Bringing 10kg Cheese back from Australia

[ellathai]

Hi All

A Couple of questions

1/ The wife and l are heading back to Australia to catch up with family,l want to buy 10kg of my favorite cheese which l can't get here.

The plan is bring back 5KG in my suitcase and 5 in hers.All frozen.

Has anyone else done this?

Any problems?

2/ Can l take a litre of duty free grog on carryon on Thai Smile (Domestic)

 

Cheers and Thanks

Edited September 6, 2019 by ellathai

[worgeordie]

If the customs find it,I believe everything get scanned now,

they probably will say that's a commercial amount and charge

you duty,which must be high ,which makes the price imported cheese

here so expensive.

You cannot carry any liquids over a  certain amount as carry on,

1 litre is too much.

regards Wrgeorie

[madmen]

Better Google frozen cheeses. They crumble and lose texture

[ezzra]

You can freeze cheese successfully if you’re planning to use it for cooking purposes. 

Frozen cheese will remain safe to consume, but it will typically change texture and often become crumbly once thawed, says the National Dairy Council...

[moontang]

Seems to work fine on frozen pizzas.  Duty free on a connecting flight?  I have seen different policies on that..do you mean that you are changing to domestic at Swampy?  Buy at King Power..I think they bag it and bring it to your flight.  That is what the special bags are for.  In the US, they only let you buy going outbound...here you can buy inbound..including Chiang Mai.

[Cadbury]

Have you tried Makro Supermarkets. They have a very good range of quality cheeses in large 1 kg blocks. At least they do where I shop in Phetkasem Road Bangkok.

Much cheaper than other regular supermarkets. Plus you avoid the potential customs problems. 

[Matzzon]

16 minutes ago, moontang said:

Seems to work fine on frozen pizzas.

Yes, If use in food or for cooking like people stated above already. if you freeze cheese you will not be able to slice it and put it on a sandwich. Ok?

[moontang]

8 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Have you tried Makro Supermarkets. They have a very good range of quality cheeses in large 1 kg blocks. At least they do where I shop in Phetkasem Road Bangkok.

Much cheaper than other regular supermarkets. Plus you avoid the potential customs problems. 

Half the stuff isn't even real cheese, and prices are way high on the rest, but it does beat the other Thai retailers.  Makro is the food coloring king, though.  

[Tayaout]

1 liter is not too much. That's the limit. You must buy it after the security check at the duty free and they will put it in a sealed bag. 

[Tayaout]

PS: If the cheese get seized you can still get quality here: http://www.cheesequintessence.com/

[madmen]

PS: If the cheese get seized you can still get quality here: http://www.cheesequintessence.com/

Also food for foreigners does a kilo of mature oz cheddar for around around 200 baht shipped with dry ice is extra

Search Facebook for full range

[ratcatcher]

23 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Have you tried Makro Supermarkets. They have a very good range of quality cheeses in large 1 kg blocks. At least they do where I shop in Phetkasem Road Bangkok.

Much cheaper than other regular supermarkets. Plus you avoid the potential customs problems. 

The 1kg blocks of ARO & ANCHOR cheese are the rubbery type of cheese suitable for sandwiches and melting over food. The only cheese resembling real Cheddar for example is Mainland Cheddar from New Zealand and the Big 'n Bitey blocks of Cheddar from Australia. The Monterey cheese from California is mild and rubbery. Mainland also has Swiss ,Edam & Gouda. Of course, Foodland, Villa & Rimping, as well as FFF in Phuket also have good cheese selections but at a high cost. 

[david555]

47 minutes ago, madmen said:

Better Google frozen cheeses. They crumble and lose texture

if it is half-soft cheese ...yes , but when spread it on bread it comes together again , I tried it last visit Europe with gorgonzola and cambozola , worked fine  the texture is closing again when spreading on your bread .

Sliced cheese works fine , only the slices glue more together (young cheese vacuum sold )

Edited September 6, 2019 by david555

[Outbackoz]

Have brought cheese and other coldgoods including cryovac beef back on a few times without any  quality issues. On each occasion it has been a direct flight from Brisbane to Bangkok. Normally get a reasonable quality cooler bag from Kmart/Target that will fit into my suitcase. Generally set the fridge a bit above freezing and leave all the foodstuffs to chill for a day. (minimum cold goods never under 8kg) The night before I leave I bundle everything together and put it in the cooler bag and wrap together in newspaper, leave the top unzipped and open and put it back into the fridge. Just before leaving for airport I put the cooler bag into the centre of my suitcase and put my clothes around into add some insulation. If I am leaving from Bris it is is  90 minute drive to the airport and a couple of hours there before hand to meet regulatory check in requirements and around 9 hour flight. On a arrival at swampy collect luggage and another 3.5 hour taxi ride home. when the cold bag opened at home always remained cold. Have brought beef in a similar manner from out west requiring  an additional 6 hours drive. Aircraft luggage holds are generally circa 7 degrees C inflight. so that helps keeping everything cool. Hope that is of assistance.

   

 

 

 

[Cadbury]

1 minute ago, ratcatcher said:

The 1kg blocks of ARO & ANCHOR cheese are the rubbery type of cheese suitable for sandwiches and melting over food. The only cheese resembling real Cheddar for example is Mainland Cheddar from New Zealand and the Big 'n Bitey blocks of Cheddar from Australia. The Monterey cheese from California is mild and rubbery. Mainland also has Swiss ,Edam & Gouda. Of course, Foodland, Villa & Rimping, as well as FFF in Phuket also have good cheese selections but at a high cost. 

