Haversack Cheese

[chrisoc]

I am looking for a good HC cheese to carry in a haversack. For meat I'm okay with jerky and landjaegers, but the cheeses I have tried, (cheddar, Edam etc) all get very soft when they get warm. Parmesan stays firm but it is a little sharp, although I have read that the roman legions carried Parmesan for their rations.
Anyone able to suggest a cheese?

 

[Woods Dweller]

This is just my way of dealing with cheese on the trail.
I buy cheese that has been dipped in wax, it is a little more costly but I feel it last longer and a better quality of cheese. I cut this cheese up into chunks that I will eat each day, I then wrap each chunk of cheese in cheese cloth, then dip each chunk into melted wax and lay out on wax paper to dry. I have found other use with the wax covered cheese cloth.

 

[cynthialee]

That is a spiffy idea!

Any moderatly hard to hard cheese will travel well.
Aged gouda and Montgomerys Cheddar are good ideas if parmesian is not to your taste.

 

[Jim Blair]

You need a well aged cheese like cheddar.Well aged = expensive and probably not available in the local grocery store.You might try some of the smoked cheeses but not sure how HC those are.Aged cheeses have a lot lower moisture content,the moisture is what causes them to get soft when hot.The less moisture the harder the cheese is.

 

[Woods Dweller]

I would like to add that mold on cheese can be shaved off. It only molds on the outside of the cheese and is still good inside.

 

[Woods Dweller]

various records from fur trade businesses.
HC for Cheese in 1803: http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/html/yorkboat.html

The above comes from this site. http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/bizrecs.html
-------------

Cheddar cheese 1600”“1649 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddar_cheese

History of Cheese http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html#cheesecake

 

[Loyalist Dave]

buy cheese that has been dipped in wax,

Why buy cheese covered in wax if you are going to recut and wax it yourself? True you know it's made to be waxed, but any hard, dry cheese will do ok with being waxed.

Aging works on flavor. After a rind has formed, the cheese doesn't loose moisture too well. You want a dry, hard cheese, but don't worry about a 6 year old cheddar when a year old cheese will do. Super Market cheese in the plastic is made quickly to get product to market, not to be stored, but the original idea of cheese was to be able to store it. :haha:

So Asiago, parmesian, pecorino (Romano or Toscano), Edam, Appenzeller, Swiss, (real) cheddar, will all travel ok, and do well if you wax it yourself. They tend to be rather salty though, so in hot weather will require you to drink more water.

LD

 

[Woods Dweller]

Why buy cheese covered in wax if you are going to recut and wax it yourself? True you know it's made to be waxed, but any hard, dry cheese will do ok with being waxed.

Wax cheese comes in large rolls, When you buy wax cheese it is cut into large chunks & warped in a clear plastic -[witch is not PC]. If I go out for 3 to 10 days I don't like leaving my cheese open to the air as it does get a hard undesirable hardness to it. I also don't like my cheese to get dirty & or buggy. Therefor I find I like to “Re wax” smaller chunks of cheese.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

No no, :haha: I am not saying not to wax cover your cheese..., I'm sorry..., I meant that one doesn not have to limit the choice of the cheese to that which is sold from the store, waxed. You can choose any of the hard cheeses, many of which come without a wax covering, and wax over smaller portions cut from the whole... just as you do. :thumbsup:

LD

 

[Woods Dweller]

Dave I understand what your saying. And I have no hard feelings. :v :hatsoff:

As for my personal taste, even with hard cheese such as Parmesan cheese. I have found that it is sealed in a vacuum sealed plastic wrap in order to keep the air from getting to it and drying it out. (vacuum sealed in plastic wrap just replaced wax sealing) I have found that even hard cheese after open from vacuum sealed plastic wrap and stored in the frig in just plastic wrap or zip lock bags can dry out and grow mold on the outer edge. Therefor to the OP and in “my opinion”: I suggest that you cut all cheese into chunks that you will use in one or two days and wrap in cheese cloth and dip in wax. Again, this is my opinion based on my experiments with cheese. :v

 

[kenhulme]

The other option for cheeses, especially here in Florida which is one of the least cheese-friendly outdoor environments on the planet, is to store and carry your cheese in a small (say fist-sized) crock, wooden or bark box like a Shaker box, or even a gourd container.

 

[onepaw]

any particular wax to use?

 

[Woods Dweller]

I use bees wax, but paraffin works. I will dip my cheese 2 or 3 times to give it a good thick coat.

 

[onepaw]

ty

 

[KJGROHS]

Iont know if any of you guys ever notice that the expensive imported cheeses that are waxed , the wax is rather thin and the whole roll is wrapped in some kind of cloth ( cheese cholth??), and a thin coat of light colored almost translousant see through wax and is a mother to open , I don't remember the name of the cheese but was Italian or Greek possibly sicilian was very expensive 45.00 for 1/2 pound very hard to break , cut, and was little on salty side almost if not harder than Parmesan or asito???? That stuff was served not out of a cooler but at open market, it was good that stuff shod keep, dang you guys got me Hungary for that cheese looks like I'm headed for Atlanta on a cheese quest.

 

[VTdeerhunter]

WD, thanks for the tip. I'm gonna try the cheese cloth and wax method...nothing worse than setting up camp at the end of a long days trek and finding your cheese less than appetizing.... :cursing: