Suffice it to say that if you don`t scan labels carefully, you probably won`t know if the cheese you`re eating is pasteurized or not. Corn no! American cheese is not cheese! The cheese police shout. And they are right. American cheese – even the “fancy” stuff you can slice at the delicatessen counter – isn`t exactly cheese. But here`s the thing. Saying “American cheese is not cheese” is like saying “meatloaf is not meat.” Just as meatloaf is a product made by mixing real meat with texture- and flavor-altering ingredients, American cheese is a product made by mixing real cheese with texture- and flavor-altering ingredients. In fact, in terms of percentage, there`s a good chance there`s more milk and cheese in your American cheese slices than meat in your meatloaf! “In percentage terms, there`s a good chance there`s more milk and cheese in your American cheese slices than in your meatloaf” British settlers made cheddar cheese shortly after arriving in North America. Around 1790, cheddars made in America were exported to England. According to Robert Carlton Brown, author of The Complete Book of Cheese, what was known in America as yellow cheese or lager cheese was known in England as American cheddar or Yankee cheddar.
[1] The Oxford English Dictionary lists the first known use of “American cheese” in The Guardian of Freedom newspaper in Frankfurt, Kentucky, in 1804. [2] Kraft isn`t the only company that can circumvent labeling laws in this way, which means that if you really want to get an idea of what`s in a cheese, you`ll have to look at more than just the product name and dive into the ingredient list itself. Don`t get me wrong. Not every burger or grilled cheese I eat is made with American cheese, and there are times when I settle for a spicy cheddar platter, a slice of Comté, or a Roquefort crumble on top. But if I had to choose a cheese to keep in my burger, you`re damn right, it will be American. No other cheese in the world can touch its meltability or goo factor, and that`s really what it`s for: texture. If I`ve taken the time to pick and grind good beef, I want that beef flavor to shine and not be obscured by a powerful cheese that would work best on a cheese platter. The process itself was invented in Switzerland to reduce cheese waste. The leftovers from different batches of cheese could be melted together and formed into a delicious new product. In 1916, Canadian-American cheese entrepreneur and salesman James Kraft perfected the technique in the United States, patented it, and began selling the very first American cheese. It quickly became very popular due to its long shelf life and ease of shipping.
Let`s clarify another thing. All the cheese is melted. All. It is an artificial product that does not exist in nature. Even the simplest cheese, such as halloumi, is made by treating milk (whether from a cow, sheep, goat or even a human) with rennet (an enzyme usually taken from the gastric mucosa of an unweaned calf or more and more plant enzymes with similar properties), draining and compressing the resulting cottage cheese. More complex cheeses undergo other processing steps. Mozzarella and Queso Oaxaca, for example, are kneaded and stretched. Gruyère and Comté are washed with a brine contaminated with bacteria called Morge. If you really had to bring this list of labels to a modern supermarket, you`d be surprised to see that many products don`t fall into one of these categories. U.S.
manufacturers like to play with labeling laws. According to this article, kraft changed the label of its singles from “Pasteurized Process Cheese Food” controlled by the FDA to “Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product” in 2003, and Easy Cheese changed its label from “Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread” to “Pasteurized Cheese Snack”, which was supposed to be able to use low-cost imported milk protein concentrate (MPC) in its formulation. Even Kraft`s “more sophisticated” American cheese, the Deli Deluxe product line, is sometimes referred to as the “prepared cheese product.” Because its production process is different from traditional cheeses,[8] federal laws require it to be called “pasteurized American cheese” if it is made from the combination of more than one cheese[9] or as a “pasteurized American cheese food” if it contains at least 51% cheese, but other specific dairy ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, cheese whey or cheese whey albumin are added. [10] Products that contain other ingredients, such as kraft singles, that contain milk protein concentrate, use legally unregulated terms such as “pasteurized prepared cheese product.” [11] After the patenting of a new process for producing processed cheese in 1916,[3][4] James L. Kraft began marketing in the late 1910s, and the term “American cheese” soon began to refer to the processed variety rather than the traditional but more expensive cheddars that were also made and sold in the United States. This happens every time I post a photo on Twitter or Instagram of a delicious cheeseburger – perfectly encrusted minced meat (most likely crushed cooked) on a fluffy bread covered with onions, salad, cucumbers. then a slice of sparkling, sticky, melting and bright orange American cheese. Americans bought about $2.77 billion worth of U.S. cheese in 2018, but popularity has declined and, according to Bloomberg News, sales are expected to fall 1.6 percent in 2018. The average price of a pound of U.S.
cheese was less than $4 ($8.82/kg) for the first time since 2011. [16] As I said at the beginning, my only purpose was to clear up misunderstandings about American cheese and its production. If you thought it was disgusting from the beginning, I doubt I did a good job of convincing you that this is not the case. For me, it`s all about context. There are times when I yearn for a real fancy cheese, and there are times when a single weeping slice of American is enough. One does not replace the other, and they do not need to be compared to each other for us both to enjoy them. Oddly enough, one of the USDA regulations for the process of American cheese intended for use in government programs is that none of the ingredients previously belonged to the government, meaning that the term “government cheese” doesn`t really apply to government cheese. until it becomes state cheese. Most cheeses are inoculated with bacteria and are allowed to ferment and age, during this time they develop flavor and crust and lose moisture. Processed American cheese is sold in three varieties: individually packaged slices of cheese, small pre-cut blocks and large blocks. Before the invention of cheese slices, the cheese block was the only option available and is therefore also considered a “classic” or “traditional” American cheese.
I`m not going to try to convince you that American cheese is the greatest culinary gift this country has given to the world (it isn`t). I`m not going to try to convince you that American cheese tastes as complex as a good cheddar or tomme (it doesn`t). I`m not even going to try to convince you that if you don`t like American cheese, you probably haven`t eaten a good cheeseburger or grilled cheese (although you probably haven`t). But I`m going to try to dispel some misconceptions about what American cheese really is and how to identify it in nature. Speaking of sodium citrate, buy yourself a small bag of the substance and you too can make perfectly creamy, sticky, melting cheese slices and macaroni and cheese at home with the cheese you want! (Or use my Recipe for American-style melting cheese slices to make it sodium citrate-free.) Where American cheese (or “pasteurized American cheese,” as the FDA likes to call it*) differs is that once the cheese is made (and yes, American cheese starts with real honest cheese), it`s mixed with a few other ingredients to change its texture and flavor. The exact details of these subsequent processes determine the labeling on the package, and these can be as simple as mixing with another cheese or as complex as melting with extra whey, milk proteins, and emulsifying salts. This allows American cheese to melt without breaking or becoming greasy, as is the case with a traditional cheese.