40lb.round of opened grana padano cheese
I bought a 80lb. round of Grano Padano cheese and had it opened horizontally to use 1/2 of it for wedding. We "chunked" out a good portion of the center so the guests could nibble on it while tasting wine. The other 1/2 we would like to save for another wedding that is 3 months away. We want to keep it uncut and do the same thing for the Pre-dinner wine tasting. My question is: What is the best way to preserve it? I might be able to cryovac the whole piece and freeze it, but I understand it might lose some flavor and become crumbly. I can also refrigerate it. Would wrapping it in wax paper, then heavy duty aluminum foil, be the best way? I would be grateful for any answers!
Best Answer
I think your best bet might be to re-wax the cut surface with cheese wax, available from cheesemaking suppliers, and then store in the fridge, unless you have a cheese cave handy. In general a vertical halving will reduce storage loss by minimizing the cut surface - you could have had the same cheese availability by vertically halving the wheel (with a smaller cut surface) and then horizontally slicing the half you were using, opening it like a book if looking for the "whole round of cheese" look.
Your other best bet might be a bit too late, which is to be sure wedding one has paid for the whole cheese, and wedding two is prepared to pay for a whole cheese, so that if you open it up in 3 months and have a problem, the problem is only "smaller profit" not "taking a loss on trying to store cheese for 90 days after opening."
Linked item is just one I found as an example, not affiliated or even a customer.
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How much is a whole wheel of Grana Padano?
Grana Padano Cheese (Quarter Wheel)PriceSize$245.0020lb (9kg)How long will Grana Padano last?
Yes - after the cheese is opened, it will typically remain safe to use for about 6 weeks, even if the "sell-by" or "best by" date on the package expires.How do you store Grana Padano after opening?
Grana Padano is best stored in a fridge kept at temperatures around around 4\xb0 C (39\xb0 F). It is best to not store alongside other strong-flavoured cheeses as this may compromise the integrity. Always wrap in a cotton or hemp cloth to prevent the texture from drying out.Can you put Grana Padano in the freezer?
Parmesan cheese freezes very well mainly because of its low water content. The same applies to other low moisture cheeses, such as grana padano.How to Break Open 40kgs CHEESE WHEEL Grana Padano
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Answer 2
Freezing the cheese is OK.
Grana Padano is a hard cheese (it does not slice easily and does not spread); and will mostly be used shredded or grated; so texture loss due to freezing will not be an issue.
As in all frozen things, freeze as fast as possible (make small portions, if possible to speed up the freezing process) and thaw as slowly as possible (in the fridge over a couple of days).
In the case of a large chunk like yours, you might have to scrape a little bit of the outside surface when the cheese it thawed (moisture accumulation will be the surface a little bit gooey.
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