Can You Freeze Goat Cheese?

Looking if you can freeze the goat cheese? As much as I want to give you a short answer with yes or no, it will vary if you have soft goat cheese, soft-ripened, or hard goat cheese. For each type of cheese, you need to take a different approach. Read further to find how to keep the original taste and texture if you plan to keep the goat cheeses in the fridge or freeze them for a longer period of time.

You will find different goat cheeses from all around the globe. I just found at least 50-60 variations of goat cheeses, however, the richest variety of goat cheeses you will find in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. But of course, you can also find some types of goat cheeses that are produced in the United States such are the Kunik goat cheese which has similar properties as Brie and another type of goat cheese that you can find in the US is Humboldt Fog which is mold-ripened goat cheese.

There are a lot of types of goat cheeses, from soft fresh goat cheeses to some hard aged cheeses. Because of that, you may need to use different methods while you will freeze those goat cheeses to make sure that you will keep their original taste and texture and that you will avoid drying the goat cheeses. More on that, below.

If you want to find the tricks behind keeping the goat cheese for longer without losing its texture and taste in time, read further to find the exact tips for your specific type of goat cheese. I will answer all your questions you may have about the shelf life of goat cheeses, storage tips, how to properly freeze them, and even more important how to defrost correctly the goat cheeses to keep the same texture as before freezing.

As goat cheeses have a delicate taste, and at the same time a very strong smell, it’s important to pay attention to how you will store and even freeze. There isn’t a simple method because some sort of goat cheeses will need to seal properly while another you will need to leave them to breathe, otherwise, you risk spoiling the goat cheese in a short period of time

If you will store the goat cheeses correctly, I promise that you can enjoy a similar flavor from them even after a few months of freezing without any degradation.

So, read further in order to know what you should pay attention to when you plan to keep for longer your piece of delicious goat cheese.

Can You Freeze Goat Cheese?

If you have a type of hard goat cheese, it will freeze perfectly for up to 6 months. You can freeze it grated or as large pieces. If you want to freeze a soft goat cheese, I don’t recommend freezing it because it has a higher amount of liquids in its composition and after freezing, it will become watery. Because the liquid will separate from the protein.

As a general rule, the fatter the goat cheese is, the less you can keep it in the freezer.

Pro Tip: If your piece of goat cheese has a strong smell, put it in two freezer bags or in a special freezing container, otherwise, its smell will spread throughout the freezer and other ingredients will absorb this smell.

Before You Will Freeze the Goat Cheese…

Before you will start to freeze the goat cheese (and other food ingredients), make sure that you set your freezer to work at the right temperature. Make sure that it is set to 0°F / -18° C. Otherwise you risk forming different ice crystals on the goat cheese or other products that you intend to freeze and after thawing, you will lose their original texture.

If you will freeze the goat cheese at a temperature that will be higher than 0°F / -18°C, the cheese will keep up to 3 months without changing its properties, while products the goat cheeses that will be frozen at 0°F / -18°C will have a shelf life of up to 6 months.

How to Properly Freeze It?

Step 1. Check if the Cheese Is Perfectly Fresh.

Before you will put the goat cheese in the freezer, make sure that your piece of goat cheese is perfectly fresh and it is worth freezing. You will be disappointed when after 6 months you will take off the goat cheese from the freezer and you will notice that it has some molds.

If your piece of goat cheese was for a while on the table at room temperature, or if you have some doubts about the freshness of the cheese, check carefully if your piece of goat cheese doesn’t have any bad signs of deterioration. Does it have a good fresh smell? Does it have some unusual colors on it? If you will notice some indications that your goat cheese changed and it started to go bad, maybe it is a better idea to clean it properly from those parts and to cook now something from this piece of goat cheese?

Step 2. Divide the Cheese into Servings.

While some people may put the whole piece of goat cheese in the freezer, I will recommend dividing it into small chunks in the size of servings you plan to consume. Also, if we are referring to a hard type of cheese, you can grate it.

In that way, you will not need every time to take away the entire piece of goat cheese from the freezer and as a result, it will keep for longer.

Think about in what dishes you will use this piece of goat cheese and how much you will need of it?

In case you will eat it as is, think how much goat cheese you will eat within a period of 5 days. This is the maximum period that you can eat safe the thawed goat cheese from the fridge.

Step 3. Wrap Properly.

If this is soft or semi-soft goat cheese, you can keep it just in an air-tight container that closes well. If you have hard goat cheese, in order to prevent the cheese from drying out, I will recommend wrapping it in parchment paper or wax paper and then you can additionally foil or plastic wrap to keep the texture and taste during the freezing.

Warning: If you plan to freeze a hard goat cheese, don’t close it in an air-tight container. It needs to have oxygen and breathe. Otherwise, you risk forming different molds on it, and shortly it will start to spoil. For the hard cheeses, just wrap them well in parchment or wax paper.

Quick Note: If you will use freezer bags, squeeze as much air out from the bags as you can. If you have under your hands a vacuum sealer, you can use even it for that purpose. Also, if you will not close properly the freezing container or you will use a bad brand of freezing bag, you may lose your delicious piece of goat cheese.

Step 4. Put a Freezing Label on It.

Put a freezing label on the containers or freezer bags with the name of the product, the date you froze the cheese, and when it will expire. If you plan to eat the goat cheese as is, I will recommend not keeping it for more than 3 months, if you will plan to use it in different dishes, you can keep it for even six months.