I find the Makro Parmison cheese excellent. It comes in 1 KG blocks and wheels. They have other large blocks of vintage cheeses, soft cheeses and the usual sliced sandwich and pizza cheeses in bulk.

[RichardColeman]

Hide it in a durian - nobody will notice

[Isaanbiker]

That sounds quite cheesy to me. 

[dimitriv]

>> The plan is bring back 5KG in my suitcase and 5 in hers.All frozen.

 

You don't have to freeze cheese. Cheese will be ok for some time outside the refrigerator. In my country they even sell cheese in the supermarket outside the refrigerator.

 

And on the plane in the luggage compartment it is already very cold.

[Solinvictus]

The matter just seems like a cheesy situation

[Bullie]

58 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Have you tried Makro Supermarkets. They have a very good range of quality cheeses in large 1 kg blocks. At least they do where I shop in Phetkasem Road Bangkok.

Much cheaper than other regular supermarkets. Plus you avoid the potential customs problems. 

"Good range of quality cheeses". Obviously, you are not Dutch, or French. If find all cheeses in Makro of appallingly low quality, on the verge of inedible.

But to each his own!

[Bullie]

1 minute ago, dimitriv said:

>> The plan is bring back 5KG in my suitcase and 5 in hers.All frozen.

 

You don't have to freeze cheese. Cheese will be ok for some time outside the refrigerator. In my country they even sell cheese in the supermarket outside the refrigerator.

 

And on the plane in the luggage compartment it is already very cold.

I agree. Don't, however, make the mistake to put it in the boot of the taxi on the ride home as I did on my 3 hours ride to Trat. Keep it INSIDE the airconditioned taxi at all times!!

[thaiguzzi]

1 hour ago, ellathai said:

The plan is bring back 5KG in my suitcase and 5 in hers.All frozen.

Has anyone else done this?

Any problems?

I've been bringing cheese back every 15-18 months for over a decade from the UK.

Generally 3-4 kgs per person per suitcase. Ie, me and my son 3-8 kgs, or with the missus, 9-12 kgs.

Never a problem.

I also don't recommend freezing.

Day of your flight - out of the fridge and into aluminium foil, some people like newspaper, i prefer the foil, but this is often picked up on x-ray.

Never been a problem for me.

[ratcatcher]

28 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

I find the Makro Parmison cheese excellent. It comes in 1 KG blocks and wheels. They have other large blocks of vintage cheeses, soft cheeses and the usual sliced sandwich and pizza cheeses in bulk.

Unfortunately the Makro in Phichit is a tier 3 store and there are few farang customers, possibly compared to where you live. 

They sometimes have the Red ball Edam B780 and the huge Gouda wheel, but at B2000 per, the market is limited. Can you indicate which area Makro stores have the large blocks of 'vintage'cheese? Maybe I could special order if possible.

[ratcatcher]

8 minutes ago, Solinvictus said:

The matter just seems like a cheesy situation

That's a Gouda joke.

[sammieuk1]

I always bring back a lot of cheese to offset the cost of an extra bag on BA as its 4 times the price for 2/3rds less here or thereabouts ????

[ratcatcher]

9 minutes ago, Bullie said:

"Good range of quality cheeses". Obviously, you are not Dutch, or French. If find all cheeses in Makro of appallingly low quality, on the verge of inedible.

But to each his own!

As a connoisseur of quality French & Dutch cheese, why would you even bother with Makro, when places like Villa and Central Chidlom Food  floor have a superb selection of the best from Europe?

[Cadbury]

Just now, ratcatcher said:

Unfortunately the Makro in Phichit is a tier 3 store and there are few farang customers, possibly compared to where you live. 

They sometimes have the Red ball Edam B780 and the huge Gouda wheel, but at B2000 per, the market is limited. Can you indicate which area Makro stores have the large blocks of 'vintage'cheese? Maybe I could special order if possible.

I have been going to Makro in Phetkasem Road, Bang Khae. It is in a large shopping area which includes BigC. I only visit there every few months and never see a farang. Their phone number is

 +66 2 033 0050. But you may get the standard answer "no have". 

[moontang]

I thought the 900 gram block of Monterey was acceptable, but it costs  double what I would pay for it in the US.  Probably goes good with a box of July vintage fruit juice. Makro would be long out of business in the US.. stores that stink don't last very long.  I am not a Walmart regular for food, but I know they don't smell like the garbage can at the fish market.  Bought 16 ounce jars of blue cheese stuffed jumbo olives from California for 50 cents each, on clearance.. 300 THB here, easily. 

[sunnyboy2018]

2 hours ago, david555 said:

if it is half-soft cheese ...yes , but when spread it on bread it comes together again , I tried it last visit Europe with gorgonzola and cambozola , worked fine  the texture is closing again when spreading on your bread .

Sliced cheese works fine , only the slices glue more together (young cheese vacuum sold )

Sliced cheese is pointless and usually plastic. 

[Guderian]

On 9/6/2019 at 11:42 AM, ezzra said:

You can freeze cheese successfully if you’re planning to use it for cooking purposes. 

Frozen cheese will remain safe to consume, but it will typically change texture and often become crumbly once thawed, says the National Dairy Council...

It depends on the cheese. Cheddar is hopeless, it just becomes a crumbly mess. Emmenthal and Gouda less so, the texture changes a bit but they don't get ruined like Cheddar. Boursin, Mascarpone, Brie and Camembert freeze just fine.

 

The trick is to freeze the ones that don't get affected by it, then use them as cooling elements in a cool bag with the chilled Cheddars and what not. If you do it properly, it'll all be fine when you get back to Thailand. All based on years of experience bringing these cheeses from the UK to Thailand.