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I just moved out of my parents house and I'm fairly new to cooking and how to store stuff.

I bought a package of shredded mozzarella like a week or so ago and put it in the fridge. Today I was planning to do something with it but I realized that the inside of the package it wet and some part of the cheese is soggy. There is still 4 months to the expiration date so I don't think it is spoiled and it kinda make sense that it's wet because of the condensation in a cold environment. I just wanted to make sure if it is safe.

Is this normal? If it is, is it safe to use the soggy parts? and how can I prevent this from happening? How should I store these shredded cheeses if I want to buy them when they are on sale and use them later on?

Thanks in advance and sorry if I'm asking something stupid or so obvious, as I said I'm fairly new.

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  • Is it "wet" soggy or "oily" soggy?
    – Erica
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 23:49
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    That's not stupid at all. It's a pretty common phenomenon. Just to be absolutely sure: You bought it from a trustworthy source? The bag is not punctured? No weird colors? It has been kept refrigerated? (No weird smell would be another one, but I kind of assume from the question that the bag has not been opened)
    – Jolenealaska ♦
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 0:40
  • It's wet soggy I guess.
    – pdace
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 1:25
  • I'm not sure if it's a good thing to give brand names here but yes, it's a trustworthy brand. I haven't opened the bag yet but at least there is no smell (considering if it was punctured, I guess there would be a weird smell) There is no weird colors and it has been kept refrigerated since I bought it. I also double checked if it is punctured and it isn't.
    – pdace
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 1:31

1 Answer 1

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Traditionally, mozzarella is sold extremely fresh - as in made that day or the day before. If it's held for more than a day or so, it comes packaged in a brine. Most of the American stuff is just too soft to be held for packaging like other shredded cheese in the mega-mart.

In the US, being extreme gluttons for convenience, we tend to make do with part-skim shredded mozzarella instead of the good stuff. Slight temperature variations can make the shreds stick together in a globby mass. It's harmless from a safety point of view, and the expiry date can be long after the occurrence of perfectly safe globbiness.

Pro-Tip: Put the globby pieces in the freezer for 20 minutes, and then shred it like a block of harder cheese. Upon heating, it will melt (almost) as if the the globbiness had never happened. I have taken advantage of a few good sales that way. Mozzarella will become... ehem... colorful before it becomes unsafe.

While this answer is more for mozzerella than for other types of cheese; the last paragraph works for any mega-mart shredded cheese.

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  • So I cannot really prevent it from getting soggy but can make it usable again. Makes sense, Thanks :)
    – pdace
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 1:48
  • The colder you can keep it (up to and including freezing), the less likely it will be to get soggy. However, there are quality sacrifices there too. Hard, long term freezing will somewhat affect melting and other purely aesthetic things. It will stay safe as long as it is frozen (assuming it was safe before freezing).
    – Jolenealaska ♦
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 3:16

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