Can You Freeze Cottage Cheese: Important Things You Need To Know Before Freezing
Upon reading this article, you will answer your question “can you freeze cottage cheese” through the essential things that you should first know before doing the process of freezing. So, read on!
So, you have plenty of cottage cheese, but you don’t have that much space in the fridge! What will you do now? How will you extend the said kind of cheese to make it last longer? Can you freeze cottage cheese? Is it possible to do so? And how will you do it?
Well, these are just some of the questions you will encounter if you have too much of a cottage cheese yet you don’t know what to do with the leftovers once not used at all. Here, I will guide you in knowing whether it is possible to freeze a cottage cheese or not, so continue reading.
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Cottage Cheese Overview
Cottage cheese is indeed a well-loved dairy treat. It is described to be a fresh, soft and uncured cheese that is made from part-skimmed, skimmed or whole pasteurized milk of a cow. It also offers a delicious taste and also a moist texture with a mild flavor. It is a soft cheese that is being drained and not being pressed.
If compared to other popular varieties of hard cheese, this, one is not aged or colored. It only has its yellowish shade due to the fat level of the milk used. It usually comes in different options, and they are the large, medium and small curd. This curd size would refer to the size of the chunks of the cheese.
Also, this kind of cheese is indeed a very versatile food item which could be consumed on its own or could be mixed to sweet or some savory dishes. In fact, they could be included in tarts, casseroles, pizza, pasta dishes, baked goods and more. It is also an ideal diet food due to being a source of protein, calcium, healthy fatty acids, phosphorus, Vitamin A and Vitamin B.
Can You Freeze Cottage Cheese?
For the question “can you freeze cottage cheese” the answer could be a yes or a no as well. Why? Let us discover it here. Of course yes, you can put this cheese in the freezer and a no because you wouldn’t want to do it every single time.
So, when and when not to freeze cottage cheese?
Since it is a soft cheese, the freezing process would make the milk fat to separate from the rest of the components. You should expect that cottage cheese will be more watery and grainy upon thawing.
However, if you plan to use the said cheese as an ingredient to some recipes, then the frozen stash could be considered. You could indeed buy a lot of cottage sale and stock them in the freezer only if you are in these following situations:
- Making a bake sale and you want to use the cottage cheese in making muffins, cheesecakes, cupcake, cake frosting and cheese bars.
- If you are on a diet or a strict budget and you aren’t meticulous when it comes to food appearance.
- Preparing a large batch of mac and cheese, baked penne, and lasagna for a party.
- If you don’t mind eating a frozen cottage cheese with a baby-food like an appearance as well as consistency.
These are the situations wherein you can choose to freeze your cottage cheese. But, you need to choose the uncreamed or dry option or the whole fat one as it freezes a lot better. The creamed one and the fat-free or low-fat options might turn too mushy right after freezing.
And now, for the NO answer, there are also situations wherein freezing cottage cheese isn’t preferable at all. If you freeze cottage cheese, the texture is not the only component that would change, but the taste will also be affected. So, it is not advised that you freeze cottage cheese if:
- You are very particular with its flavor as freezing and thawing will indeed make it less flavorful.
- You will serve it as a snack dip or a spread for a cracker you will serve on your party.
Though still palatable, frozen cottage cheese wouldn’t look good on a plate. It would be unappealing due to the change in texture, so it is best that you just use it in some dishes as mentioned above.
How To Freeze Cottage Cheese?
Now, if you are going to freeze your cottage cheese, here’s what you need to do:
- It is advised that you use the original container or also an airtight container in sealing the cottage cheese once it is going through the process of freezing.
- There is a need to make sure that as much air is left out of the container or the package and that it is tightly sealed.
- If you freeze cottage cheese, there will be an effect on the consistency of the texture, so it will not have the same taste or flavor as well. But, cottage cheese can still be used like for baking and other purposes. Fat-free and low-fat options will not freeze well. After the freezing process, expect that the cheese will be very icy and it would appear rubbery and mushed in texture at the same time losing the original flavor.
- Right after storing the cheese in the freezer, it is crucial that you move it to the refrigerator to begin the thawing process.
- If you are ready to use the frozen cheese, remove it from the fridge. You should not thaw the cottage cheese on the kitchen counter at a room temperature after the process of freezing. Why? Simply because this will spoil the cottage cheese a lot faster.
- And after thawing, you might want to remove the watery liquid which is not a part of the food item.
- In order to avoid the cheese from being dry or from lacking flavor, it is advised that you add some sour cream to wet as well as freshen it up a bit after the long process of storage. Indeed, a little salt will go a long way in terms of adding some taste to your cottage cheese.
You should follow this guide if you prefer to freeze the cottage cheese.
Final Thoughts
Now that you have learned whether can you freeze cottage cheese or not, you have to be very careful with your decision. Be wary of the situations that call the need of frozen cottage cheese too. I hope you have learned a lot from this article and you can now decide whether to freeze or not your cottage cheese.
For more details or if you have some experience about freezing cottage cheese, please drop your thoughts below. Happy reading everyone!
