Storing Hard Cheeses Without Refrigeration

[Skyowl's Wife]

I read this on another site. Makes sense to me. What say you?

Hard cheeses (such as cheddar, mozzarella, jack) can be stored without refrigeration. (Remember that cheese making began as a way to preserve dairy products long before there was refrigeration.) It only works with hard cheeses, soft and processed cheeses must be refrigerated.

Dip the cheese into a salt-water solution (salty enough that an egg floats), and place it on a rack to dry. On the next day, thoroughly rub the cheese with salt. Do this again on the 3rd day. By this time, a rind should be developing on the cheese. Melt wax in a double boiler (a pan inside another pan with water in the outer pan) and dip the cheese in it, and set it aside to cool on a rack. When the first layer is dry, add a second layer. Wrap it in cheesecloth and continue to apply layers of wax until it is smooth and shiny and entirely encased in several layers of wax. If you don’t have cheesecloth, add a couple extra layers of wax. If mold develops, just cut off the mold and eat the rest.

I'm going to try it.

[herbalpagan]

You should use "cheese wax", which can be bought at most natural food stores. It can also be reused. You paint on the wax and don't need to do the salting thing either. It's supposed to last for years. I want to try it too.

[Omegaman]

Just rember to use cheese wax and not canning wax or parrfin wax. Cheese wax is flexible where canning wax sets up hard and tends to crack and split as it cools letting in air which causes mold growth. You can buy cheese wax on line and it can be reused.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Aye, I found cheesewax online for about 5 bucks a pound. Not sure how many cheeses that will cover.

[waitnc]

Hey everyone,

Was looking thru Ebay last night and under a search for "Military Surplus" It is mostly American product but under a Australian manufacturer called "Red feather" Canned Cheese caught my eye. in cans a little larger then standard tuna. Canned Bacon also, Canned sugars, 40 LB bags of dehyd..spuds, Smaller packaging on some items maymean less to leave out to get eatin by critters or pests or just get ruined. It wasn't military food, though MRE type stuff was available.

[coxmw]

Hey everyone,

Was looking thru Ebay last night and under a search for "Military Surplus" It is mostly American product but under a Australian manufacturer called "Red feather" Canned Cheese caught my eye. in cans a little larger then standard tuna. Canned Bacon also, Canned sugars, 40 LB bags of dehyd..spuds, Smaller packaging on some items maymean less to leave out to get eatin by critters or pests or just get ruined. It wasn't military food, though MRE type stuff was available.

I've tried Red Feather, it's ok. Kraft aslo has canned cheese but they only sell it over sea. This site had both sometimes.

http://www.internet-grocer.net

[Skyowl's Wife]

Cheese wax: http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/4,11354.html

[cbprice797]

If you are still receiving updates for this thread check out my easy velveeta canning recipe in the DYI section

[wildernessva]

Storing Cheese

I read this on another site. Makes sense to me. What say you?

Hard cheeses (such as cheddar, mozzarella, jack) can be stored without refrigeration. (Remember that cheese making began as a way to preserve dairy products long before there was refrigeration.) It only works with hard cheeses, soft and processed cheeses must be refrigerated.

Dip the cheese into a salt-water solution (salty enough that an egg floats), and place it on a rack to dry. On the next day, thoroughly rub the cheese with salt. Do this again on the 3rd day. By this time, a rind should be developing on the cheese. Melt wax in a double boiler (a pan inside another pan with water in the outer pan) and dip the cheese in it, and set it aside to cool on a rack. When the first layer is dry, add a second layer. Wrap it in cheesecloth and continue to apply layers of wax until it is smooth and shiny and entirely encased in several layers of wax. If you don’t have cheesecloth, add a couple extra layers of wax. If mold develops, just cut off the mold and eat the rest.

I'm going to try it.

We had a food storage expo a few weeks ago and a lady showed us how to can cheese. It lasts about 2 years and is really easy to do. I included canning butter also.....

Canned Cheese

Canning cheese is easy! Take a clean sterilized canning jar (use the wide mouth jars or you will have a difficult time getting the cheese out.) Cube cheese and place it in your jars. I would not recommend using pre-shredded cheese. Place your jars in a water bath that comes about ¾ of the way up the jar. Simmer the water. The cheese will slowly melt as you do this, add more cheese to the top of the jar until you have about ½ inch space left at the top. Clean the rims off the jars really good before you put the lids on because any cheese or oil will prevent the lids from sealing. Water bath can for 10 minutes and set out on a cabinet to cool. The cheese will be good pretty much indefinitely until you open it. The longer you store it though, the sharper, more funky cheese flavor you will achieve. Use as you would any normal cheese. Great on crackers, melted on homemade pizza or add it to your casseroles.

Make sure you simmer, the slower you melt the cheese, the better. Faster=gross cheese and oil mixture. Also, use good quality cheese. I use Western Family and it works great. Don’t use American cheese slices, Velveeta or other fake cheeses. It doesn’t contain the enzymes etc. needed to keep it fresh and you will be sick eating this stuff home canned.

Canned Butter

Real butter is best but margarine works too. Heat pint jars in the oven @ 250 for 20 minutes. Heat lids in boiling water for 3 minutes. Slowly stir and melt the butter in a pan. After it has boiled for 5 minutes, stir and then scoop the butter into the hot jars. Use a funnel to keep butter off the rims. Place the hot lid and ring on the jar and wait for the “plink”. Shake jars several times over the next 15-20 minutes. The separation will stop. While still slightly warm, put the jars in the refrigerator. Continue to shake every few minutes until there is no separation. Eventually the butter will harden. Leave in refrigerator for one more hour. Bottled butter can store on your shelf for almost 3 years.

