I have a question about perishable foods, and I know at least one of you has worked in a food bank. I bought cheese in the midwest and had it shipped here to Texas. Part of it stayed somewhat cool, but some had gotten warm in the package (the company promised to send it overnight but ended up sending it 2-day instead - stupid lying capitalists ...)

Anyway, cheese is ok if it's out for a couple days isn't it? I've read that they don't refrigerate it at all in France. Thoughts?

What kind of cheese exactly? If it's real cheese, you'll be fine. Even if cheese develops mold you'd be fine by just scraping the mold off.

It's mild cheddar and cheese curds for the kids to snack on. There was also a wheel of aged sharp cheddar, but that was still somewhat cool. I may toss the cheese curds since they are softer, but the others seem ok - no mold or anything like that. One hunk was kind of soft, but the other two are in wax so I'm thinking those are probably fine.

They should all be fine. The cheese curds too. Check this out:

After twelve hours, even under refrigeration, they have lost much of their "fresh" characteristics, particularly the "squeak". This "squeak" has been described by the New York Times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times) as sounding like "balloons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon) trying to neck".[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_curds#cite_note-0) After twenty-four hours, they will lose their freshness entirely. If they are purchased locally and need to be kept for a couple of days, room temperature, rather than refrigeration, may preserve the flavor and "squeak".

http://buckyville.yuku.com/topic/19182/Cheese-Curds-at-the-Airport#.Th5Qi4JEPWU


Stopped by the Mars Cheese Castle today. * I had a couple of bags of the refrigerated curds in my basket when the check out guy told me that on Tuesdays they sell fresh (Malcore) ones and why don't I sample one of those before buying the refrigerated ones. As I was checking out with two bags of the fresh curds, he also told me that I shouldn't refrigerate them if I am going to consume them within 48 hours. I did a little searching and found this from a food market blog:

"Wisconsin is the only state which has laws on the books regulating the sale of fresh curds. When we receive the curds they are coming directly from the cheese factory. These one pound bags are brought to the cheese department and are kept at a demo station. According to Wisconsin law we are not permitted to refrigerate the fresh curds!...Malcore’s also provides us with refrigerated curds. These curds are kept in the cheese coolers. They are the same exact curd but must be kept refrigerated as indicated by Wisconsin law."

(snip)

learned not to EVER put cheese curds in the fridge within about 2hrs of moving to the Dairy State more then 30yrs ago--don't kill the squeak! And in the middle of Wisc the white curds from Knowlton are usually better then the orange variety in Rudolph----but the cheeses are better in Rudolph

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=30995

:shrug:

that is hilarious - I love this exchange:

AKA TAW wrote: One of the local convenience stores had cheese curds sitting on the counter. They looked pretty good, but I was concerned that they were sitting out, unrefrigerated. When I said something to the sales clerk, she said "Oh, cheese curds don't need refrigeration."

Is this true? It sure doesn't seem right to me.

They have the identical chemical composition as Firestone Tires.


Yes after assorted research (including Rachel Ray's page of all places) I think we're ok. And thanks for the link to the Buckysite - I had no idea that existed. The things I learn on this site ...

My mother in law said once cheese needs to be room temperature and walking and/or sweating...can't remember exactly what she said, but I don't worry too much about cheese since then! (felt my words added significantly to this conversation!)