How will a grande mozzarella loaf last me in the fridge?

[pythonic]

Sealed and then when it's opened?

[norma427]

Sealed and then when it's opened?

pythonic,

Maybe other members might have a lot more experience than I do with a Grande loaf of mozzarella, but I did use them at one time at market.

What my findings were is if I grated the cheese and had some leftover until the next week, the Grande shredded wanted to clump and stick together.  Maybe other members didn’t have the same problems.

Maybe you could ask Grande how long a loaf of their mozzarella lasts sealed or opened.  I would think you could freeze whatever is left over.  I have done that with many cheeses.  Bob1 gave me a package of a Grande blend a few months ago and when I take some out of the freezer it is still good.

Norma 

[The Dough Doctor]

PY;
If the loaf is unopened, DO NOT FREEZE it as the quality will be decreased. Instead, store it at refrigerated temperature (38 to 45F). The cheese should last for about 40-days. Once opened, it is suggested that you use it within a week. OK, if you freeze it the cheese won't melt down into a toxic puddle, but it will be impacted in terms of flavor, texture, and melt when you use it on a pizza, thus negating the fine quality characteristics of Grande Mozzarella cheese. I've frozen it, and if you're not overly fussy, it will work OK for you, it won't win you any competitions, but it will satisfy your taste for a pizza now and then over the next 3-months.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[Pete-zza]

Nate,

You can get some information on the Grande cheeses and their storage and use at the Grande website at http://www.grandecheese.com/contactus/Pages/FAQ.aspx. Also, several years ago I spoke with a gal at Grande about storage of their mozzarella cheeses and reported on the results of my conversation at Reply 3 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3429.msg29139.html#msg29139.

Peter

[pizzaneer]

What I've done to "bring back" opened frozen cheese is to brine it in salt water for an hour or so straight out of the freezer.  This step seems to replace some of the moisture and flavor that is otherwise missing after freezing.

[The Dough Doctor]

P.N.
Great idea! I'm going to have to try that the next time I have to freeze my Mozzarella cheese.
Thanks for the tip!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[rcbaughn]

If you have access to a vacuum sealer anywhere you could open and portion it out into pieces that you can grate for single pies. Seems like that would extend the shelf life back to around 40 days in the fridge for the individual pieces. Since it isn't exposed to the small bit of air from being opened it seems like to me that may work, although that initial hint of air when your moving it to the vacuum bags may be enough external bacteria to cause it to start to go downhill a lot faster.

I've vacuum sealed all kinds of stuff with dads vacuum sealer at home though into single portions and had good luck, frozen or refrigerated. Really helps me extend the life of bulk food, although carrying the food to dads to use the machine can be a bit of a hassle.

[pythonic]

Thanks for the info and ideas everyone.  I bought the 6lb loaf today and will use roughly 2 lbs next week and either freeze or vaccum seal it to extend the life.

[johnnytuinals]

If you have extra sealed bags they will last many and many months when its freezed.
If you leave a sealed bag in the refrigerator it will be good for 3 months.
As for a Opened bag in the refrigerator ,that will be good for at least 45 days and
I am sure MOST that open a Bag of Grande chesse will use it within a month or sooner...........JT

[MrPibbs]

I have bought two separate 5lb batches of shredded East Coast Grande blend from PennMac.com, and since it is only a single home use, there's no way I can avoid freezing some of it.  I have a number of the previously made 2, 4, & 8 quart Tilia Foodsaver rigid plastic vacuum pack canisters that do not squish down the shredded cheese.  I have frozen it for over a month, and no loss of flavor or performance.

[lakebilly]

In the fall of 2010, I bought a 30lb case of Grande shredded 50/50 mozzarella and provolone from GFS.  I loosely vacuum sealed it into about 40 twelve oz bags and put them in the deep freeze.  I just used my last bag a few weeks ago.  After two years in the freezer, it was still better than anything from the grocery store.

I would say that after pulling the first bag out of the freezer, that the stringiness of cheese was slightly compromised, but each subsequent bag was as good as the first.

I’m going to try buying a loaf or two of Grande mozzarella and vacuum sealing it into 12 oz slices.  I’ll  store  these in the refrigerator.  I really would expect them to last many months.

My experience with Colby cheese is it’s good for about a year in the fridge when properly vacuum sealed.  I’m not sure how mozzarella would compare after a year.

With today's high cost of food I'm a big fan of vacuum sealing and highly recommend it to everyone I know that cooks.  The key to making it affordable is buying bags in quantities of 1000 or more.  Bags can be had for about .17 cents in that quantity.

[pythonic]

What I've done to "bring back" opened frozen cheese is to brine it in salt water for an hour or so straight out of the freezer.  This step seems to replace some of the moisture and flavor that is otherwise missing after freezing.

Can you please give me brine ratio?

Thanks,
Nate

[pizzaneer]

I go about 2 tbsp salt per quart of room-temp water.  I drop in the unbagged cheese while frozen, and let it thaw.  When it's fully thawed, I take it out of the brine, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.  Usually it only takes an hour or so at the most to thaw - depends on chunk size.

[pythonic]

Cool thanks.

[TomN]

I always go right to the source.

Grande Cheese Company
Dairy Road
Brownsville, WI 53006-0067
800-678-3122

In a conversation with Grande today, they stated that their shredded Mozzarella cheese will last 45 days from the date on the package. If you just reseal it again after it is open and refrigerate it, it will still last 45 days from the date on the package.

Hope this helps you.

TomN

[Chicago Bob]

Why in the world does Grande not do mail order. 

[MrPibbs]

I just finished using some of a 5 lb bag of East Coast Grande that I bought in August (frozen in vacuum packed canister).  It still tasted and performed as good as I remember when it was fresh.  You have to use the canisters for soft things that compress with the Foodsaver vacuum sealer.  For some reason, they stopped making the 4, 6, & 8 quart canisters years ago.  You could use a bunch of 1 or 2 quart Ball jars.

[TomN]

Why in the world does Grande not do mail order.  

Because they do not want to sell their cheese to the public. They only want it going to the commercial food industry. Pizzerias, Restaurants, etc.. it gives the commercial food industry the edge over the home user and it keeps the demand for grande cheese going, so they can charge almost $4.00 or more a pound and get it.

[Pete-zza]

Because they do not want to sell their cheese to the public. They only want it going to the commercial food industry. Pizzerias, Restaurants, etc.. it gives the commercial food industry the edge over the home user and it keeps the demand for grande cheese going, so they can charge almost $4.00 or more a pound and get it.

Tom,

I'm willing to bet that if you got into it you would find that there are solid business and economic reasons for Grande not getting into the direct-to-customer retail business, with all the headaches that entails (pricing, shipping, returns, customer complaints, etc.). Also, since Grande already deals through middlemen on the retail level, such as outfits like PennMac, it would find itself competing with its own customers and possibly lose their business at some point. Dealing with foodservice companies, Grande leaves to them to deal with the variable pricing that exists in commodity markets like cheese.

Peter