When it comes to pizza, a good mozzarella is arguably the cornerstone of your menu. But the shelf life of dairy products can be short, and if you’re trying to cut costs by buying bulk or reducing delivery frequency, then you risk ingredients reaching their use-by date before you’ve got to them.
The good news is that many dairy products, including mozzarella, freeze incredibly well. But to get the optimal functionality from cheese once it’s been frozen, it needs to be stored, handled and thawed in the right way.
At Arla Pro, we’re dedicated to minimising food waste – in our own dairies and production lines as well as in the kitchens of our customers. To get the very best from freezing and thawing our mozzarella, as well as other grated and sliced cheeses, discover our tips below.
How to freeze your mozzarella
- Remove the cheese from its outer cardboard carton to avoid condensation weakening the carton.
- Avoid crushing or adding pressure onto packs in freezers.
- Never allow the product to remain in the open air or ambient areas. Fluctuation in temperature damages product functionality and the moisture will condense.
- Always move the product from one cold area to another without delay, keeping the cooling chain intact.
- Products should be frozen before the last day of shelf life (use-by date).
How to thaw or defrost your mozzarella
- If not already, frozen cheese should be removed from its carton.
- Bags should be stored flat between 2ºC and 5ºC for 3 days (72 hours).
- Once thawed, the cheese should be kept at below 5ºC in a closed bag or container.
- Use the products as soon as possible after thawing to preserve optimal functionality.
- Do not re-freeze product once it has defrosted.
- Be aware that defrosting times can vary significantly depending on fridge temperatures, airflow and temperature while frozen. However, to achieve optimal functionality we rec-ommend 3 days (72 hours).
Find the right cheese
Arla Pro Large Diced Mozzarella 2kg
Arla Pro; made specifically for professional chefs & operators in mind. Arla Pro Mozzarella Large Diced is delicious pre-cut cubes made from high-quality mozzarella ideal for easy application. The dice are creamy light yellow in colour and offer fresh flavour and optimal meltability.
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Arla Pro Large Shredded Mozzarella 2kg (Sticks)
Arla Pro; made specifically for professional chefs & operators in mind. Arla Pro Large Shredded Mozzarella has a delicious mild fresh taste with a light colour. A thicker cut size than grated (4x4x20mm) offering excellent melting, golden browning and high stretch, this solution is ideal for both dining-in and delivery.
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Arla Pro Mozzarella Cheese Block 2.3kg
Arla Pro; made specifically with professional chefs & operators in mind. Arla Pro Mozzarella Block is high-quality mozzarella in a versatile easy handle block format that can be used across the menu, ideal for customisation to create a bespoke blend/shape and authentic and unique looking pizza.
See productWant to learn more about tackling food waste in the pizza industry?
Download our guide “Pizza With A Purpose” and get tips, tricks and recipes to help you reduce food waste in your pizza business.
Disclaimer:
These guidelines apply to Arla Pro mozzarella only. Guidelines for other brands or varieties of cheese may vary.
Operators should also consider other variables that might be at play, such as whether there is a need to rotate bags of cheese from inside to outside to ensure a consistent freeze / defrost rate across the batch.
In all cases it is best to freeze a small quantity of stock and defrost as a trial, this is both to un-derstand the freezing / defrost times as well as checking the quality post defrost.
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