I hate American Cheese

I really do. It tastes like plastic cheese. I'm finding it on my burgers, mexican food and omletes. I try to eliminate it from any food order, but sometimes it sneaks through. I'm also not a big fan of Velveta Cheese. Does anyone else have trouble with American cheese? Maybe living so close to Wisconsin makes me aware of how a good cheese should taste. What about you?

I know I should hate it, but I like it.

In an omelet or a grilled cheese sandwich, I'd rather have American than anything else. It melts better.

On an untoasted sandwich, I like "realer" cheese, and as part of a cheese course before or after dinner, of course I appreciate the niceties of artisanal cheeses, and so forth. But there are some applications for which nothing fills the bill like American cheese. Except for Velveeta.

riddlemay wrote:I know I should hate it, but I like it.

In an omelet or a grilled cheese sandwich, I'd rather have American than anything else. It melts better.

On an untoasted sandwich, I like "realer" cheese, and as part of a cheese course before or after dinner, of course I appreciate the niceties of artisanal cheeses, and so forth. But there are some applications for which nothing fills the bill like American cheese. Except for Velveeta.

Ditto

I use it in some of my childhood favorites, since that is what my parents used growing up and it has that "comfort food" feel to it (grilled cheese and chili cheese dip come to mind first). But outside of those melty-cheese-comfort-foods I don't use it/eat it at all.

As well, I too, hate American cheese.

I was actually just thinking about this awhile ago for some odd reason.

On a regular-old grilled cheese sandwich of loaf bread fried in butter with Kraft between the slices; okay...I've grown to appreciate it. It and the mug of tomato soup. Time was my grandmother would make just that and I despised it...thought the cheese stank(not in a good way).

I like the odd cheeseburger, but not with American cheese. Well, In n Out gets a pass.

American cheese on a burger just adds to the ick-factor sweetness with which I cannot abide(no American cheese, please, no catsup, and no mayo). Sweet burgers, feh.

How about the texture? That cod-gelid, plastic, corpse butter gack

and the color!

ugh

so...add my voice to the petition against American cheese

it has specific, inviolable uses...anything else is garbage

How about the texture? That cod-gelid, plastic, corpse butter gackand the color!

Thank you Christopher...what a wonderful grasp you have on the English language!

my hatred of American cheese must bring out the irascible poet inside

I dunno, I like the stuff, I just don't consider it when I think "I want some cheese."
But I'll crave american cheese singles, periodically. (Deli american cheese, sliced and stacked, tends to be awful: all the plasticity, but with a dried out consistency).

It's certainly a necessity for a grilled cheese sandwich (add muenster and swiss for perfection).

I think of it as the equivalent of mayo with a "well-done" texture: I don't like the soft slime of mayo, of sunnyside eggs, and similar items. A slice of american cheese on a sandwich is just the right amount of fat and tang for me.

On a seriously greasy-ass grilled cheese sandwich, or as the other half of a "macaroni and...", you almost can't beat the childhood comfort food appeal of plastic, chemically-processed, American "Pasturized process artificial cheese food product".

But in ANY other situation, I must agree: vile, nasty stuff.

What I don't understand are people who eat it uncooked. I'm not a fan in general, but raw American cheese or Velveeta taste like solidified motor oil.

Mhays wrote:I'm not a fan in general, but raw American cheese or Velveeta taste like solidified motor oil.

I'll just take your word on that.

Unnatural hue
Yet guilty pleasure from a
salty, spongy loaf

I personally prefer the deli American cheese that comes in blocks (and is usually simply labeled as "American Cheese" or "Pasteurized Process American Cheese,") to the more plasticky singles that come labeled as "Pasteurized Process American Cheese Product." The difference is that "product" contains less than 51% cheese. Examples of American Cheese Product include Kraft Singles and Velveeta.

But I'll use Kraft singles in a pinch, and I do sometimes use Velveeta as a gooey base for mac and cheese, on top of which I'll add other cheeses.

To my mind, we're talking about two completely different animals.

There are Kraft singles, which are repugnant (can't even stand 'em in grilled cheese), and then there's the deli version (typically Land-o-Lakes), which has its own distinct flavor (um, probably mostly salt. I'm a salt fiend, though) and is not plasticky at all. I would imagine that, presliced and sitting around, yes, it would dry out and taste nasty, but when it's sliced and wrapped and kept from drying out, it's good. I mean, it's not fine dining, but it's NOT the same as Velveeta or Kraft.

Maybe it's from spending too much time hanging out with Giles Schnierle, but these days, when I think of "American cheese," I don't think of orange cheese food, I think of this:



I love American cheese!

AFAIK, the Great American Cheese warehouse open houses are continuing throughout the summer.

...and while I am at it, I won't touch cheese whiz or cream of anything condensed soups. I got a cookbook (as a gift) from a legendary restaurant in Georgia. I was appalled at the number of recipes that called for these two ingredients.

LAZ wrote:AFAIK, the Great American Cheese warehouse open houses are continuing throughout the summer.

They are. According to the last email I received, they're open every other Saturday with upcoming dates of June 21 & July 5.

9:00am to 1:00pm

4727 S. Talman , Chicago 60632 (between Western and California Avenues)

razbryI won't touch cheese whiz or cream of anything condensed soups. I got a cookbook (as a gift) from a legendary restaurant in Georgia. I was appalled at the number of recipes that called for these two ingredients.

