Freezing before bloom?

[mtncheesemaker]

I am getting hooked on ripened fresh goat or sheep cheeses, and feeling sad that the goat/sheep milk season will be ending soon.  Last fall I made several batches of chevre and successfully froze the cheeses after draining, to eat during the winter.
I am wondering if it is possible to freeze the similar type cheeses made with P. candidum/Geo added, before ripening, then thawing and allowing to ripen later? Anyone ever try this? Seems like I read about this method in a book but can't remember where. Wondering if freezing before or after ripening would be the way to go.
Any advice appreciated.
Pam

[tnsven]

Well I'm not sure about the freezing and ripening thing but you can always package them up and I'll store them for you. 

[mtncheesemaker]

OK, thanks for the offer! I'll certainly keep that in mind! 

[captaincurd]

I'm in the same boat with seasonal milk.  Did you try freezing?  what did you do and do you have any results you would care to share?

A week ago, I froze some lactic bloomies at about day 3 or 4  in a ziploc bag.  haven't tried thawing yet and I'm not sure how to handle  them.  I'm expecting some moisture problems.

[mtncheesemaker]

I haven't tried it yet. I froze some regular chevre which comes out well. It usually gives off a bit of moisture when I thaw it, which I just drain away before using.
Maybe I'll make some bloomy rinds this week and freeze a few after draining. Let me know how yours turn out if you thaw them.
My supplier said he will milk until Thanksgiving so that is welcome news.

[Chris_Abrahamson]

Have you thought about just freezing your supply of milk to hold you until the spring?   I can only obtain 1 gal of goat's milk per week.  So I will freeze what I don't drink until I have 3-4 gallons set aside for making cheese.   So far (knock on rind), I haven't had any issues using frozen milk.  It may be easier to deal with than freezing pre-bloomed cheese.

My supplier will be milking until December so it looks like I'll be switching to commerical cow's milk in January

[mtncheesemaker]

I freeze sheep milk and that works well. I've read mixed results about goat milk. I have a year-round supply of cow milk so I just switch to that in the winter.
I want to try the pre-bloom freezing just as an experiment.

[linuxboy]

I've only had success doing this for a full lactic or semi-lactic curd that I drained in bags at 4.7, targetting 4.5 for final. Texture was off on a full rennet set. I froze with salt added, .8-1%

it worked for me doing both spray inoculating and freezing with the milk inoculated. I did freeze in small vac bags (4x6") to ensure they froze quickly.

I did have a little wheying off, but not significant. In some cases, I re-mixed to homogenize.

[FRANCOIS]

There are a number of manufacturers that do this.  They will freeze naked camemberts (in rapid chillers and shipped in deep freeze) and thaw/ripen in the local market.  It's how they get around limited shelf life.  I have never done this though, but a colleague has worked on it using traditionally made curd and it allegedly worked.  The trick, apparently, is to rapid freeze and keep in a very cold freezer (-18c).

[linuxboy]

I tried to do just that, Francois, and I defrosted very slowly per classic cell/tissue preservation protocol, and I still didn't like the cams as much. They were OK, just a little different. Suitable for sale.

With the lactic curds, I couldn't really tell the difference after defrosting.

Another approach used commercially is UF with bactofugation. It makes for retentate that is stable at room temp and this way can be stored until needed, or shipped and made elsewhere.

[FRANCOIS]

Yes, UF freezing is very popular in Europe.  It's why you can buy Castello in virtually every market on the planet.  Freezing of stabilised or even traditional make is very dependent on your moisture content.  44-45% and you will notice a difference, above 50 you won't, I think we were trialing 53.

[mtncheesemaker]

Thanks, LB and Francois for this discussion. I'm going to give this a try, even though my methodology won't be so sophisticated.
Pam

[Tomer1]

I dont see why you couldnt freeze camambert or any other mold ripened cheese which can be ripened by spraying spores after defrosting since the crusual protein modification that "makes" this style is at the surface mold ripening stage.