array. I bought one on QVC. WalMart carries the bags. Costco and Sam's has them but there are better prices elsewhere.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this, I especially appreciate the tip about getting the "plain wrap" one - Not surprised, so often they are the best - not so many things to go wrong.

 

[GB]

I would actually suggest the opposite as Candocook. I have one with all the bells and whistles and I would never want anything less. I have had mine about 5 years now and it is still working as it did the say I opened it. I mostly use the canisters. Condocook is right that they do not always seal. I have had a few that just will not hold the seal at all. I have been to lazy to call the company, but know of others who have and Tillia has sent them replacements without question. The canisters are great because they are reusable. They are also perfect for soft things like lettuce. I put a head of lettuce in a canister once and 5 or 6 weeks later it was still in perfect condition, as good as the day I bought it.

Check out this Yahoo group before you buy. It is LOADED with tips and tricks and great advice. Start from the first post and read forward from there.

 

[Barbara]

Will check this out, thanks for your post. I went on Amazon and looked at the Tilia, I think I will go to one of my discount stores so I can actually see it and touch it.

 

[QSis]

I got five or six chunks of cheese as a gift one time, and vacuum-sealed all them, which included a variety of hard, soft and semi-soft cheeses.

They stayed in my fridge, perfectly perfect, no mold at all for as long as maye 4 months, as I was using them up.

I don't know how that fits with the "cheese has to breathe" theory, but I sure can attest to the fact that vacuum-sealing does a fantastic job of preserving cheeses!

Lee

 

[Franca]

Count me in the Food Saver group. I have not had a speck of mold on a piece of cheese since I started vacuum sealing. I think if you're just going to wrap, where there's going to be some air exchange whether you like it or not, cheese prefers to "breathe", but vacuum sealing is a whole different deal because you remove all of the air. My husband was sceptical when I told him I wanted a vacuum sealer for my birthday; he thought it would sit on the counter taking up space and gathering dust. But I use it every day and he's glad he bought it for me now!

 

[JDP]

I use the foodsaver method too. It works great! It is also useful for many other things like brown sugar, buying bulk ground beef or any other meats you intend on freezing, nuts just to mention a few. Definitely buy the Tillia brand. They also work great when marinating meat cutting down on the time needed for the flavors to penetrate the meat.You can buy the bags as rolls and cut to the size you need or buy single bags in various sizes.

JDP