soft cheese safety

Paul

Paul

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Staff member
I like me some "ripe" cheese. I have some french Camembert with a "sell by" of 12/24/2012. I very much prefer the soft cheese to be well ripened and I prefer them late into their sell by. It is unopened in original packaging. I had saved it for Christmas but it got buried in the fridge. Anyone know if there is a rule of thumb here?

 
about three weeks ago I polished off some soft goat cheese. . . (more)

that had a sell-by (or some sort of) date on it of *last August*. It was good looking, no mold visible, smelled good, had always been refridgerated and was still vacuum sealed. My goat cheese was just fine. . . I could not say about yours.

You might want to read the info in the slideshow in the link below to help you out with your decision:

http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/smart-spending/when-eat-expired-food

http://i.thestreet.com/files/tsc/mainstreet-photos/photo-gallery/art-gallery/expired-cheese.jpg

 
I find that the soft-ripened cheeses tend to smell/taste like ammonia when they are past prime

You'll probably be able to tell when you open it.

 
I used to by large, case-quantity gourmet cheese deals from a local...

...gourmet foods supplier. They sold many different brands of cheeses, spreads, pate, etc., to markets, cheese shops, restaurants and other specialty stores.

I LOVED those loads! The stuff was always close to, or past, the code date. As long as it was held at the proper temp, unopened and not otherwise compromised, it was FINE. I've eaten cheeses a couple of months past its prime and never had an issue.

Common sense says to check it by sight, smell, etc.

Michael

 
actually for me that is "prime" - I like the amonia in the nostrils...

no kidding it is one of the things that I look for.

 
agree w/ michael completely. I worked in a goumet cheese shop many years ago, we used

to go to NYC and pick up a lots of cheese some past the expriry. I think Michaels words were spot on....

 
I noticed that ammonia smell with a few chunks of cave-aged Gruyere awhile ago. I bet

you love Epoisses.

 
One of my best salvage store finds for a couple of months was 1lb wrapped wedges

of parmesano reggiano cheap & really good. That & 2 pound plain brown boxes for $4 that turned out to be individually wrapped squares of godiva chocolate.

 
From a store in Dallas?

I'm always looking for fun food places to visit in Dallas.

 
Unfortunately, those stores are getting harder and harder to find.

Most States have licensing requirements specifically for salvage food stores and they are becoming harder to get.

Arizona only has two licenses active, and once they go out of business, they will not issue any more.

I'm not happy with that. Not only do you find great bargains, many people who live within walking distance won't eat nearly as often as they do now when those stores close.

Michael

 
yes I've had the Humbolt Fog

seemed a little gimmicky to me when I first heard about it, but actually quite good. At a local supermarket here in Sonoma County called "Olivers" they had one called Mendocino Fog. Not sure if it is mass produced or just a one time thing. If I recall it had some sort of tart berry along with the layer of ash. (Mendocino is the county just north of Sonoma and just south of Humbolt) I pretty much eat any cheese but the cows milk are first choice. The sheeps milk cheeses have been surprising. The ones that I have tried have been very flavorful while the goat's milk have tended to be more mild. I had a spanish manchego (from Costco) which was really excellent as well as an Italian Parmesan which I didn't originally realize was sheep's milk.

There is no replacement for Gruyere for a lot of things. In fondue it is my go to base but I will mix in some other cheeses. I had a nice raclette with a quartz burner for a while and this was phenomenal but the unit was defective and the vendor would not replace it. Too expensive to replace again but some day.

 
Kind of like the Tuesday Morning of groceries!.

When I'm there I go to Ace Mart, Central Market, Jimmy's, Goode Goode, and now, Trader Joe's. The place that makes mozzarella is on my list but I haven't made it yet. What am I missing?

 
When you go to Jimmy's walk down along the side of the building to Spiceman's place if you like

mushrooms. He has an amazing variety plus a big organic garden behind the building that he sells from. Jimmy's is one of my favorite places. As to Mozzarella company & not having been there, my guess is Central Market has most of their cheeses, but if you go, there is another place in Deep Elm, a long-time family meat market called Rudolph's. Don't remember if they are German or Czech, but they make terrific sausages & have good meat and are very reasonably priced & really nice people. If you make it to Bishop Art's district in Oak Cliff, that is where many of the most exciting restaurants are now, plus there is a chocolate maker "Dude Sweet Chocolates" that gets lots of good press.

 
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