Parmesian Cheese

[Schadenfreude]

Yes, Parmesian - now, in a restaurant(in a loose term), like Pizza Hut (like I said), the Parmesian sits on the table, practically in open air (save for the lid . . . which is filled with holes) all day - my roommate says that he wouldn't touch it if he knew it was older than 5 days (which is pretty hard, I know, for a pretty popular restaurant) but how long does it last? I mean, it IS a dairy product, right?

 

[BRObedoza]

I don't know about parmesian, but dried, grated parmesan can last a long time.

 

[rezinn]

Parmesian cheese doesn't last more than a couple days, it's half life is very short and it eventually will decay into parmesan.

 

[Gurck]

The large amount of salt in it pretty much keeps it from going bad, I wouldn't think twice about using it.

 

[BRObedoza]

Most places have packets of the stuff for takeout and delivery orders as well if you don't feel comfortable with the shakers.

 

[nakedfrog]

Just think, if it IS bad and makes you sick, hire a lawyer, then profit!

 

[purbeast0]

so when you buy it from the store, and after you open it, do you haev to put it back in the fridge in order to keep it in eating condition? i always put it in the fridge in general, but i have always wondered if you can just keep it out of the fridge once its opened.

 

[LeonarD26]

Maybe your roomate needs to chill out....

 

[IamElectro]

Your roommate is a wuss. Remind him that most cheeses are cured/aged by setting them on a shelf on in a non refrigerated room.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Just think, if it IS bad and makes you sick, hire a lawyer, then profit!

Considering that I *borrowed* one of their shakers for apartment use, I don't think it'll work . . .

 

[DT4K]

It's dried. As long as it isn't moldy, it's fine.

 

[Babbles]

A decade maybe?

Being dried and with the salt content it is kind of anti-bacterial.

Cheese is like wine, it gets better with age!

 

[Dubb]

it's not that it'll make you sick, it's that it doesn't taste as good.

go to an italian market and get a small block of REAL parmigiano reggiano, fresh off the block. eat a small chuck as soon as you pay for it. try it again 4 hours later. it still tastes good, but not AS good. a day later it'll be worse, more bitter, gritty. for me, after about 2-3 days (if it's kept in block form and tightly wrapped in saran), it's pretty much unpalateable. it goes bad very quickly once you shred it. ALWAYS shred directly onto whatever you're eating.

Don't get me started on that dried green can crap (my father actually banned it from our house)

food nazi out...

 

[Babbles]

That is a totally different product, though. The stuff in those little shaker things isn't a fresh parmigiano reggiano so it is unfair to correlate how you store one product with another.

 

[neonerd]

mine's good until 3/25/2006

 

[Dubb]

not really. it's pretty much the same thing just not produced in italy and not shipped and stored properly. some resturants shred fresh (american) stuff into those shakers, or keep shreded stuff vaccum packed till they use it, so it's very plausable to say it's "good" for a fairly limited time

but if you've only had the crumby stuff that tastes like sand, 4 days old and 10 days old probably aren't that different

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: rezinn
Parmesian cheese doesn't last more than a couple days, it's half life is very short and it eventually will decay into parmesan.

Yep, happens every time.