[pct-l] Sending cheese

[mardav at charter.net (Marion Davison)]

We have carried 1 oz individually vacuum packed mozarella string cheese for up
to a month with no ill effects and no refrigeration.  We started a trip with
two weeks worth, and left another three weeks  in a cooler (no ice) in the van
to pick up at resupply.  It got sharper, but tasted fine to us.  We never saw
any spoilage.
With VVR charging $1 per stick, I am happy to pay the postage to mail some to
myself.  Please don't interpret this as an attack on VVR, I love the place and
have spent plenty of money there happily.  But I would rather spend money for a
hot restaurant meal there than buy all the food I need for resupply.
Marion Davison

Joanne Lennox wrote:

> I have been experimenting with sending cheese in my resupply boxes. I found
> that the supply at most resupply points was either nonexistent to dismal,
> so figured I did not have a lot to lose if the cheese went bad. I do not
> remember a single package of my own that was bad; one sealed package of
> cracker barrel was moldy in one box.
>
> At first I used a Tilia sealer to seal the cheese; any sealer would
> probably do.  But later I found that any good, unused, unopenned plastic
> bag was fine.  Also, if you get a sealed package in the store, it seems to
> work.
>
> I like good sharp cheese.  So I would get a large, 2 lb, sealed package of
> Tillamook sharp cheese.  I surface sterilized my cutting knife and cutting
> board with a weak bleach solution ( alcohol would work too, as long as you
> let it evaporate), wash my hands very well, and closed the windows so there
> are no drafts.  Lay out the plastic bags, put marks on the cheese wrapper
> where you will cut it, then cut it quickly and put it in the plastic bags,
> pressing most of the air out and sealing(tying a knot is fine). It is
> important to get the cheese into the bag as soon as possible and not to
> suck in air when you are sealing it.  If you have fruit or bread go bad
> very easily in your house, this will probably not work for you as the spore
> load may be just too high.
>
> If you get wedge shaped packages of Gorgonzola cheese, and leave it sealed,
> it has its own culture of Penicillin which I have found gets more and more
> interesting over time and perhaps in the special environment of a post
> office.  I just snipped off the very end of the package and sweezed the
> contents onto a cracker.
>
>  I have had a cheese package in a resupply box for 2 months(snoqualmie),
> and it was fine.  I put the smaller cheese pacakages in the frig or
> freezer, until I send the resupply box.
>
> Joanne---------
> >
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