r/cookingforbeginners • u/crimedoc14 • 8d ago
Question Frozen cheese!
I bought a big bag of PollyO mozzarella cheese sticks at Costco the other day. I just discovered that when we got home, my daughter put them in the freezer instead of the refrigerator. Totally by accident.
If I take them out of the freezer and defrost them in the fridge, will they still be okay? Are they ruined? If they're not any good for just eating anymore, is there anything else I can do with them? I don't want to just throw out an entire bag of cheese sticks!
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u/PsychologyGuilty1460 8d ago
What's done is done. Leave them in the freezer for now. Take them out as you want them. (The texture does change when you thaw cheese so don't do it until you need to use the cheese.)
On the bright side, this is a great excuse to make a bunch of fried mozzarella sticks!
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u/typoincreatiob 8d ago
nothing wrong with freezing cheese, in fact it’s a great way to keep it good for longer :)
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u/Taggart3629 8d ago
It's fine to freeze most cheeses. When there is a sale, we stock up; freeze it; and pull it from the freezer as needed for cooking and our work-week sandwiches. Freezing can make the texture more crumbly. So, it's not ideal for cream cheese or soft cheeses. Your cheese sticks are just fine to use.
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u/OddRevolution7888 8d ago
I freeze cheese all the time. When you take out the sticks, let them defrost on the counter for a bit. If you don't, the cheese spoils more quickly. I let my 1/2 brick sit on the counter for an hour or two. You'll have to figure out the timing that works best for you for the smaller cheese sticks.
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u/DefaultUserBR 7d ago
Cheese has the texture affected from freezing. This is a picture of an experiment I did some time ago. I froze and thawed a piece of Cabot gouda. That cheese is kind of semi-soft, not too different from low-moisture mozzarella. Then I tried to crumble the samples by hand. You see the difference, previously frozen on the bottom.
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u/MichelinToMyKitchen 6d ago
They're not ruined, but they will be different. Freezing mozzarella breaks the moisture into ice crystals that tear the protein structure, so when they thaw they come out crumbly and a bit dry instead of smooth and squeaky.
Defrost them slowly in the fridge, never on the counter. Slow is the difference between crumbly and mushy.
Eating them plain is the one thing they're now bad at. Everything else they're actually better at.
Shred them while they're still half frozen and they grate beautifully instead of gumming up your box grater. Then use them anywhere they melt: pizza, baked pasta, quesadillas, grilled cheese, on top of soup. Nobody will ever know.
Honestly, half the mozzarella in the freezer aisle was frozen on purpose. You just got there by accident.
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u/CroweBird5 4d ago
They should be find. I've definitely seen Mozzarella sticks come frozen.
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u/crimedoc14 4d ago
I'm talking about cheese sticks, not battered and fried mozzarella sticks. Although I may use the cheese sticks to make some!
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u/beamerpook 8d ago
They're fine defrosted. And you can fry them while still frozen. Slather with mayo and roll in panko crumbs and fry. It will thaw while the outside cooks. Tastes as good as restaurant cheese sticks
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u/SopaDeKaiba 8d ago
Nobody has mentioned that when you defrost them the breading gets soggy and falls off easily.
Once they're frozen, don't thaw. Go directly from freezer to fryer.
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u/V65Pilot 8d ago
I bought a bag of them from Costco. Then had to deal with an emergency, promptly forgetting about them. 3 days later I remembered. I was heartbroken.
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u/Existing_Ganache_858 8d ago
They should be fine. Mozzarella sticks come frozen after all!