Taking good parmesan cheese on the trail

Leigh,

Even in the summer, I'd pre-grate the cheese, add the pepper flakes, maybe powdered garlic, and bring it in a small zip-loc bag or old-style 35mm film canister for a few days. At 50-60F, absolutely no problem. Instead of butter, I'd bring olive oil (no spoilage at all and healthier and high calories per gram). Partly, I'd pre-grate it because it is so easy to imagine dropping it in the dirt while trying to grate it in camp.

I know what you mean about pizza parlor parmesan and pepper flakes – they're hard to distinguish from the floor sweepings. Conveniently already in a small packet, but not what a foodie would bring.

…

Grating cheese in advance exposes a huge area to bacterial growth – aided by contamination from your hands. My advice would be to NOT do it.

As for putting the words 'Kraft' and 'parmesan cheese' together – ugh.

Cheers

I won't claim that Kraft Parmesan Cheese is the very best in the world, but it works on a long trail. I've gotten the packets from Minimus.biz and they work for me.

–B.G.–

Thanks again all,

@Roger, That was my biggest concern. My hands won't ever touch it; going straight from bag to pasta, but I was worried about exposing it to air. Guess if I had a vacuum sealer it would be ok…..hmmmmm.

@David, Good to know you've done it, and yes I should have mentioned subbing olive oil for the butter; I carry a small vile (of good organic evoo on all trips)…and yes I'm a "foodie", I've become very cognizant of the food that goes in my body these days….probably too late at my age, but what the heck, psychologically it makes me feel better :-D.

edited to correct spelling.

> @Roger, That was my biggest concern. My hands won't ever touch it; going straight
> from bag to pasta,
Misunderstanding here. The period when the bugs grow is between when you grate it at home and use it in the field.

Cheers

But the more aged it is, the drier and the less of an issue mold is. A reason to buy the best stuff!

If I had a hunk of Safeway Parmesan and was going out for a week, or it was >80F, then I'd take a different approach – leave it in one piece, keep it cool during the day in a insulating layer, etc.

Well-aged cheese, 50-60F, for a few days? Not an issue IME.

A real foodie would do a side-by-side (pre-grate, grate-on-site) and then a blind taste test.

"The period when the bugs grow is between when you grate it at home and use it in the field."

Especially grated, which exposes more surface area to provide access to the voracious little wogs, and also to absorb ambient moisture which provides a more suitable environment for them. Leave it whole, IMO. That way, if there are signs
of spoilage, you can trim off the surface and grate the underlying, unspoiled cheese.

del

I have carried dry, aged parmesan (the good stuff) in a chunk for up to two weeks no problem in daytime temps up to 75 degrees or so. I'd take a chunk and grate or shave as you need it. Tiny graters can be found, or just shave with whatever knife you have.

Keep it whole and slice/break/shred some off as you need it. Good quality, whole chunks of Parmesan cheese will keep for days outside of the fridge in cool(er) weather. Heck, they'll even keep for a few days in warmish weather as long as you don't mind a little oily sweat on your cheese.

A good aged Parmesan or similar cheese is my go-to cheese for backpacking outside of the colder winter months. When it's cold out, I can be more flexible and bring other less firm, less dry cheeses for a change of pace.

If you REALLY need it to be shredded, you can find small, mini cheese graters at REI-type places. We have one at home that came from some "backpacking" cook set ages ago. It's flat and smaller in surface area than a deck of cards, made of stainless. It works fine for grating needs while hiking and is worth the minuscule weight penalty if we want shredded cheese for a planned meal.

I packed out Parmesan cheese for my thru hike and it literally ate the small zipper bags. It looked like they were shredded. At first I thought an animal did it but everyone of my resupplies had the same issue. I suspect the oil in the cheese ate the bags. I also had the same problem with peanut butter in bags, that was the single biggest mistake I made in my thru hike plen.

Were those biodegradable bags? That would explain a few things.

–B.G.–

Were those biodegradable bags? That would explain a few things.

–B.G.–

No they were standard small zipper bags, maybe 1.5"x3" from Walmart.

Thanks again all. Sounds like a small chunk and shave at dinner time, with a knife, I can do that. And yes, what I'm buying is real parmesan regianno, in a wedge, with a rind.

@Roger, no misunderstanding really, the rest of the sentence…"but I was worried about exposing it to air". I think we were on the same page, maybe I just didn't convey it well.
I completely agree that the more surface area exposed the greater the chance of bacteria.

"from Walmart"

Well, maybe that says something.

I've had every kind of food packed in polyethylene bags for long periods of time, and I've never had the bags degrade noticeably.

–B.G.–

Kraft "parmesan cheese" mixed with garlic powder, dried basil, and pine nuts, will keep for several months in a Seal-A-Meal vacuum pouch. Ran that experiment as leftover food from several long distance hikes since 1980. Some of those packages made long journeys via USPS, and sat for weeks under ideal conditions at Tuolumne Meadows or VVR or friends garages. Pretty tough stuff!

Didn't take extra precautions to keep it clean. You know it's gone bad when it turns green. Kraft's product includes potassium sorbate, a pretty safe mold inhibitor.

Better, real parmesan cheese might be a different story.

— Rex

> Kraft's product includes potassium sorbate, a pretty safe mold inhibitor.
Does it contain cheese?

Cheers

Were those biodegradable bags? That would explain a few things.

–B.G.–

>No they were standard small zipper bags, maybe 1.5"x3" from Walmart.<

If you're talking about the little bags from the craft section, I don't think those are food grade?

Parmesan has a lot of salt in it. With time and exposure to air it tend to migrate to the outsite of the cheese. And because salt has sharp edges it may have shredded your bag.

— edit for typos —

"Does it contain cheese?"

Yup. It's the third ingredient after potassium sorbate in the list of ingredients.

;0)

Years ago on our first outback (4WD) trip
I was over zealous in my food packing and took too much Grana Padano (cryovacced wedges, rind on). At the end of the 6 week trip I unearthed a couple of wedges from the bottom of the food box – unrefrigerated the whole time, no evidence of spoilage, and they tasted fine. That was after a trip in our Kimberley region i.e. tropics, albeit in a food box stored in as cool a place in the car as possible.

Hence I always carry parmigiano in a chunk and grate it on site –
more to ensure it tastes as fresh as possible rather than from a concern over contamination. A mini grater is a small weight penalty for real parmi!

well … what IS cheese after all? It is an ancient biotechnology for storing milk without refrigeration. Cheese is aged, sometimes for months, at moderate non-refrigerated temps.

Hard cheeses store better. Pack in a way that moderates high temperature swings and +1 on not shredding in advance.

Very slight thread drift here — has anyone tried dehydrating other grated cheeses (like cheddar or jack) in their home dehydrator? How did that work out?

And sure, the "good stuff" is best, but let's face it, even Cheetos taste AMAZING after a long day on the trail! ;~)