Storing smoked cheese

[AYLS]

I'm a newby at this smoking thing... just cold smoked 4 lbs of sharp cheddar and 4 lbs of provolone. The recipes from Bradley don't tell you what to do with the cheese afterwards! I have a vacuum sealer (I read the posts on that subject.) My questions are:
1. How long will the cheese last if vac sealed and refrigerated?
2. Does the cheese keep it's lovely texture if frozen?
3. Has anyone tried to dip the cheese in wax to preserve?
Hope someone can give me guidance.

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm a newby at this smoking thing... just cold smoked 4 lbs of sharp cheddar and 4 lbs of provolone. The recipes from Bradley don't tell you what to do with the cheese afterwards! I have a vacuum sealer (I read the posts on that subject.) My questions are:
1. How long will the cheese last if vac sealed and refrigerated?
2. Does the cheese keep it's lovely texture if frozen?
3. Has anyone tried to dip the cheese in wax to preserve?
Hope someone can give me guidance.

I haven't found the need to freeze. I don't smoke that much at a time, and I have vacuum smoked cheese dated a little over six months in the refrigerator that have shown no signs of mold. The cheese I have are hard and semi-hard cheeses. I'm not sure if you will have the same results with softer cheese.

[manxman]

Welcome to the forum AYLS.

1. How long will the cheese last if vac sealed and refrigerated?

I have kept cheese up to 3 or 4 months vac sealed and refridgerated, although generally it is eaten before this time has elapsed, it was particularly big batches that lasted this long. (Whether it makes any difference to longevity on storage I cold-smoke all my cheese for 4 - 5 hours.)

2. Does the cheese keep it's lovely texture if frozen?

IMHO cheese loses some of it's texture when frozen and is not as nice, others may think differently?!

3. Has anyone tried to dip the cheese in wax to preserve?

I have an acquantance who does this, probably the same end effect as vac sealing but also seems a lot of effort compared to vac sealing! However this guy is selling the end product and the wax sealed version looks better.


Hope this helps?

edit: only ever smoked hard or semi - hard cheese like H.S.