WTF is American cheese?

From MinuteFood.

Why do some cheeses melt into ooey gooey deliciousness, while others end up a clumpy mess (and WTF is going on with American cheese)?

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐˜†-๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐˜†:
-Fox PF, Guinee TP, Cogan TM, McSweeney, PLH (2017). Fundamentals of Cheese Science || Cheese as an Ingredient: p 629โ€“679. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1874-558X(04)80053-8
-Fox PF, Guinee TP, Cogan TM, McSweeney, PLH (2017). Fundamentals of Cheese Science || Processed Cheese and Substitute/Imitation Cheese Products: p 589โ€“627. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7681-9_17
-Kapoor R, Metzger LE, Biswas AC, Muthukummarappan K (2007). Effect of Natural Cheese Characteristics on Process Cheese Properties. Journal of Dairy Science, 90(4), 1625โ€“1634. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2006-746
-Pastorino J, Hansen CL, McMahon DJ (2003). Effect of Sodium Citrate on Structure-Function Relationships of Cheddar Cheese. Journal of Dairy Science 86 (10): 3113 – 3121. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(03)73912-5
-Sรถzeri AD, Huppertz T. (2023) Melting of natural cheese: A review. InternationaI Dairy Journal 142, 105648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2023.105648
-Templeton HL, Sommer HH. Some observations on processed cheese. Journal of Dairy Science 1930; 13:203-220. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(30)93519-9

๐—š๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ (๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ) ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€:
https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-really-in-american-cheese
https://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-american-cheese

Kitchen Science: Melting Cheese


https://www.cheesescience.org/melt.html#acid
https://cheesescientist.com/rants/processed-cheeses/
https://pubsapp.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/7806sci2.html
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/11/17964100/american-cheese-dying-millennials-chefs
https://www.factmr.com/report/157/processed-cheese-market

Separation Anxiety


https://www.cdr.wisc.edu/assets/pipeline-pdfs/Dairy-Pipeline-Vol33-No3_2.pdf
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/6679-why-young-cheese-melts-better-than-aged-cheese

๐—ข๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐˜€:









๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„-๐˜๐—ผ’๐˜€:
https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-smooth-macaroni-and-cheese/
https://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/melty-queso-dip/
https://www.seriouseats.com/sodium-citrate-baked-mac-and-cheese
https://www.seriouseats.com/alka-seltzer-cheese-sauce-recipe-8643844
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/9491-grown-up-stovetop-macaroni-and-cheese

๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ-๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ:
Dean Sommer. Cheese & Food Technologist at the Center for Dairy Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison

MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Leonardo Souza, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.

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