How to Defrost Properly the Goat Cheese?

Looking for the best way to thaw the goat cheese? It is not as easy as may you think. Even if you did everything correctly until now, you can easily ruin the texture of the goat cheese, or even worse, let the goat cheese get different bacteria that will make your piece of goat cheese spoil in just a few hours if you will not thaw it correctly.

To make sure that the goat cheese defrosts properly, leave it in the fridge overnight on the first shelf because the temperature is higher in the top part of the fridge. By defrosting the goat cheese slowly in the fridge, the ice crystals will melt evenly and slowly. As a result, the texture will not be damaged.

Warning: Don’t defrost the goat in the microwave, because it will start to cook. Also, don’t thaw the goat cheese at room temperature or even worse on a plate with hot water. If you will do that, there will form different bacteria and goat cheese will go bad shortly.

How Long Does Sealed and Opened Goat Cheese Last in the Fridge?

It all depends on the type of goat cheese that you may have because the storage time may differ from one type of cheese to another.

After you will open the package of the goat cheese, you will have less than a week to eat all the packages of fresh goat cheese and up to a month if we are referring to hard goat cheese. If you see that you can’t finish the entire package until that time, then I will recommend freezing this cheese. This will increase its storage period.

I’m going to describe the storage tips in detail for each type of goat cheese. As a general rule: the softer the goat cheese will be, the less it will keep fresh.

Soft and Fresh Goat Cheeses

For How Long You Can Keep This Goat Cheese?

So for example, if you have a soft and fresh goat cheese that is in its sealed package, you can keep it for 1 to 3 weeks until it will go bad. After you will open the package, it will last for about 5-7 days. These types of cheeses have similar proprieties to cream cheese in regards to storage and freezing.

Storage Tips. Best way to keep them?

Usually, those spreadable goat cheeses come in resealable packages that you can reuse a few times. If your goat cheese doesn’t have such a package, you can easily use an air-tight container to move the goat cheese in it.

Quick Note: In case you will use a freezer bag, squeeze gently all the air excesses from the bag.

Soft-ripened Goat Cheeses

For How Long You Can Keep The Cheese?

If you have a piece of Soft-ripened goat cheese, you can keep it for less than two weeks in its sealed package. After you will open the package, the soft-ripened goat cheeses will last up to 10 days.

These types of goat cheeses have similar storage and freezing properties like have brie cheese.

Storage Tips. Best Way to Keep Them?

The soft-ripened goat cheese keeps best their taste and texture if you will wrap them in parchment paper or wax paper, then move the wrapped goat cheese into a freezer bag. By wrapping the soft-ripened goat cheese into parchment paper, you will avoid drying it out.

Semi-hard or Semi-soft Goat Cheeses

For How Long You Can Keep It?

Are you a lover of Semi-hard to semi-soft goat cheeses? You can store those for up to a few weeks if you will keep them sealed and for up to three weeks after you will open the package.

Storage Tips. Best Way to Keep Them?

As those are hard, you don’t have to worry about it going to warp in the freezer. Because of that, just put them in a freezer bag. If you plan to keep the semi-hard and semi-soft goat cheeses for a longer period of time, it won’t be superfluous to wrap the cheeses from this category in parchment paper or wax paper.

Hard Goat Cheeses

For How Long You Can Keep This Goat Cheese?

And in the last category, we have the hard goat cheeses. The goat cheeses from these categories can last for up to 6 months if you will freeze them at a proper temperature. If you will open the package, make sure that you will consume the entire package in less than a month.

Storage Tips. Best Way to Keep Them?

If you want to keep the hard goat cheeses for longer in the freezer, you need to allow them to breathe. For that, wrap them just in parchment or wax paper. If you will close them tightly in a well-closing container, the hard goat cheese will not breathe, and there is a risk that mold will form.

To be easier for you, I made a quick table that you can save for later:

Types of Goat Cheese	Sealed Package	Opened Package
Soft and Fresh Cheeses	up to 3 weeks	less than 1 week
Soft-ripened Cheeses	up to 2 weeks	up to 10 days
Semi-soft Cheeses	up to 3 weeks	up to 3 weeks
Semi-fresh Cheeses	up to 3 weeks	up to 3 weeks
Hard Cheeses	up to 3 months	up to a month

Quick Note: Keep in mind that those timings start from the sealing date on the packages of the goat cheeses. As this is only a general rule, I highly recommend checking the exact expiration date on the package.

How to Tell if Goat Cheese Goes Bad?

Does It Smell Differently?

The first and the easiest way is to smell the goat cheese. If you notice a sour smell, then get rid of this goat cheese. It is not safe anymore to eat. If it smells as usual, then let’s go to the visual part of the cheese.

Does It Change How It Looks?

Analyze in detail the cheese. Do you notice some molds or color differences that are not native to this cheese? Does it have some greenish fuzz? If you have a soft or fresh goat cheese then your cheese is spoiled and you need to throw it into the trash bin. It is not safe to eat. If you have a semi-hard or hard cheese, you can use a knife to cut those molds with some extra cheese around those spots.

Any Difference in Texture?

And the last one is to analyze the possible texture change of the cheese. The most common option is that the goat cheese becomes harder and dries out because you didn’t wrap well enough or you used a bad quality container or freezer bag.

Bonus. Are You Brave Enough?

And as a bonus for the brave, you can taste the goat cheese to check if it changed the taste. If it tastes off, throw it out and get rid of it.

Answering Your Questions