Long life Cheese

[Bushman Ben]

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?

[jose]

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.

[Bushman Ben]

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.

[rogo]

raclette is the king of fondue cheese.

[juju]

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...

[corvus]

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.
corvus

[Macca81]

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...)

[Bushman Ben]

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?

[gayet]

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.

[Perry]

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

Perry

[Liamy77]

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

[WadeThrupp]

cheese is still edible mouldy

Please provide source

[Moondog55]

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

[ribuck]

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.

[Stew63]

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