Long life Cheese

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Long life Cheese

Postby Bushman Ben » Wed 07 Sep, 2011 3:47 pm

Hi Guys,

New here; I have been thinking about some of my longer hikes, and I would love the chance to have a chunk of cheese that i can use with Salami or wraps etc. I do a lot of pack hikes, so no refrigeration. Can anybody suggest a cheese that would do the trick? Even a hardened cheese or something that is wax sealed?
I am doing my best to create a blogsite dedicated to hiking in Aus, if you want to help let me know
http://hike-australia.com
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby jose » Wed 07 Sep, 2011 10:40 pm

Plain cheddar keeps quite well if wrapped in a clean chux or muslin before putting in plastic bag. I've walked 15 days in summer carrying a 300g block and had no problem with mould. The chux absorbs the oil and keeps the cheese dry. When the chux gets too oily after about 5 days I just change the chux.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Bushman Ben » Thu 08 Sep, 2011 9:42 am

Thanks for that Jose, sounds like a good idea. I actually had a chat with a friend of mine about some hardened cheeses, and he suggested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette

I haven't tried it yet, but it does look interesting; looks like it would be a great one for having on meals that would call for melted cheese.
I am doing my best to create a blogsite dedicated to hiking in Aus, if you want to help let me know
http://hike-australia.com
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby rogo » Thu 08 Sep, 2011 5:53 pm

raclette is the king of fondue cheese.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby juju » Thu 08 Sep, 2011 6:38 pm

I always take good old Kraft Cheddar. It probably doesn't have anything real in it to go off, a bit like the stuff they use in Maccas...
We'll get fit on the way.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby corvus » Thu 08 Sep, 2011 7:48 pm

I know it is not proper cheese but for years I have been using "Happy Cow" processed cheese triangles they do not need to kept cold and the are easy to carry and taste OK when on the track.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Macca81 » Sun 11 Sep, 2011 1:12 pm

Parmmisan or similar always accompanies me on a hike. Wintertime i will take just about any cheese i feel like, as it is all capable of lasting a week outside of refrigeration no problems (highly processed pretend cheese which has never actually gone through a fermentation process excluded...)
geoskid wrote:nothing but the best of several brands will do :)
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Bushman Ben » Wed 21 Sep, 2011 10:07 am

So the other thing that I have turned up in my investigation is the possibility of a cheese-cloth (duh) soaked in Vinegar to preserve the cheese. This is what I believe to be the old-school medieval style of preserving cheese. Has anybody tried that?
I am doing my best to create a blogsite dedicated to hiking in Aus, if you want to help let me know
http://hike-australia.com
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby gayet » Wed 21 Sep, 2011 10:23 am

The vinegar acts as a mould inhibitor - it won't prevent the cheese from becoming oily in high temperatures, it may assist in reducing bacterial growth but some of them like acidic environments too. It will certainly assist in mould retardation though, if thats what you want.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Perry » Thu 22 Sep, 2011 3:40 pm

I have successfully used wax coated vintage cheddar on a couple of mild weather hikes (say up to 20 C) but it really was a bit of a disaster on a recenet warm to hot weather hike on hinchinbrook island (mid to high 20s and high humidity). The wax split and oil ran every where in my food bag. Best wrapping it in an absorbent material as mentioned above. On subsequnet warm-hot weather trips I intend to take a hard cheese like Romano, Pecorino or Parmesan

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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Liamy77 » Fri 23 Sep, 2011 12:42 pm

cheese is still edible mouldy, sweaty and old....... unlike our walking companions
Cheese is the preserved form of dairy!
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby WadeThrupp » Fri 03 Mar, 2017 9:54 am

Liamy77 wrote:cheese is still edible mouldy

Please provide source
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Moondog55 » Fri 03 Mar, 2017 10:54 am

So long as it's blue mould it should be OK
Avoid black moulds and pink spots tho
I usually take processed cheese for longer walks or at least I did when I did long walks
Hard low fat cheeses keep quite well and Kraft parmesan in the plastic tubes seems to keep for over a year until the packaging is opened
Kraft Velveeta was my favourite because it spread in cold weather
Ve are too soon old und too late schmart
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby ribuck » Fri 03 Mar, 2017 11:08 am

According to the Mayo Clinic website
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifes ... q-20058492
you should throw away any soft product with mould on it (brie, camembert, grapes, etc) because strands of mould will be right through it, enough to be harmful even though not visible.

