Somewhat obscure question.. about cheese

[Greatsilverwyrm]

Ok.. first of all, I am very much a cheese "noob", and am not the best cook ever, so, if what I'm about to ask is silly, don't laugh.. :oops:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've got some fresh parmesan and asiago cheese, and I'd like to shred/grade it for various things, but in the past it's had too much moisture and has ended up sticking into a big clump..

 

 

 

So.. how would I go about drying the cheese? Also - do I do it before I grade/shred it?

[Bubsa]

I've found this with certain cheeses (ironically the tastier ones) like mozzarella as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've found you should bring the cheese you want out of the fridge around an hour or two before serving/grating. It makes cheese taste better. However, the firmer cheese is, the easier it is to grate. So what you really should do is grate it straight from the fridge and then let the grated cheese reach room temperature. Cheese grates (or shreds) better when cold; if you're cooking with cheese, you might even want to put the cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes before grating it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parmesan and asagio cheese are renowned for being hard to grate. The age of the cheese, it's moisture content and milkfat content all contribute to the cheese's ability to grate. If the content and age is higher, the harder the cheese is to grate. Keep your cheese young and fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grate your cheese with a rotary-type grated. It makes life a lot easier and gets proper grated cheese out of your clump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To save time, people sometimes grate at fast speed and push the cheese in hard. However, when pushed too hard the cheese acts like a brake and it slows down. It also heats up the cheese. Look to replace your grater if the holes become less blunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm all out of cheese information now, I hope this helps you though! :P

[Eng]

lol funny stuff :)

[Greatsilverwyrm]

Interesting info, Bubsa, though mostly known to me, and seemingly not helpful as per my question.. or did I misunderstand something you said?

 

 

 

(that was not meant to come off as rude, sorry if it seemed so)

[Average_Hobo]

I once cut my finger grating parmasion cheese :( Sorry just needed to say that :P

[insane]

IMO, you don't want to dry it ;) moisture is good in a cheese, actually, at most stores with a deli you can buy Swiss cheese at a certain moisture percentage, as some people consider some moisture contents better than others... drying it would only screw up the composition? Kind of like dehydrated milk and stuff... it's just not right :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You *can* buy pregrated parmesan... but that's probably not of the highest quality, plus I hate buying predone stuff... I like making from scratch.

[____]

Depends on what you're using it for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have some parmesan that I use with Pasta dishes which I keep in an open-air food safe (grates like powder and I love it :D). And I have anything else in the fridge/freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just for 'various uses' isn't going to help much :P

[Greatsilverwyrm]

For grading, basically.. so your method of the open air foodsafe would be good for what I want.

 

 

 

'Cept that I don't have one.. so.. plate on the counter good, you think?

[____]

If you don't have any pets which could get it then should be good I supose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got kittens so I have to protect food from them :P

[How2PK]

I don't know how you abuse your parmigiano, but how the hell do you get moisture in it? Try keeping it out of the fridge. And you have got two types of asiago, you've got the old one, and the fresh one which is (semi-) soft. If you keep having your problems, try something else than parmigiano or asiago, for example grana padano which is similiar to parmigiano but made in different part of Italy and loads cheaper too. At the deli I worked we sold parmigiano reggiano (straight from the piece of course) which is suposed to be the best parmigiano and we never had any problems, and we never got customers complaining either. And we always kept the cheese out of the cooling, of course. Don't keep your parmigiano in the fridge before shredding it. It is already hard and doesn't become much softer when you keep it outside, however if you cool it, it gets too hard and you have a high chance it breaks while shredding it, and of course if it has been cool and then suddendly it's on room temperature again makes it sweat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edit]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

parmesanonline[/url]":2pr9tx0s]Keep the cheese wrapped in its special paper and store in a fresh, dry place or in the fridge in the fruit and vegetable compartment. To taste the cheese at its best we advise you to unwrap it from its vacuum package at least five hours before eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read and learn a lot of other stuff about other itallian quality products aswell.

[limpxbizkid]

ive found the easiest way to grade parmesan is use a grader with the tiny holes. every time i see parmesan in shops or at restaurants it kind resembles a powder. which i hope "snorting" this powder is not one of your various uses for grading cheese.

 

 

 

although if cookingwise your out to impress and make some kind of weird salad or something use a potato peeler. it looks mad.