Amazing that a legendary restaurant could use those two products so often, but then again if it is a 'home cooking' type place those could be a standard in the area.

I also have to admit that I too have a certain affinity for the unnatural plasticized cheese products. There is just something about a grilled cheese made with them that screams out "hey, you can still be a 6 year old for a minute". But I also learned to like spaghetti on pizza as well...so there is that.

I don't know how you (who like american cheese) can stand it. It gives me the willies when I open up those singles to make my son his grilled cheese. I rather apply it directly to my body than put it in my mouth. Now there is an idea...other ways to use american cheese. It would probably work in a pinch if some shingles came off the roof!

Cook's Illustrated looked at American cheese and found that cheese that has cultured pasteurized milk or cheese culture as the first or second listed item in the ingredient list tasted like cheese, and that ones that had them listed last did not taste like cheese. Kraft singles are in the latter category.

Using this criteria, the American cheese I buy now tastes much better.

I should add that the Kraft Deli Deluxe singles, though, are not in the "cheese food" or "cheese product" category. They're not bad, and they're my default cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches. I also like using them on burgers when I'm cooking out for middle-of-the-road tastes.

I never buy American cheese except when I have a hankering for a grilled cheese sammidge. Otherwise it kinda tastes like the plastic it's wrapped in, although it does remind me fondly of childhood.

Since I'm using a fake name, I can say that recently I went to a taste-testing for cheese "loaf". When I was asked during the screening if I frequently buy "loaf", I said, "what do you mean, like bricks?" (Because sure, I buy cheddar cheese in brick form at the store). But apparently a loaf is not the same. It's the most vile thing I have ever tasted. It was supposed to be cut into squares before eating, but it was not cleanly sliced like real cheese or brick cheese. It was soft, warmish, and had the texture of thick frosting that stuck to my teeth despite the number of crackers I ate with it. Imagine chemical-laden, American cheese-flavored frosting that's been sitting out awhile and you have the idea. It was really hard to swallow, and then I had to taste samples of it in mac & cheese. It was so thick and pasty it was as if a face mask was melted onto pasta (it was a real shame, too, since the pasta was cooked perfectly). The scary part is that this stuff is shelf stable. Nobody in the focus group seemed to like it.

I will be the first to admit that I have a problem. I love "nacho cheese sauce", canned spray-cheese, and endulge occasionally in American cheese on my burgers - yes, I know that it's disturbing that the cheese gets frothy, but dammit, I like it. I understand that in the strictest legal sense it shouldn't be considered food... but I can't help myself. At least I don't go so far as buying Velveeta; that's where I draw my imaginary line in the sand.

That said, I'm also a lover of real cheeses. It's the same sort of mental acrobatics required to enjoy both a book and the movie it was made into - you just can't consider the two things as being remotely related; they are both enjoyable, but not the same at all.

American cheese has its place. I give the dogs their pills wrapped in strips of the stuff, and they love it. They actually come running when they hear the pill bottles rattle

Most 'Real' cheese won't melt. 'Plastic' cheeses melt well. A mixture of 85% 'Real' cheese and 15% 'Plastic' cheese is the least lower bound on proper melting. If you believe me not, run the experiment your very self.

Most-excellent mac 'n cheese requires that the cheese melt properly. Which entrains the first three sentences in the paragraph above.

I'm not alone in this observation: both NYTimes and Cook's Illustrated have pointed it out.

Soooo, do it your way. But I, moi, am going to make mac 'n cheese with a cheese mixture that bloody well MELTS.

R & R over. For now, anyway...

Geo

I did a good mac and cheese, and if you use some bechamel along with a mix of cheese, you should be fine for it melting. I had a sharp chedder and a colby-jack and it worked well. It was not a very wet mac and cheese, I didn't use a boatload of bechamel. Just enough to work with the cheese.

Point taken leek, but still... What you've got there is a mac 'n cheese 'n gravy. I drurther have just the man 'n cheese.

Geo

Epicurious offered a recipe from DIY American Cheese. They use Colby as their cheese of choice. I visited with some Kraft food scientists who indicated their American cheese is a blend of four cheeses.

Serious Eats tackles the big question: What's really in American cheese.

Regards,
Cathy2

I'm guilty as charged.

I am generally a cheese snob - when faced with a cheese plate at a party I can tell if they went to Pastoral, or if they just grabbed something at Whole Foods. I'm a snob.

But, I have a block of Velveeta in the fridge. (Not the slices where you can't tell the difference between the slice and the plastic wrapper). Even when I'm making a sauce out of real cheese - good use for little leftover pieces BTW, just pop them all in - I often add a little V. to smooth it out. And, I do sometimes need by grilled cheeze fix.

Hi,

A few years ago, Culinary Historians hosted Kevin Gillespie. We made his multi-cheese Mac and Cheese for samples, which included Velvetta. He used it because it had the ability to hold the other cheeses together without separating.

One of the pleasant outcomes, Gillespie has received an e-mail from someone who complained his cookbook recipe and what's served at the restaurant differed. Yet what I made for sampling was exactly how it was made at the restaurant.

Read the comment section the Epicurious recipe. Someone commented this method would convert many cheeses to being meltable.

Regards,
Cathy2