On the other hand, a hard product such as Cheddar or Parmesan is OK to eat provided you cut away 2.5cm around and below the mouldy bit.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Stew63 » Mon 06 Mar, 2017 1:25 am

My mate gave me some Australian Army ration canned cheddar cheese to try which is pretty good for hiking - not 'gourmet' but good enough for me. From memory it's a NZ cheddar and canned in NZ. If only they sold it in stores :(
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby vagrom » Mon 12 Aug, 2019 5:03 pm

!!
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby warnesy » Mon 12 Aug, 2019 9:39 pm

I take hard cheeses in the middle of summer, progressively more aged as the hike goes on. Parmegiano Regiano 18 or 24 month aged last fine for the last couple of days of a six day hike.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Huntsman247 » Tue 13 Aug, 2019 12:08 pm

I took a 1kg block of cracker barrel cheddar last month on a walk. Was delicious. My socks ripened faster than the cheese.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby vagrom » Tue 13 Aug, 2019 8:54 pm

This one's a decent flavour. The slices are handy - a single broken in two fits between two Vita Wheat sandwiches with Vegemite as well and some Rocket for the gourmet.
But summer definitely requires enclosure in a Snaplock bag and perhaps Alfoil wrapping and a Chux too.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Heremeahappy1 » Thu 15 Aug, 2019 10:08 am

Stew63 wrote:My mate gave me some Australian Army ration canned cheddar cheese to try which is pretty good for hiking - not 'gourmet' but good enough for me. From memory it's a NZ cheddar and canned in NZ. If only they sold it in stores :(

I remember canned cheese. Was only eaten if you didnt want to cr@p for a week.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby Mark F » Thu 15 Aug, 2019 11:19 am

Vagrom - While you can get away with carrying just about anything for weekend trips, I suggest you avoid anything that is pre-sliced for longer excursions. The more surface area the greater the ability and likelihood of bacteria and moulds developing. That said, cheese is a very successful way of preserving milk and I feel that much of the fuss about the shelf life of cheese and many other products is the outcome of too many ads making out that everything must be "germ free" to be safe.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby vagrom » Thu 15 Aug, 2019 5:45 pm

I've carried this stuff over 8 days in summer Tassie Mark and the only problem i've found is sweating, never mould. Once you've noted this it's just a matter of protecting it as best as possible - packing it deep and isolating with Snaplock, Alfoil and Chux. No mould and a plastic knife to separate the slices. They allow for regular portioning to keep an eye on days ahead.

I guess Salami presents the same problem. For meat I just carry flat, fish-packs of Tuna or Salmon for lunch and Back Country mince to add to cheap, pasta dinner-packs.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby onward » Fri 16 Aug, 2019 3:08 pm

I often carry a hard cheddar cut into 50gm blocks and vacuum sealed, these have survived in food drops for a couple of months in late summer/autumn. Also tried them stored in my shed over summer for about 6 weeks, other than sweating out the oils they were ok to eat. Have had the odd one develop mould...I now cut them on wax paper using a fork and knife and do not touch them when I vacuum seal them and haven't had the issue again. Oh none have leaked out of the vacuum bag...which is a bonus :)
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby wildwanderer » Wed 28 Aug, 2019 1:19 pm

Vintage cheese or basically any hard cheese has worked well for me.

Even the Coles packaged pre sliced vintage cheese and crackers work well for 3-4 days with a bit of oil in the plastic container by day 2 but everything still tasting good.(I've not used pre sliced beyond day 4 but I probably would in cool conditions)

For a recent NZ trip a hardish cheese wrapped in brown paper bag followed by a plastic zip lock worked great for over 6 days.

I typically go with anything that says 'aged'on the label.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby flingebunt » Tue 17 Sep, 2019 10:03 am

Softer cheeses will last 2 or 3 days in cooler weather. So don't discount adding Camembert or brie to your pack for the first day or two.

Generally speaker, the drier the cheese, the longer it will last. Parmesan is usually the go to cheese for hiking. But there are lots of drier cheeses to think about. Cheddar gets mixed reviews from people, but as mentioned already, it depends on the variety. You can get semi dry (not the regular type) mozzarella cheese.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby CraigVIC » Tue 17 Sep, 2019 10:33 am

It only works up to a certain temperature but I wrap block cheddar in paper towel. When it sweats the paper towel soaks it up and it isn't noticeable and stays palatable for a few days
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby fussy » Sun 19 Jan, 2020 11:28 am

Stew63 wrote:My mate gave me some Australian Army ration canned cheddar cheese to try which is pretty good for hiking - not 'gourmet' but good enough for me. From memory it's a NZ cheddar and canned in NZ. If only they sold it in stores :(



They do.
In the spreads (vegemite/jam/peanut paste) section of the supermarket, in a blue cardboard box, you will find Kraft cheese. 250/500gm. Great shelf life without refrigeration.
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Re: Long life Cheese

Postby kymboy » Tue 21 Jan, 2020 6:47 am

I believe they have rebranded the old Kraft cheese and now it's called Dairylea.

I had a look in my local Woolies yesterday and it's on the shelf right below the Vegemite. I checked the use-by date on the box - May 2020!
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