Longest lasting cheese

[Manwich]

I am amazed at how scary this topic is, other than the prescient reference to 'toe cheese.' Do none of you realize where the term "Cheesy" comes from? Or recall the emphemistic exclamation, "Who cut the cheese?"

This is a little like asking, "What brand of peanut butter lasts the longest?" It ain't whether it's "moldy" but whether there is a nice way to get violently sick from it, such as from salmonella growing in it.

Yeah, refrigeration is a conspiracy. So is soap, and antibiotics, and all those other things that reduce the risks of disease. In the middle ages they made cheese and didn't refrigerate it, but died in appalling numbers. There is a lesson in there for those who don't wish to be nominated for Darwin Awards.

TW

this might be the most absurd post i've ever seen.

nobody ever said refridgeration was a conspiracy. Refridgeration is a way to keep your cheese good for 3 weeks instead of one.

Something tells me in the middle ages, cheese wasn't the big killer. I think it was the lack of understanding science, praying for their open sores to heal on their own and oh yeah, Plague.

[Kanati]

My pack still smells like melted, firmented, cheddar cheese from last summer. Carrying it too long is not the problem. Eating it too soon and running short, now that's the problem !!!!! Your hiker appetite will negate any possibility of spoilage.

This year I'm adding to my larder, smoked venison summer sausage made for me by Woods Smoked Meats, Bowling Green, MO. It last for weeks with no refrigration. This stuff is so good, I am sure I will run out too soon!

Hike and eat. Eat and hike. That's what we do.

Happy hiking.

[The Weasel]

My guess would be that, in the middle ages, cheese was NOT the #1 killer of otherwise healthy people.

Your guess would be right. But spoiled food - and cheese spoils - was a major killer. Big time. Chaucer wrote about it, and many of the so-called "poisonings" of royalty were probably from food.

Cheese makes a wonderful medium to culture yeasts and molds, even if it is salted cheese. At warm temperatures, they multiply with exceeding rapidity. You may have an immunity to some, or even most, or once in a while even all of them. But you're taking a real chance, and some of those molds are toxic.

As for "yeah, in olden days it was kept on the counter in the store," well, in olden days people did a lot of things they didn't have choices about. We do.

But if you wanna go for a Darwin by seeing how long you can let cheese separate, mold and get strange, it's your body. Have fun.

TW

[Sly]

The Weasel, the chance of dying from bad cheese on the trail is about as equal to dying from hantavirus. Slim to none.

[hoz]

But if you wanna go for a Darwin by seeing how long you can let cheese separate, mold and get strange, it's your body. Have fun.

Hahahaha, no one said that, but if you wanna hike without enjoying the heavenly taste of cheese it's your choice, Have fun.

[The Weasel]

The Weasel, the chance of dying from bad cheese on the trail is about as equal to dying from hantavirus. Slim to none.

I ain't worryin' about dyin' from it. I'm worryin' about getting so freakin' sick from bad food that I don't die and wish I would. If you think I'm kidding, go to Chichen Itza and have a long drink of water from the tap.

TW

[Unclegorb]

I ain't worryin' about dyin' from it. I'm worryin' about getting so freakin' sick from bad food that I don't die and wish I would. If you think I'm kidding, go to Chichen Itza and have a long drink of water from the tap.

TW

Your at a much higher risk of getting sick at T.G.I. Fridays (or the like) than getting sick from eating 3-4 day old cheese.

[Tin Man]

Your at a much higher risk of getting sick at T.G.I. Fridays (or the like) than getting sick from eating 3-4 day old cheese.

I am sick from reading his posts. Does that count?

[The Weasel]

Your at a much higher risk of getting sick at T.G.I. Fridays (or the like) than getting sick from eating 3-4 day old cheese.

You're referring to the maggot in my wife's Rotini Salad at Maggiano's a few months ago?

I'm not worried about 3-4 day old cheese. It's when it gets past a week or so....

TW

[Tin Man]

You're referring to the maggot in my wife's Rotini Salad at Maggiano's a few months ago?

I'm not worried about 3-4 day old cheese. It's when it gets past a week or so....

TW

Maybe you should refrain from mentioning you are a lawyer and sharing your politics until after the meal is served. Just a thought.

[Jack Tarlin]

Gotta agree with Sly......the imminent threat to hikers from funked out cheese is greatly exaggerated.

And Weasel, I spent a lot of years studying the Middle Ages.

While lots of folks died at a younger age than they do today, you'd be amazed how few of them died from lousy food. After all, people have lived without refrigeration for a very long time.

What Weary said is right. Good hard cheddar is sold all over New England to this day unrefrigerated, and if people are regularly dropping dead as a result, I haven't heard much about it.

In short, cheese is fine on the Trail. Chicken or fish? Not so good. But cheese? Take it, and enjoy.

[JAK]

There are many good cheeses, and cheese is one of those wonderful traditional travelling foods. Try different cheeses. Good cheese is expensive, but its a great treat. Doesn't have to be a main staple. A Newfoundlander friend of mine got me started on eating cheese while drinking black coffee. Its really good. I particularly like that stuff with caraway seeds in it, but any good cheese should last until its eaten. Its all good.