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Comment on A long-ass way to write 'not parmesan'.

In no way am I coming to the defense of American cheese product here, but I do need to point out that there are actually 3 different types of American cheese, based on how they are made. True American Cheese (which is “Pasteurized Process American Cheese”), the grosser “Pasteurized Process Cheese Food”, and the absolute worst “Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product”.

If you have never had it before, you should absolutely try real American cheese, maybe just don’t go into it with the expectation that it’s similar to any other kind of cheese (I’m not even sure it could be called a cheese anywhere else tbh but it’s really good). It’s OK on its own, but it’s really good for being used in or on other things.

I’ll just go ahead and admit right now that I’m an American (sorry) and I’m poor, so I don’t have the chance to try the best cheeses, but I have managed to find and try most of the best cheeses that an average citizen can find in the US.

The “prepared cheese food” is the disgusting thing to which you’re referring, that stuff doesn’t even melt which is fucked up. It’s not legally able to be called a cheese even in the US. It is the main reason that American cheese has such a bad rap, the second reason being the “cheese product”, and the third being that even true American cheese sometimes has a fake looking yellow/orange color to it (but white American cheese is also a thing if the colors turn you off).

Actual American cheese is really good on burgers, breakfast sandwiches, and imo it’s by far the best cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich. It melts very easily and the flavor is creamy and delicious. I still don’t know whether it’s actually a cheese or not, but I do know that it is delicious.

One quick way to tell them apart is the packaging: aside from the name, the gross ones are always individually wrapped (because I’m pretty sure it’s not something that could even be sliced, so they just pump it straight into the wrapper or something gross like that). True American cheese is usually not individually wrapped, it’s just a pre-sliced cube of solid cheese (if it is an actual cheese, again I’m not sure).

The weirdest thing to me is that anyone could find the cheese food acceptable. Its not even that much cheaper than the real stuff and it is incredibly gross, the texture is off, the flavor is most similar to vomit. We have other cheeses here, why is this even still a thing?

Here’s is the relevant Wikipedia section if anyone is interested:

Because its manufacturing process differs from traditional cheeses,[19] federal laws mandate that it be labeled as “pasteurized process American cheese” if made from more than one cheese. A “pasteurized process American cheese” must be entirely cheese with the exception of an emulsifying agent, salt, coloring, acidifying agents, and optional dairy fat sources (but at no more than 5% of the total weight).[8] A “pasteurized process American cheese food” label is used if it is at least 51% cheese but other specific dairy ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, cheese whey, or albumin from cheese whey are added.[20] Products with other added ingredients, such as Kraft Singles that contain milk protein concentrate, use legally unregulated terms such as “pasteurized prepared cheese product”.[21]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cheese

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ExperiencedWinter@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

that even true American cheese sometimes has a fake looking yellow/orange color to it

I recently learned this is true of cheddar cheese too, they add annatto to it for coloring.

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- Rothe@piefed.social ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  You seem to be mistaking cheddar for red leicester.
  
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  - ExperiencedWinter@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    You seem to be mistaken en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddar_cheese
    
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Thebular@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
So American cheese (the real stuff) is actually real cheese. It’s basically just cheese with an emulsifying salt added to it, usually in the form of sodium citrate or similar. This salt is what makes American cheese melt so well, you can actually buy it and melt it into other cheeses to make them melt like American cheese. Or you can make it yourself by mixing baking soda and lemon juice

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stupidcasey@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I agree with all of this but one thing I would add is that the process in processed cheese allows them to go as light as they want with the real cheese, I’m sure some government regulation has a minimum but the core point is that not all American cheese is the same, if you want the good stuff you have to go to the deli and get it sliced (yeah they do that) it’s much more cheesy and almost cheddar tasting than Kraft but it melts like American and is perfect for any sauce.

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- exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  the process in processed cheese allows them to go as light as they want with the real cheese, I’m sure some government regulation has a minimum but the core point is that not all American cheese is the same
  
  For the formal legal definition, American cheese can only be mixed with water and cream, such that the fat from the cream is less than 5% of the total product.
  
  They’re allowed to add:
  
  Water but the total moisture content of the cheese can’t be more than 40%, and the fat content must be at least 47% of the solids (that is, the non-water part) in the total.
  
  Cream or milkfat but not so much to where fat from this cream/milkfat exceeds 5% of the total product.
  
  Acidifying agents but have a minimum pH
  
  Salt but it still needs to taste good
  
  Spices and flavorings that don’t taste like cheese, but still need to taste good
  
  Smoke but it still needs to taste good
  
  "Harmless artificial coloring" which by its nature isn’t going to constitute a significant percentage of the total weight
  
  Mold inhibitors up to 0.3% of the final product
  
  If sliced, lecithin may be added as an anti-sticking agent up to 0.03% of the final product.
  
  Basically I can’t think of a way to make stuff that can legally be called “American Cheese” without using at least 90% cheese as an ingredient. If you cut it with too much water you’ll run afoul of the milkfat and moisture minimums. And everything else you’re allowed to add is never going to constitute more than 1% of the end product.
  
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stormeuh@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Thanks for the interesting read!

My condolences on the state of the US food industry as a whole, and dairy in particular. As a European who loves their cheeses, it saddens me how a product that’s not cheap but accessible can be gatekept economically like that in the US.

Don’t be hard on yourself about it though, to me this is a systemic failure. You clearly did your research, even though the “cheese platter” available to you is small and mostly gross ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

If you’re looking for a hobby though: making cheese yourself doesn’t require any expensive stuff except milk (and in some cases time). You may have come across making mozzarella at home, which you can do in a day. But other cheese is possible too: apparently you can make a young cheese with yoghurt as the culture which starts fermentation!

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