How Long Can Brie Sit Out And Does It Go Bad?

Brie cheese goes perfect with several hard fruits like pears, apricots, etc. You won’t be disappointed if you eat this soft, creamy cheese with bread or crackers. This is an exceptionally delicious cheese that rose from the French area.

If you are a cheese lover, you must have plenty of brie, and you would love to add brie to almost all of your dishes. While storing brie, you may come across a question that whether you can store it at room temperature or not. Read on as you will get all your questions about brie solves in this article.

How Long Can Brie Sit Out?

Due to the very soft texture of the brie, we recommend you store the brie in the refrigerator. The brie cheese will maximum stay good outside for 2 to 4 hours. If you want to eat it in its fresh form, you can keep it outside for above mentioned period. Refrigerated brie may turn a little hard.

If the outside temperature is hot, you must refrigerate the cheese within two hours. Otherwise, the brie will go bad. The soft texture is a welcome sign for bacterial growth in a hot environment. So, to make the brie free of bacteria, we need to refrigerate it timely.

What Happens If Brie Sits Out Too Long?

Brie cheese will certainly go bad if it sits out for too long. It can stay good outside for a maximum of four hours. After that, bacterial and mold growth may start on the surface of the cheese. Brie stays good for a longer period than other cheeses because of a crumbly layer of rind on it.

The brie’s extremely buttery and creamy flavor starts to spoil with time. You will have to toss your expensive cheese out if it stays out for long.

How Long Can Brie Be In The Car For?

If you have bought brie for the toppings of your lasagna or pasta and you are stuck in the traffic, you might get disappointed. You may wonder whether the cheese will stay good or not? Worry not, brie stays good for 2 to 4 hours outside the refrigerator, and the time remains the same in the car.

Also, if the temperature is cold outside, the brie cheese can stay good even longer than 4 hours. If it’s hot outside, ensure that you place your freshly bought brie in a colder part of your car. Don’t expose the brie to direct sunlight.

What Should You Do If Brie Is Left Out Too Long?

Unfortunately, the only thing you can do if the brie is left out for too long is discarding it. The bacterial growth starts on the cheese after a certain time at room temperature rendering the cheese unhealthy. So, toss the bad brie cheese out and never eat left-out cheese.

If the cheese seems good and healthy to you, in case the outside temperature is very low, you can give a check to your cheese. Check for any signs of mold and a foul smell from cheese. If there are no signs, you can refrigerate the brie cheese for later use.

Does Brie Go Bad If Not Refrigerated?

The brie cheese definitely goes bad if it is not refrigerated. As mentioned above, the brie cheese catches mold, and bacteria start to grow on it rapidly at room temperature. The softy and creamy texture of the brie cheese go bad outside.

You should always refrigerate the brie after a certain time. Also, store it with the best methods like cutting it with cheese slicers and putting it in air-tight containers. For maximum shelf life, you can also freeze the brie cheese.

Does Brie Go Bad If You Lose Power?

If the power is not retrieved within 4 to 5 hours, the cheese may go bad in the refrigerator. The brie cheese will stay good inside the fridge even after power loss for 4 to 5 hours. The reason behind this is that the latest refrigerators maintain their temperatures for this period even in no power.

The other way to save your cheese from going bad is to place it in cooler bags filled with ice bags. Otherwise, the only method left is to eat the brie cheese in time. You can enjoy the best pita chips at your home.

What Temperature Is Safe for Brie?

For storing soft cheese like brie, you should maintain the refrigerator’s temperature between 35 to 45 degrees. This temperature is ideal to avoid crumbly and hard texture on your cheese. Even after a week, you will enjoy the best flavor if you follow this temperature.

How to store Brie Cheese?

As we know that Brie Cheese is not a stable shelf product so, it is essential to store it properly. One must consider the fact that storing Brie Cheese is not very easy and straightforward. So, you need to take care of the following things.

Avoid wrapping in plastic paper

Once you have opened the Brie Cheese, it has already been exposed to air. So, to keep it protected from bacterial activity, you need to store it properly. For that, you have to avoid wrapping it in the plastic paper.

The reason is that the plastic is highly non-porous, and it prevents breathing. And moisture leads to mold formation. Moreover, brie cheese’s plastic wrapping changes its composition, removes its flavor, and affects the quality.

Wrap it in an aluminum foil

Wax paper or aluminum foil is best for wrapping the cheese. It allows the cheese to breathe and also prevents it from drying out. Aluminum foil helps the brie cheese to last as long as possible. If brie cheese is appropriately wrapped in aluminum foil and kept in good condition, it will last for about a few weeks, which is pretty good.

Avoid wrapping it too tightly

Brie Cheese should not be wrapped too tightly as it is not suitable. A room should be left for its breathing. Tight wrapping prevents the cheese from breathing and creating moisture.

Due to this, there will be a formation of ammonia. Besides that, it also gives a nice environment for the molds and bacteria to grow.

Please keep it in a refrigerator

The refrigerator is the best place to store cheese as the low temperatures keep it fresh for weeks. However, it is important to keep in mind that the cheese should be kept in the refrigerator’s vegetable drawer. The vegetable drawer’s constant temperature and moisture kept the cheese fresh and healthy for up to two to three weeks.

Can you freeze Brie Cheese?

Brie Cheese is a very soft product, and it undergoes compositional changes. The same is the reason that freezing Brie cheese changes its texture. So, freezing brie cheese should only be an option if you want to store it for a very long time.

The frozen Brie cheese becomes crumbly, and you cannot use it in a sandwich. However, it is very good to have it used for cooking purposes. If brie cheese is appropriately wrapped and kept in a freezer, it will last for about six months.

For making the freezing process easy, it is recommended to have your Brie cheese spread on a plate or a dish it is wrapped while freezing it. This will help you cut the desired portion out easily whenever you want to use it.

How long does Brie Cheese last?

The shelf life of Brie Cheese is not very long as it is very soft. However, an unopened Brie Cheese can last for about four to eight weeks. On the other hand, once it has been exposed to the air, it should be stored in the right conditions to make it last for long and retain its peak quality.

There is a change in quality and taste of brie cheese with time. It is in its best condition before its expiry date given on the label. However, it is not necessary to eat it as soon as you buy it.

Similarly, it is not true that it will spoil right after its expiration date. The taste of the brie cheese remains for a week, even after its expiry, so that you can use it. Well, after that, it will surely get spoiled and will not remain suitable for your palate.

How to tell if Brie Cheese is bad?

We have discovered that brie cheese’s shelf life is minimal, and it goes bad very quickly. Change in taste, color, or smell gives us the signs of spoilage. Eating spoiled brie cheese will not be suitable for you. Following are some ways to judge if your Brie cheese has gone bad or not.

• If you notice some white or green spots on the surface of brie cheese, it means that it has gone bad, and you should not consider eating it. Throw it away immediately.
• Notice the color of the cheese; if its color is darker than the original one, then it means that it has expired.
• If you are familiar with brie cheese’s original smell, you can quickly tell if the brie cheese is bad by smelling it. If it smells different, then you may not eat it in that case.

Sources

• Cheese society
• Still tasty
• The spruce eats