Blue cheese is salty and flavorful in taste. The variations in blue cheese can be seen all around the world.
One can see veins and spots of different colors on the cheese.
Due to this differentiation, people be doubtful that does blue cheese go bad or is just a changed appearance.
Yes, blue cheese goes bad as standard time passes. Avoiding bad blue cheese is necessary to save your body from internal damage.
Good quality cheese should be consumed within an ideal time to absorb the nutrients of cheese.
The price of blue cheese varies a lot because of the quality.
In early time blue cheese was hard to find, but today they are available at local supermarkets.
The texture of this cheese can be sharp, soft, and even creamy.
How Long Does Blue Cheese Last? Does Blue Cheese Go Bad?
Blue cheese does have a funky smell and seems different than other cheeses.
But this will not change the fact that it does go bad.
There is a certain period when it remains unaffected after being unwrapped.
If you have opened the packaging of blue cheese, then 3-4 weeks are acceptable.
But exceeding the time more than that can stale your blue cheese.
In early times blue cheese was made without adding any salty flavor to it.
But later on, it was found that salty blue cheese stays fresh for extended periods.
The shelf life of blue cheese within the packaging remains 1 to 6 months.
Thus if you are expecting to wait to use the cheese, be sure to keep it in the packaging.
You can go for the freezing option to retain the same quality and flavor.
Refrigerating can refrain your blue cheese from entering the stale process for a couple of weeks.
The types of blue cheese can also be a factor affecting shelf life.
There are numerous kinds of blue cheese, such as French Roquefort, English Stilton, Spanish Cabrales, Danish Danablue, and so on.
Blue cheese is the result of mixing milk and penicillium Roquefort mold together.
The nutritional density of cheese includes 100 calories, 6 grams of protein, and 150mg of calcium.
With such nutrients, it improves healthy bone formation and nerve transmission.
Bad blue cheese can release harmful toxicants in your body.
The most common substance produces on intake of bad blue cheese is mycotoxins.
Therefore, it is better to stay away from spoiled blue cheese to prevent stomach and intestinal diseases.
How to Tell If Blue Cheese Has Gone Bad?
To know the problems caused by eating bad blue cheese, one needs to look for signs to find bad blue cheese.
Old and stiff look: if the blue cheese seems a little odd and stiff than before.
Then it has undoubtedly gone bad.
The sides of the cheese will also look firm than before.
Staling will leave the top of the cheese dry.
The smell gets stronger: despite having a distinct smell, it is easy to know if the cheese is bad.
The smell of bad blue cheese will feel like you are sniffing strong ammonia.
Alteration in color: when you buy the cheese, it is usually of a white or off-white color.
But it will tend to change its color to pink, green, or yellow when it becomes stale.
Mold or veins: mold and veins present on the blue cheese will also swap their blue color to gray or black.
Discard should be done if a certain area is affected, as eating the remaining blue cheese can be baneful.
A bit of bad blue cheese can still be endured, but people with allergies should avoid that too.
How to Store Blue Cheese?
The major problem with storing cheese is giving the exact amount of air and restricting moisture.
Most people know about freezing, but only freezing would not help.
A good wrap should be offered before putting it in the freezer.
Packing should be done in a way that the cheese gets a breathable room but not too much air that lets it dry.
If we talk about a particular temperature, it falls between 8 to 13 degrees Celsius.
Fridges should be ignored for this type of storage as they give a lower temperature.
For leftover cheese slices, make sure to leave them in an air-tight container.
But still, it will last for a maximum of a day or two.
For wrapping cheese, wax paper, parchment paper, and cheese paper are some best options.
Using other paper or plastic wraps can develop bacteria.
