BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Supply

Hard Cheese

Why hard cheese is the one dairy for the deep store: 6 to 12 months refrigerated, cutting mold away, waxing a wheel for the cellar, freezing, and what happens in an outage.

6-12 MOWAX ITOUTAGE SAFEWorks without power

Quick facts

  • Real shelf life6 to 12 months refrigerated, well wrapped
  • Label date says3 to 6 months
  • Best storage
    • Whole wheel or block
    • waxed or wrapped
    • cold
  • Watch for
    • Slime
    • ammonia
    • mold that reaches inside

Where this sits on the food shopping list

Hard cheese is the one dairy product that was designed for a year without a refrigerator. Cheddar, parmesan, gouda, aged swiss, manchego: low moisture, high salt, a rind, and an interior that mold cannot easily reach. The field guide gives it 6 to 12 months refrigerated against a label of 3 to 6, and a waxed wheel in a cold cellar does better than that. It's on the keep-it list after a power outage, which is reason enough to have one.

Which to buy

A whole wheel or a large vacuum-sealed block of an aged, hard cheese: cheddar aged a year or more, parmesan, pecorino, aged gouda. The harder and drier the cheese, the longer it keeps; parmesan is the extreme and will sit for a year in a cool fridge with nothing more than a wipe. Buy it uncut when you can; every cut face is a door for mold. Skip pre-shredded, pre-sliced and anything soft.

How long it really lasts

By how it is kept

FormLabel saysReal, stored well
Vacuum-sealed block, unopened3 to 6 months6 months or more refrigerated
Cut block, wrapped in paper then loosely in plastic3 to 4 weeks at best quality; months if you cut mold as it comes
Waxed wheel, cold cellar or fridge6 to 12 months, the field guide figure; aged cheeses longer
Frozen, in half-pound pieces6 months; crumbly after, for cooking
Parmesan or pecorino, whole pieceA year refrigerated, wiped as needed
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How to store it

Cold, dark, and wrapped so it can breathe: parchment or cheese paper against the cut face, then a loose bag. A wheel with its rind intact needs only a cool, dark shelf and a turn every week or two. To wax a wheel for the cellar: dry the surface, chill it, and brush or dip two to three thin coats of cheese wax (not candle paraffin, which cracks), sealing every pinhole; a waxed wheel at 50 to 55°F keeps for many months and gets sharper as it sits. Freezing works for the stock you will cook with.

How to tell it has turned

A spot of mold on the surface is normal on a cut hard cheese; cut an inch around and below it with a clean knife and the rest is fine. Mold under the wax of a wheel means the seal failed; cut deep, rewax or eat it soon. The cheese is done when it's slimy, smells of ammonia, or the mold has threads running into the interior. Dry, cracked edges and a sharper flavor are age, not spoilage.

Keep it

Surface mold on a hard block, cut away. Cracked dry edges. White crunchy crystals in an aged cheese, which are the proteins breaking down and the sign of a good one.

Discard on sight

Slime, an ammonia smell, pink or black mold, or mold threads that run into the middle.

How much, and how to use it

A pound of hard cheese is about 1,800 calories and 100 grams of protein, with the fat that stored beans and grains lack. Grate it over rice and beans, melt it into soup, shave it onto bread, pack a chunk with the jerky in the bag. Rinds go into the stock pot and come out before serving. One wheel of cheddar beside the buckets is a month of protein that needs no cooking and no can opener.

When the power goes out

Hard cheese is on the field guide's keep-it list: a block or wheel that warmed for a day is still good. It may sweat oil; wipe it. The soft cheeses and anything shredded go after two hours above 40°F. In a long outage, a waxed wheel in the coolest room of the house is the dairy that is still there in a month.

Shelf-life figures are from the Survival Foods field guide; fridge, freezer and pantry times are from the USDA cold and pantry storage charts. Run the look, smell, taste check before eating anything past its date.

Questions this answers

Tap a question for the short answer.

How long does hard cheese last?

Six to twelve months refrigerated for a well-wrapped wheel or block, against a label of 3 to 6 months. A cut block stays at best quality 3 to 4 weeks and keeps longer if you cut mold as it appears. Frozen, 6 months for cooking.

How do I store hard cheese long term?

Buy it whole, keep it cold and wrapped in paper, and for the cellar seal a dried, chilled wheel in two or three thin coats of cheese wax. Freeze half-pound pieces of the stock you will cook with.

How do I tell if hard cheese has gone bad?

Slime, ammonia, or mold with threads into the interior. A spot of surface mold is cut an inch around and the rest is fine.

Is hard cheese safe after a power outage?

Yes. It is on the keep-it list after an outage; a day above 40°F does not spoil a hard cheese that smells clean.

Keep going

Read nextSpotting SpoilageMost spoiled food fails one of a few sensory checks. Learn these signs once and you can judge almost any item, no expiration date required. When a food shows any red flag below, do not taste it to confirm.Food · Guide

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