Can you freeze cream cheese?
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Can you freeze cream cheese? A new question that may help you escape from the typical taste of cream cheese. Have you thought about that? If your answer is yes, let me tell you about my story. You must be surprised to hear that.
On that day, I was so tired of regular cream cheese, though it used to be a common and valuable ingredient in most of my recipes. More importantly, I bought a lot of cream cheese due to the recent sale-off campaigns.
You must not have imagined that I put all of them in the fridge to keep it longer. And this helped me renew my life successfully. Cream cheese is an old ingredient, but frozen cream cheese is still a secret.
Are you eager to unveil this secret? I will help you to do it right now.
What Is Cream Cheese?
To begin with, I will mention a short brief of cream cheese. In this part, you will sum up your knowledge about cream cheese.
Cream cheese is a soft, fresh, and mild-flavored mixture. Since it is usually combined with cream and milk, it has a creamy texture. You might taste a little sweetness and enjoy a slight aroma as well.
In addition, the fat content in cream cheese is recorded as at least 33 percent, which means cream cheese provides higher calories, richness, and special consistency.
More importantly, the unique difference is that cream cheese does not need time to mature. While other cheeses will increase their flavor and texture if they are aged, cream cheese is totally different. You can add cream cheese directly to your dishes.
What Types Of Cream Cheese Are There?
There are many types of cream cheese. Every version has its stunning characteristics. Let’s discover and find out what type you may like best.
Since it’s available in several different kinds, it is not difficult to choose a tub of cream cheese. However, in this part, I will supply some common genres to help you make decisions quickly.
Here is a list of cream cheese you may see in every store.
- Regular cream cheese
- Full-fat cream cheese
- Low-fat cream cheese
- Fat-free cream cheese
Besides, you have a variety of flavor-based choices such as herb, strawberry, honey, and walnut. Some veggies and fruits can be used in cream cheese processing as well. This depends on every producer in every country.
Can Cream Cheese Be Frozen?
Since a box of cream cheese is quite full to use at once, you may want to keep it for the next time. However, you do not know if cream cheese can be frozen or not. In this section, your concerns will be solved.
You do not want to waste the leftover cream cheese, or sometimes, you take advantage of sale-off campaigns in supermarkets. And does freezing cream cheese work?
The answer is yes. Freezing is the most efficient technique to extend the product’s expiration. And cream cheese is not an exception. You can freeze cream cheese and keep it cool in the refrigerator.
Occasionally, you are in impulsive buying situations and several cream cheese are purchased. Even if you have prepared several packs of cream cheese for your recipes, then you change your mind.
Just let them in the freezer. With proper preservation, you will save money and save it for another dish.
However, freezing cream cheese may affect its texture and aroma. Once you let it cool and thaw, it becomes crumbly and less creamy. More importantly, because of the high rate of moisture and fat in cream cheese, this mixture will be separated and grainy once thawed.
In addition, your cream cheese may have mold, strange odor, and even look bad if you leave it in the freezer for a long time. So, the best time to keep it fresh and safe to use is probably two months.
How To Quickly Freeze Cream Cheese At Home?
You never seem to get started because of a variety of untruthful references. You are not good at cooking without any guide. Do not worry. I’m here to help you make your cream cheese easily.
Cream cheese is available, quite expensive, and various types in the market. However, you may want to do it by yourself. Let’s cover this part and take the step-by-step guide below.
What You Need To Prepare
The better you prepare, the more delicious your cream cheese will be. All you need to make cream cheese easily is
- A saucepan
- A sieve with cheesecloth
- A food processor
Besides, the table below is the detail of the necessary ingredients that I usually use to make homemade cream cheese. You also have your preference to add or mix any substances in the cooking process.
| Ingredients | Weight |
| Full-fat milk | One liter/ 4 cups |
| Vinegar/ Lime juice/ Lemon juice | 2-3 tablespoons |
| Salt | 1 tablespoon |
| Herb, strawberry, honey, and walnut (optional) | 1-2 tablespoons |
This recipe is used to make a limited amount of cream cheese. With one liter or 4 cups of full-fat milk, you can make a cup of cream cheese. So, you can change the weight of ingredients to meet your demand.
Regarding choosing full-fat milk, if you use special-flavored milk, your cream cheese will taste similar to this. In case you want to go on a diet, low-calorie almond milk will be the best choice.
How To Make Cream Cheese?
Making cream cheese is not as difficult as you have known. With simple ingredients, you can have it on hand right now. Let’s do experiments.
Following my recipes, it could not be easier to make cream cheese. And these are some simple steps that help you
Stage 1: Add full-fat milk to your saucepan with medium-high heat.
