Waiting 6 Hours after aged cheese

Motek

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 7:58 pm

Do all wait six hours after parmesan cheese (and other cheeses aged for at least 6 months)?

I stopped using parmesan cheese years ago. I didn't like it that much and the six hour wait can be a pain if you eat it for lunch or mid-afternoon and then want fleishigs for supper.

mali

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 8:24 pm

you have to ask your rav.
some hold that since today the cheese doesn't go through the natural aging process, and instead gets some enzymes that speed up the process, there's no need to wait more than for regular dairy products.
OTOH, some poskim say that since the finished product is the same, you need to wait those extra hours.

TzenaRena

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 8:25 pm

Rav Dworkin insisted that one should wait for 6 hours regardless of what kind of hard cheese it was, because people probably wouldn't differentiate, or wouldn't necessarily know what kind of cheese they had.

However, if one does know, and it is not? I once asked Rabbi Marlow if it was a hanhaga tovah, for which you need to be matir neder and he said yes, so I still wait 6 hours, no matter which.

Not only aged cheeses go under this category though. I was under the impression that cheeses with animal based rennet it it are also. That is why the cheeses under CHK specify that the rennet is of vegetable origin, because otherwise one would have to wait. ( if they didn't know which kind it was).

Last edited by TzenaRena on Sat, Apr 01 2006, 8:28 pm; edited 1 time in total

littles

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 8:27 pm

Yes, I do wait six hours after eating aged cheeses. A few months ago I had parmesan cheese on pasta Friday afternoon for lunch not thinking that this would mean I would not be able to enjoy my Shabbos dinner as I was eating out. I told my host what happened and she told me she had never heard of waiting after any cheeses. I have encountered many people who do not do wait. There is someone I know that cooks regularly for the community and he told my husband that this is not neccessary (the waiting six hours). It makes wonder about peoples kashrus.

mali

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 8:39 pm

SaraYehudis wrote:

That is why the cheeses under CHK specify that the rennet is of vegetable origin, because otherwise one would have to wait. ( if they didn't know which kind it was).

that isn't the only reason why they specify it. cheeses that are made with animal-based rennet have a kashrus problem. lubavitch doesn't rely on the hetterim that other poskim use in this case. so they're just letting us know it contains only vegetable-based rennet. it's just like they write on the milk that it's from cows that don't get injected.

Motek

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 9:42 pm

SaraYehudis wrote:

Rav Dworkin insisted that one should wait for 6 hours regardless of what kind of hard cheese it was.

referring to American cheese, Meunster, and Mozzarella?

Crayon210

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 10:11 pm

What defines hard cheese?

What American cheese is "hard"?!

So l'ma'aseh, lots of people wait six hours between cheese and fleishigs?

chocolate moose

Sat, Apr 01 2006, 10:12 pm

The way the rov explained it in our shiur is that you have to wait six hours if you can see it; b/c then it sticks to the teeth.

If it's melted, so you can't see it, you don't hae to.

girlsmom

Sun, Apr 02 2006, 12:21 am

My husband waits six hours after hard cheese and I took it on after we got married. Its not so hard once you get used to it.

Chani

Sun, Apr 02 2006, 3:03 pm

I thought hard cheese encompassed everything except cream cheese and cottage cheese (and I suppose farmers cheese).

sarahd

Sun, Apr 02 2006, 4:20 pm

mali wrote:

SaraYehudis wrote:

That is why the cheeses under CHK specify that the rennet is of vegetable origin, because otherwise one would have to wait. ( if they didn't know which kind it was).

that isn't the only reason why they specify it. cheeses that are made with animal-based rennet have a kashrus problem. lubavitch doesn't rely on the hetterim that other poskim use in this case.

That's so interesting, because cheese has been made with animal rennet for thousands of years. Vegetable-based rennet is of fairly recent origin. Seemingly, Chazal relied on the heterim - why wouldn't Lubavitch?

BrachaVHatzlocha

Sun, Apr 02 2006, 6:01 pm

I only know that parmesan is hard.
we once asked a rov and he said wait 6 hours but in pressing circumstances (you ate it Fri afternoon, for example), you can wait 1 hour.
Also, as someone else mentioned, I heard if it's mixed in with something (melted in lasagna?) you don't have to wait.

red sea

Sun, Apr 02 2006, 6:57 pm

I have never heard of waiting 6 hours after regular hard cheeses, only after the authentic aged, old hard cheese, the type they serve if you check into a swiss hotel hard cheese.

TzenaRena

Mon, Apr 03 2006, 3:43 am

sarahd wrote:

mali wrote:

SaraYehudis wrote:

That is why the cheeses under CHK specify that the rennet is of vegetable origin, because otherwise one would have to wait. ( if they didn't know which kind it was).

that isn't the only reason why they specify it. cheeses that are made with animal-based rennet have a kashrus problem. lubavitch doesn't rely on the hetterim that other poskim use in this case.

I'll try to find out Smile

gryp

Mon, Apr 03 2006, 12:13 pm

I used to wait 6 hours for all cheeses until I got married.
it was very hard to get used to waiting only an hour, but its a world of a difference!