# Freezing Cheesecake



## Tom Caraher (Oct 12, 2017)

I'm the pastry chef for a wedding and special event venue. One of our desserts is a cheesecake, which our practice has been to make enough to freeze for 3 or 4 months supply. We don't have a problem with freezer burn as the cakes are hotel wrapped then placed in an airtight container. I've read that freezing over 30 - 40 days results in drying out and loss of taste. Any thoughts or concerns?


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## chefpeon (Jun 14, 2006)

I assume you are rotating them in and out consistently, right? Make small batches, and when one batch goes in the freezer, you take the oldest batch out. I'm kind of not understanding why you would need to need to have such a huge supply in the freezer in the first place actually. I get maybe a month's worth, but 3-4? Even when well wrapped, things do degrade in the freezer over time. I generally find that over one month or two (depending on the product), the quality isn't as good. Not so much in pure taste, more in texture, to be exact.


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## Tom Caraher (Oct 12, 2017)

chefpeon said:


> I assume you are rotating them in and out consistently, right? Make small batches, and when one batch goes in the freezer, you take the oldest batch out. I'm kind of not understanding why you would need to need to have such a huge supply in the freezer in the first place actually. I get maybe a month's worth, but 3-4? Even when well wrapped, things do degrade in the freezer over time. I generally find that over one month or two (depending on the product), the quality isn't as good. Not so much in pure taste, more in texture, to be exact.


Thanks, yes we rotate on a FIFO basis as well as dating. The product is cheese cake and I'm looking for independent validation that 3+ months is way too long. To answer your question about why... it's an old practice that I inherited and the business owner likes the convenience of having product on hand. I've offered to bake more frequently but met resistance. Your comment is helpful.


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## Pat Pat (Sep 26, 2017)

If you wrap them properly and your freezer's temperature doesn't swing up and down from the defrost cycle, then you don't have to worry about their taste and texture getting affected, even after 3-4 months. Cheesecake is mostly fat and sugar, and those two things freeze very well. I recently consumed a cheesecake that has been frozen for 8 months and it tasted fine. I don't remember if the fresh one tasted better but the old cheesecake sure was satisfactory.


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## chefpeon (Jun 14, 2006)

Pat Pat said:


> If you wrap them properly and your freezer's temperature doesn't swing up and down from the defrost cycle,


I've never worked in a place that didn't have wild freezer temp swings; either from the defrost cycles, or from heavy traffic in and out all day, or just the darn thing failing. It's true, of all things you can freeze, cheesecake holds up pretty well. The problem is, that's dependent on some things that aren't really in your control. Like dependable equipment and co-workers. I personally don't like to keep things frozen for more than a month.


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## Pat Pat (Sep 26, 2017)

chefpeon said:


> I've never worked in a place that didn't have wild freezer temp swings; either from the defrost cycles, or from heavy traffic in and out all day, or just the darn thing failing. It's true, of all things you can freeze, cheesecake holds up pretty well. The problem is, that's dependent on some things that aren't really in your control. Like dependable equipment and co-workers. I personally don't like to keep things frozen for more than a month.


I was merely talking about the best-case scenario. I've seen venues with a dedicated long term storage/freezer that is only accessed a few times a year. In case the venue that the OP is working at also has one, then he'll know that it's okay to store cheesecake for such length.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Speaking just for myself here....
We have all eaten (long term) frozen desserts at some point and maybe thought they tasted "all right" but IMO that is not the point.
If I am going to sell a product (and ask top dollar) the quality and freshness of that product better be top notch.
There will come a day when the banquet guests are served a slice of an "oops" and the house will have to explain why this SOP is in place.
Hording cheesecake for three months is just strange.

mimi


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## jcakes (Feb 18, 2007)

If you were buying in frozen cheesecake from Sysco, then yeah, you are probably getting old cheesecake that's been frozen for a while. In this case, let them store it. But if you're baking it in-house, you're holding that inventory for what? It's taking up a lot of space if it's a reach in freezer, and every walk in freezer I've worked with in 15 years has wild temp fluctuations and I wouldn't hold any product in there for more than a month (ok, maybe frozen fruit puree but that's it).


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

I personally would throw out anything in my freezer that was dated 8 months ago. Except if it had no date and was labeled Absolut


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