We eat a lot of cheese in our house. We regularly buy packaged sliced and shredded cheese, usually cheddar, but sometimes others. Never American, which I hate and is of course the cheapest. Is it cheaper to buy cheese from the deli, look for coupons, sales, etc? What do you think is the best way?
I suppose if you buy it in a brick and shred it yourself it may be a little cheaper. Plus, the ones in the bag pre-shredded are coated with potato starch and sometimes other stuff to keep the cheese from sticking together - but I find they often don't melt as well either as a result, especially when making a cheese sauce. I love cheese too, but it seems like the price of it has been going up over the past few years. I used to be able to get a container of shredded romano or parm for like 4 or 5 bucks, but I've seen it as high as $9.50 in some grocery stores. You might also want to check stores that sell in bulk to restaurants, like GFS Food Service (If they have one in your area). They sell bulk packs of cheese for less than what you would pay for them in the grocery store. The only catch is, to remember to freeze some of it so it doesn't go moldy before you get a chance to eat it. If you have any italian specialty food stores, sometimes their prices are a little better for cheese from the deli than what they charge at the chain grocery stores too.
I find it cheapest and most convenient to buy it preshredded from the grocery store. I've tried buying it sliced from the deli but that is more expensive. I probably could get a deal if I bought it in a block, but that wouldn't be convenient for me to use, and I'm not one who likes to spend a million hours making dinner, so preshredded it is for me.
We buy Tillamook's medium cheddar in the 2 lb block size. It does cost a bit more than other brands but it is our favorite. It is the only brand we buy now. We can go through one of these in less than a week so if I find them on sale I will usually get two or three of them. I have been able to freeze the extra blocks. I have learned to let them thaw slowly in the fridge and they will keep and thaw really well that way.
I buy it in large bricks, too. I never buy it pre-shredded or sliced. Remember that hard cheeses can be frozen, too, so if you're afraid that you won't consume it all before it starts going bad or something, then simply freeze some of it for a while.
One of the best places to buy cheese, both block and shredded, is at Aldi if you can find one. I've done a side by side price comparison and found that I save at least .25 cents more a package than a sale price of a store brand at a regular grocery store. This, coupled with often larger package sizes at Aldi, makes for a lot of savings down the road. They often don't have a huge variety, but if you're looking for things like fresh mozzarella, sharp cheddar, Swiss, Mexican blend, you can often find all of them at Aldi at a regularly discounted price. This way, I don't have to wait for a sale!
