Freezing Deli Meat and Cheese?

[mmyap]

I might not be putting this in the right place so feel free to move if there is a more appropriate spot.

Does anyone here ever freeze sliced deli meat and cheese? I'd like to buy the larger packages of your basic deli items from Costco and divide them up and freeze them. Or will freezing ruin the food?

Thank you in advance for any advice or tips.

 

[jabbur]

The deli meat will freeze well. Some cheeses freeze well too. Cheddar is the worst for freezing but I've done Swiss before with good results.

 

[mmyap]

Thank you jabbur. So, it's a go on the deli meat.

We love swiss. We are also partial to muenster and havarti.

Anyone try those?

 

[Addie]

My supermarket sells the deli ends. I will pick up two or three packages, break them down and rewrap them and toss them in the freezer. I usually get the Swiss ends and whatever meats they put out. No problem with freezing.

 

[taxlady]

I don't like the texture of ham that has been frozen. It's still fine for a stew or soup.

The higher the fat content of a cheese, the better it freezes, or so I have been led to believe.

 

[BoracayB]

I can only get sliced cheddar in a kilo pack. There are 4 stacks in the pack.
I use 1 stack at a time and freeze the leftover. Each of the 3 stacks go into
separate zip lock sandwich bag and then they all into a freezer zip lock bag.

So far they have been fine even when the last stack has been frozen for 5 weeks.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I might not be putting this in the right place so feel free to move if there is a more appropriate spot.

Does anyone here ever freeze sliced deli meat and cheese? I'd like to buy the larger packages of your basic deli items from Costco and divide them up and freeze them. Or will freezing ruin the food?

Thank you in advance for any advice or tips.

I have had mixed results.

With sliced cheese it freezes ok, but I have found that it is better to separate the slices, with waxed paper or cling film, before freezing if I want to use it for sandwiches.

I also have found that freezing meat like turkey, roast beef etc... works better for me than freezing lunch meat like bologna, olive loaf etc...

I have also found that short term storage of these items works best for me, a month to six weeks.

I would encourage you to experiment with a slice or two of your favorites and see how you like it before you buy several pounds.

 

[GA Home Cook]

I buy the parmesan wedges when they are on sale and they freeze very good. Even for long periods.

 

[CraigC]

The stuff never lasts long enough to worry about freezing. Parmesan is almost a staple in our house, like S&P.

 

[Mad Cook]

If I buy a lump of cheese such as cheddar and need to freeze it I usually grate it before freezing to use in sauce or as a topping for a gratin or for cheese on toast and I tend to use it frozen if I'm cooking the dish afer adding it.

I've frozen Jarlsberg and Emmenthal to eat in lumps or slices and found it works.

As for Parmesan I try and buy a big lump at a time because it works out cheaper and chop it into smaller lumps and wrap and freeze and it grates as well as it would if not frozen.

Things like Quark and cottage cheese (ie very low fat soft cheeses) don't freeze well IME.

And I don't freeze cheese for a long time - possibly a couple of months at most. I do have one or two brontosaurus steaks in the bottom of my freezer but generally I don't stash stuff in there in case there's a world war sometime in the next millennium ;-)

No experience of freezing deli meats - they don't last long enough!

 

[skilletlicker]

In the early 70's I lived in the Logan Utah. Cheese and Utah State Univ. were the two big industries in what was then a small town. Friends and neighbors who worked at the cheese factory gave us all the cheese we could eat and then some. There were always big blocks of the stuff in everybody's freezers. Big freezers too, because this is hunting country. Mostly the texture was affected. It wanted to crumble when you sliced it, but it was great for cooking and melting and such.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I don't like the texture of ham that has been frozen...

Same here. To me, the meat becomes watery and loses pretty much all its flavor.