Brie cheese can be an expensive treat. If you found it at a sale and stocked up, I don’t blame you. And if you’re like me, you were a little overzealous and bought too much.
Now that you know that, look for ways to make this soft cheese last longer. And, as with other foods, freezing emerged as the number one answer. Can You Freeze Brie? Let’s talk about freezing this French white mold cheese.
Can You Freeze Brie Cheese?
Technically, you can freeze any food, but as we both know, some foods freeze better than others. Brie, with its smooth, semi-soft texture, doesn’t freeze particularly well, but it proves good enough for simmered and baked recipes. When it comes to putting a thawed slice on a sandwich, you might be a little disappointed.
This means that whenever you’re freezing brie, your best bet is to find a dish that needs cooking or baking. And it doesn’t have to be fancy. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. I decided to try toasting bread with brie slices in the oven. The setup couldn’t be simpler:
I popped the toasts in the oven for about 12 minutes, and here’s what I got:
They may not look particularly tasty, but I thought they were delicious.
Of course, frozen and thawed Brie is still edible without cooking, but you might not like it that much. It’s best if you try to eat it in a single slice, and if you don’t quite like it, toast the rest.
Tip
Not sure if you’re ready to take the plunge and freeze the brie? Check out its durability. Maybe you can still use it before it goes bad.
How do you freeze brie?
If you look at the other guides out there, almost all of them suggest slicing the brie and wrapping each piece individually. I’m not a fan of this method for two reasons.
First, you’ll be prompted to use a fair amount of plastic in the form of freezer wrap. And as you probably know, we could all use less plastic and produce less waste. Secondly, wrapping each individual slice sounds like quite a bit of work. I don’t know about you, but I’m much more likely to pull off a 3 minute freezing routine than a 10 minute one. I’ll tell you how I do freezing brie:
- Cut the letter’s wheel or wedge into portions. The size and shape is up to you. Think about how you plan to use the cheese once it’s thawed, and cut accordingly. If you don’t have a plan, use slices.
- Grab a resealable freezer bag and a cookie sheet or shallow casserole dish. Place the bag sideways on the sheet.
- Transfer the slices to this freezer bag and lay them out in a single layer. Make sure the pieces don’t touch each other. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and seal tightly.
- Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Leave it there until the slices freeze.
- Remove the sheet from the freezer as it is no longer needed. If you’re concerned about the cheese being crushed by other foods, place the freezer bag in a container for added security.
As you can see, the whole process is super easy (I also use it to freeze blue cheese ) and takes a few minutes. We still freeze the cheese with as little air as possible to avoid freezer burn and to keep the quality of the cheese high. And you can easily pop a slice or two out of the freezer bag without having to thaw the whole thing.
Read Also: Can you freeze pasta?
How Long Can You Store Frozen Brie?
Frozen Brie cheese retains its good quality for up to 6 months ( NCHFP, FKA ). As with all frozen food products, quality gradually deteriorates. So the sooner you use it, the better.
Brie isn’t going to go bad after those six months or anything, so don’t throw it out right away if it’s been frozen for more than half a year. Thaw it in the fridge (for best results) and watch it come out. If it turns out bad, then discard it.
How do you defrost Brie?
When it comes to thawing frozen Brie, there are several options:
- Thaw in the fridge. Although thawing in the refrigerator takes time, it is the safest method and produces the best results. Toss the frozen pieces in the fridge at night, and they should be ready by morning. If the slices are thick, it may take even longer.
- Use a cold water bath. If you can’t wait another 12 hours for the semi-hard cheese to thaw in the refrigerator, place the bag in a saucepan filled with cold water. It should be ready within 2 to 3 hours depending on the size and shape of the pieces.
- Use it frozen. If your brie is going into a soup, stew, or baked dish, you should be comfortable throwing it in frozen. It may take a few more minutes for the dish to cook, but that’s about it.
How long does thawed Brie last?
In general, it’s difficult to say how long a thawed brie cheese will last. As always, it’s best to eat it right after it’s thawed. But if that’s not possible or you have leftovers, try to finish them within a day or two at most.
If it’s been more than two or three days since you thawed your Brie, throw it out. That’s another reason why you should freeze it in chunks – with chunks, you can only thaw as much as you need, leaving you with no leftovers after thawing.
If you’ve thawed the cheese in the fridge and immediately know you’ve thawed too much, it should be safe to refreeze it.
Not sure if freezing is a good idea, or have other questions about freezing? Visit our FAQ.
How long does Brie last?
Brie keeps for about two to three weeks ( FKA ) once it’s in the fridge at the supermarket. A best before date is given on the label and the cheese usually only keeps its good quality for a few days after this date, at most. So if the cheese is due tomorrow and you plan to use it the day after tomorrow, there probably isn’t much point in freezing it. Save him and the fridge and he should be fine.
As the letter is approaching its date, you should always check it for spoilage before using it. Are you looking for:
- Discolouration and mold that are not inherent in cheese, eg blue or green mold.
- Ammonia-like or foul smell ( WIKI ).
- Hardened texture.
If everything seems fine, taste the cheese. If it tastes good, discard it.
warning
If Brie gets moldy, don’t just cut off the moldy part and use the rest. You can get away with hard cheeses like Parmesan, but Brie is a soft cheese where mold spreads quickly. This means that even if the rest of the wedge doesn’t appear to be moldy, it isn’t necessarily the case. Better safe than sorry.
What is brie cheese?
Brie is a soft cheese made from cow’s milk. Like many other cheeses (e.g. Camembert), it is named after the place it originally came from. In this case it is the Brie region in France ( WIKI ).
The white mold rind of sweetbreads is produced by either one of the cheese fungi (Penicillium candidum, Penicillium camemberti) or the bacterium Brevibacterium linens and takes at least 4 to 5 weeks to set. Check out Wikipedia to learn more about this popular dairy snack.