Shelf Life for Different Cheeses

When it comes to cheese, each one of them can sit on the shelf for a different period of time. There are a lot of factors that go into the shelf life of a certain type of cheese, and it is important to understand how long they can sit before they need to be used up. Make sure that you are familiar with the shelf life of cheeses and how they work, that way, you’ll always know if the cheese that you have laying around is good, or if it needs to go in the trash. Let’s explore the shelf life of cheese.

Different Shelf Life of Cheeses

There are generally three different categories of shelf life that are important to understand for cheese. Each of these shelf lives will be different and are very important because they will tell you if your cheese is good. So, there is going to be a room temperature shelf life, there is also going to be a refrigerator shelf life, and a freezer shelf life of many cheeses. Most cheeses can be classified into three different categories: hard, Swiss, and fresh or soft cheeses. Understanding the shelf life of these three groups will help you classify your cheese and know how long it is going to last and when it needs to be tossed.

Shelf Life of Cheese

For hard cheeses, which would be cheddar, Colby, Monterey jack, and others that are in that classification, they have their own shelf lives. For room temperature, they shouldn’t be left out any longer than eight hours. For the refrigerator, they will generally last 14 to 21 days, and in the freezer it can be between 6 and 10 months. Hard cheeses last the longest, that is for sure.

For Swiss cheese, it is going to be very similar to hard cheeses. They can stay out at room temperature for about 6 hours, they can be in the refrigerator for 14 to 21 days and they can be frozen for between 6 to 8 months.

The soft cheeses, which are generally your fresh cheeses like Feta, Mozzarella, and others have the shortest shelf life of any cheese. They can be at room temperature for only two hours, they can be in the refrigerator for five to seven days, and they can be in the freezer for 4 to 6 months.

Know what the shelf life of your cheese is so that you know if it is good or bad and safe to be consumed, this is crucial to your well being.

-Written by Viktoira Carella