[Mungo]

Red Feather

I have loaded up on both Cheese and Butter in canned form from Red Feather. They both are fantastic and have a near indefinate shelf life.

[unswydd]

We had a food storage expo a few weeks ago and a lady showed us how to can cheese. It lasts about 2 years and is really easy to do. I included canning butter also.....

Canned Cheese

Canning cheese is easy! Take a clean sterilized canning jar (use the wide mouth jars or you will have a difficult time getting the cheese out.) Cube cheese and place it in your jars. I would not recommend using pre-shredded cheese. Place your jars in a water bath that comes about ¾ of the way up the jar. Simmer the water. The cheese will slowly melt as you do this, add more cheese to the top of the jar until you have about ½ inch space left at the top. Clean the rims off the jars really good before you put the lids on because any cheese or oil will prevent the lids from sealing. Water bath can for 10 minutes and set out on a cabinet to cool. The cheese will be good pretty much indefinitely until you open it. The longer you store it though, the sharper, more funky cheese flavor you will achieve. Use as you would any normal cheese. Great on crackers, melted on homemade pizza or add it to your casseroles.

Make sure you simmer, the slower you melt the cheese, the better. Faster=gross cheese and oil mixture. Also, use good quality cheese. I use Western Family and it works great. Don’t use American cheese slices, Velveeta or other fake cheeses. It doesn’t contain the enzymes etc. needed to keep it fresh and you will be sick eating this stuff home canned.

Canned Butter

Real butter is best but margarine works too. Heat pint jars in the oven @ 250 for 20 minutes. Heat lids in boiling water for 3 minutes. Slowly stir and melt the butter in a pan. After it has boiled for 5 minutes, stir and then scoop the butter into the hot jars. Use a funnel to keep butter off the rims. Place the hot lid and ring on the jar and wait for the “plink”. Shake jars several times over the next 15-20 minutes. The separation will stop. While still slightly warm, put the jars in the refrigerator. Continue to shake every few minutes until there is no separation. Eventually the butter will harden. Leave in refrigerator for one more hour. Bottled butter can store on your shelf for almost 3 years.

NO! NO! NO! Never can dairy products!!!!! This is not a safe process for any of us. Freeze it or wax it!!!!!!

Please read this before doing any dairy canning.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg1015512927929.html

[cbprice797]

hey wildernessva I have canned Velveeta and it works just fine, the only issue is that it is so salty from being a processed cheese to start with.

As for canning dairy... well myself and several friends have canned butter and cheeses many times in the past. prolly tween 50 and 75 pint jars. None of us have ever gotten sick from it. I also know of several "old folks" in Alabama that can butter and have for decades and they are alive and doing well, including my grandmother.

Also using your "NEVER CAN DAIRY" premise the company that makes the canned Red Feather butter and cheese is going to kill people selling it right? I think not.

[unswydd]

hey wildernessva I have canned Velveeta and it works just fine, the only issue is that it is so salty from being a processed cheese to start with.

As for canning dairy... well myself and several friends have canned butter and cheeses many times in the past. prolly tween 50 and 75 pint jars. None of us have ever gotten sick from it. I also know of several "old folks" in Alabama that can butter and have for decades and they are alive and doing well, including my grandmother.

Also using your "NEVER CAN DAIRY" premise the company that makes the canned Red Feather butter and cheese is going to kill people selling it right? I think not.

Leave it to the professionals.
It only takes one time my dear friend. At your own risk.

[cbprice797]

I am aware of people in rural Alabama that I have KNOWN practically all my life that can butter in mason jars and have probably done so for longer than you and I have been alive. They and their families and entended relatives ahve never died from this.

As for the just once thing. The same can be said for canning in general, driving, flying, sailing, walking along the roadside, swimming, eating raw or cooked food, climbing a ladder, water skiing, you get the picture. Something bad can happen doing ANYTHING. I know that people get hurt or even die doing the things i just listed. However, I still do them. On the ohter hand I have never KNOWN one person personally that was harmed by canned butter. With my friends here in NC and the many old timers that live in Alabama along with their family and friends have NEVER been harmed by the canned butter then the odds seem to be in favor of the canned butter being safer than those other things that I mentions earlier.

[rsanders]

I am aware of people in rural Alabama that I have KNOWN practically all my life that can butter in mason jars and have probably done so for longer than you and I have been alive. They and their families and entended relatives ahve never died from this.

As for the just once thing. The same can be said for canning in general, driving, flying, sailing, walking along the roadside, swimming, eating raw or cooked food, climbing a ladder, water skiing, you get the picture. Something bad can happen doing ANYTHING. I know that people get hurt or even die doing the things i just listed. However, I still do them. On the other hand I have never KNOWN one person personally that was harmed by canned butter. With my friends here in NC and the many old timers that live in Alabama along with their family and friends have NEVER been harmed by the canned butter then the odds seem to be in favor of the canned butter being safer than those other things that I mentions earlier.

I have to agree with you on this, when I was growing up you either killed ,canned it, or you most likely didn't get it. And it didn't have a whole list of preservatives in it unlike the canned items the professionals pump out these days.My family has canned for generations and continue to do so,and yeah on occasion your going to have a can of something or other that goes south on ya but, believe me you'll know it immediately upon opening it if you don't know it just by looking at it while still sealed.But if you don't feel comfortable with canning dairy products ,then I certainly would not do it. This remind me of the debate on leaving food sit out, when I was a kid we'd have "Sunday dinner" and cover the food with a table cloth and it would sit there till "supper" then eat the same thing again.Would I do that now? No but I ate that way for years , because I had no choice in the matter but it didn't kill me , nor did it one time that I can remember make me or any other family sick. Times change and so do people.