Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer – Shredding Soft Cheese

Happy Tuesday TKW Family!  On this week’s edition of Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer we’re going to to be talking about shredded (or slicing) soft cheeses.  Have you ever tried to shred soft cheese? Yeah, it’s pretty much a hot mess.  It smushes, crushes and you’re left with haphazard pieces versus wispy shreddings.  Or if you’re recipe calls for thinly sliced pieces of fresh mozzarella only when you try it you’re left with butchered shards of cheese.  It’s not pretty and it can be frustrating.

So this week I’m going to share with you one of the easiest, no-fail tricks to shredding or slicing fresh cheeses like mozzarella without tearing it or having it look like a 4 year took a pair of safety scissors to it!

Place the hunk of fresh cheese in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes or just until it’s firm but not frozen solid.  By firming up the texture it changes the consistency (but not the taste as long as it’s not frozen solid) thus allowing you to slice or shred easily without tears or rips.

Yeah, pretty simple, huh?

But let’s go a bit further. What if you forget about it or you have a ton of fresh cheese that you can’t possibly use in a single setting?  Can you freeze fresh cheese?  Yes but… yes, a but.  Fresh mozzarella (and the like) when frozen for an extended period of time you’ll end up with some excess liquid that will need draining. This is usually the whey. This loss of liquid may cause a small loss of flavor. Since you’ll have loss that liquid, the cheese will be less loose and turn more crumbly. However you can still use it in baking and cooking.  But for say cheese plates and the like, you’ll have very little success with it.

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