“Six-Hour Cheese”
Question:
Is it necessary to wait 6 hours after eating regular hard cheese like mozzarella, Munster, cheddar cheese, before eating fleishig?
As a general rule, Is Parmesan considered aged cheese nowadays hence rendering it a ‘6-hour cheese’?
Answer:
Mozzarella and Munster cheeses – are soft cheeses and they are aged on average for 30 days. There is no need to wait six hours after eating them.
Note that the above mentioned cheeses are produced differently in the U.S.A and in Europe resulting in different taste as well as texture.
Also note, that some are strict to wait six hours, also after regular cheeses, such as Mozzarella and Munster.
Cheddar – One should wait 6 hours after eating such a cheese.
Feta – One should wait 6 hours after eating such a cheese. See below.
Parmesan – One must wait six hours after cheese which has aged, even if melted. Parmesan cheese clearly meets the definition of hard cheese.
Note: Some Parmesan cheeses say on the packaging “Non-aged over 10 months”, the reason for this is because typical Parmesan cheeses are aged for a minimum of 10 months or more, so sometimes the company is only clarifying the matter but certainly the cheese was aged for various months (most probably 6 or more) and has the qualities required to be considered גבינה קשה a hard cheese.
Sources:
Rema (Yoreh Deah 89:2); see also the Shach ibid:15
Regarding feta cheese – See question #4250:
Do we have to wait 6 hours for meat after eating Feta cheese?
#5441
What if it was melted, like Pizza?
Here is a quote from the Badatz halacha guide for Shavuos:
“Modern cheese production has changed the curing process drastically, and this further varies halachic rulings. For our purposes, we will cite the Yad Yehuda (Yorah Deah 89) who posits that we need not be concerned of the possible “six-hour” status of cheese that is melted, and it requires only a one-hour wait. Thus, with regard to modern cheeses which are melted (aside from those aged for six months or more), there is room for leniency.”