How Long Does Blue Cheese Last (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Up to 4 weeks

Blue cheese is renowned for its distinctive flavors. The smell of the blue cheese would be quite distinctive as compared to the normal cheese. Penicillium cultures are used for making blue cheese. The blue cheese requires a cool temperature and a dry place to get stored.

Just like other varieties of cheese, blue cheese would go bad early if not stored with proper safe storage techniques. The shelf life of the blue cheese would get extended if it’s stored in the fridge. People can store the blue cheese in the freezer to make it last for more than 4 weeks.

The texture of the blue cheese would get highly affected after it is stored in the freezer, but it would not affect the quality of blue cheese.

How Long Does Blue Cheese Last?

People should always store the blue cheese inside the fridge or freezer after wrapping it properly. The pathogens or bacteria present at room temperature would bring spoilage symptoms in the blue cheese. Humidity would degrade the quality of blue cheese and would make it go bad in just 2 to 4 days.

Harmful mycotoxins can enter the human body if anybody consumes spoiled blue cheese. Blue cheese can bring many health problems such as vomiting, stomach cramps, and nausea if they are consumed after getting spoiled. To avoid the negative repercussions of blue cheese, people should not eat expired blue cheese.

The blue cheese would not stay good if they are stored in hot temperature places. The heat can destroy the quality of the blue cheese. Heat may also increase the growth of bacteria in blue cheese. Everyone should not keep the blue cheese at room temperature for more than 1 to 2 hours.

Food poisoning is another dangerous repercussion of having spoiled blue cheese. Storing the blue cheese in the middle section of the fridge would be a smart move.

As the temperature in the middle section of the fridge would be constant. People should never store the cheese in the doors of the fridge as the doors of the fridge would not have a constant temperature.

Why Does Blue Cheese Last This Long?

The shelf life of store-bought blue cheese would be around one month or as written on the packaging. The homemade blue cheese can last 3 to 4 weeks if kept inside the freezer. The ingredients used in the blue cheese would make a huge impact on the shelf life of the blue cheese.

If a single ingredient of the blue cheese gets expired, then it may affect the quality of the whole blue cheese. Therefore, if you are intending to make homemade blue cheese, then it’s better to check the expiry date of all the ingredients that are going to be used for making blue cheese.

The blue cheese should not be stored with any other foods inside the fridge. Storing the blue cheese separately in moisture-rich places would reduce its shelf life. In summers, the blue cheese would go bad very early if kept at room temperature.

It’s not just the heat, but the bacteria present in the environment that would reduce the shelf life of the blue cheese. Wrapping the blue cheese is vital to prevent sun rays exposure.

If someone has stored the blue cheese in the freezer, then they can easily defrost the blue cheese by keeping it at room temperature for around 20 to 45 minutes. The blue cheese may taste slightly salty or spicy.

So if you are getting any other unpleasant flavors or tastes from the blue cheese, then it’s a sign that the blue cheese is expired or about to expire.

Conclusion

The shelf life of the blue cheese at room temperature would be 1 to 2 hours. The blue cheese would last for around 6 to 10 weeks inside the freezer. The blue cheese requires constant cool temperature and dark places to last for a very long time. People should stop using blue cheese if they found spoilage symptoms.

Everyone should not skip maintaining the hygiene of the area where blue cheese is stored. The person should avoid using dirty containers or wrapping papers to store the blue cheese for 15 to 30 days.

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1874558X04800447
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002099902897