No matter what genres of milk you are interested in, try to use the full-fat version. Milk needs curdling to enhance the consistency of cream cheese.
In the beginning, you should adjust a medium heat so that all of the milk comes to a simmer. In this stage, you need to stir very often, which reduces residue and the burning of the bottom.
Stage 2: Add a moderate level of vinegar, lime juice, or lemon juice.
These sour liquids will work well in the milk saucepan. You can divide it into 2-3 times to add a little vinegar, lime juice, or lemon juice and stir it frequently.
And you can stop this step when there are some curds on the top. Make sure your milk is completely curdled after pouring all the liquid.
Stage 3: Separate the curds from the whey and put them in the food processor.
You can use a sieve with a cheesecloth that is important to catch all the curds without leftover whey. Please drain it for only 15 minutes without leaving it overnight.
After all, the liquid is completely dropped. You can put the curds into the food processor to make it smooth, creamy, and nice. Before that, you can add a little bit of salt to flavor it.
In this step, if you want to change the traditional flavor, you can add the herb, strawberry, honey, and walnut. It depends on your taste.
Moreover, I also leave a visualized instruction below. It would be better to watch the video and follow my instructions.
How To Freeze Cream Cheese?
And next, I will show you the last step on how to freeze cream cheese. This is a simple one that helps you to enhance your flavor. Keep going.
When you have done the aforementioned steps, let’s move on to how to keep it cooler. This requires only a freezer. And this homemade mixture will last for seven days. The better ingredients you choose, the longer shelf life cream cheese may have.
However, you should wrap cream cheese carefully before leaving it in the fridge. An airtight glass container will be more convenient to store, which reduces the soggy situation in the humid environment.
In addition, if you do not have time to make cream cheese, you can buy it in every store. And you may have two cases, including unopened and opened cream cheese. More specifically, I will help you know how to freeze them with a blink.
Freezing Unopened Cream Cheese
It seems easy to freeze cream cheese in its original package. Let’s disclose how to freeze it.
Due to having many unopened cream cheese on hand, you do not know how to extend the shelf life. Just keep these sealed packs in the freezer.
No matter what materials its package is made of, it is also protected well. However, I highly recommend you wrap these unopened cream cheese in a plastic box to keep it safer.
The expiration that a block of unopened cream cheese can have in the fridge lasts up to 6 months, though it is good to use within 1 month.
Freezing Opened Cream Cheese
When it comes to opened cream cheese, there is no difference between unopened and opened cream cheese. You can freeze it in the refrigerator.
However, unsealed cream cheese needs wrapping carefully before making it cooler. The leftover cream cheese may become soggy, moldy, and less consistent unless covered in an airtight container.
And since the texture may change in the humid environment, the shelf life is shorter. You have only 7-10 days to use a brick of opened cream cheese before it goes bad.
How To Use Frozen Cream Cheese?
There’s no doubt that cream cheese will be changed after defrosting. And this makes you tired. Are you looking for new recipes for frozen cream cheese?
The texture of cream cheese becomes grainy and less consistent if it is thawed. This affects the quality of cream cheese and causes some problems on how to choose proper dishes.
So, what can you do with it?
Frozen cream cheese can be used together with baked goods or dishes that require high heat. It can be used in a variety of dishes whose flavors do not depend on frozen cream cheese too much. Besides, you can thaw it in the refrigerator to take time to cook.
Well, I know where you are and what problems you are facing as well. I leave a list of dishes that are suitable to use with defrosted cream cheese.
Although the taste of defrosted cream cheese differs, you can do experiments to enjoy new recipes. Hope this will be beneficial to you.
- Poundcakes
- Cream cheese cookies
- Chicken casserole
- Baked spaghetti pie casserole
- Baked cream cheese dip
- Fondue
- Omelet
FAQs
Because you may spend time freezing cream cheese, you may have some related problems. Here are the frequently asked questions that you may be in the same situation. I hope this section will help you more.
Useful Tips For Freezing Cream Cheese
This part is probably your interest. In this final section, I also reveal some useful tips that make cream cheese freeze better.
There are several types of cream cheese on the market. And sometimes, you do not know what cream cheese is frozen best. Let me share with you 3 helpful tips below.
- Choose bricks of cream cheese for later use. The package of them is in foil and paper, which is better to freeze.
- You can add milk, sour cream, or heavy cream to make frozen cream cheese become creamy. While whipping the texture, you can use these ingredients to save time.
- You can use the quick freezer to freeze cream cheese. This will reduce the soggy situation while defrosting. The faster cream cheese freezes, the less grainy it has.
Finally, let’s renew your recipes with frozen cream cheese. If you have any concerns, try to contact me via comments. I’m always waiting to hear about your experiments as well.
