The Cheesy Times

What cheeses melt best and what are the factors that affect this?

The word, “cheese,” refers to a wide variety of dairy based foods; these foods may differ greatly from one another in the way they taste and the way they behave when being cooked. For this reason, you may need to experiment a little when choosing the right option for your purposes and it is best to use exactly the cheese a give recipe calls for. Of course, each dish requires a different texture, so not every cheese will work with every dish.

When it comes to melting, cheese can be divided roughly into three groups: stringy and stretchy, smooth and flowing, and non melting. There are few standard rules to help you determine which is which; generally those with the lowest melting points are also the ones that melt to the smoothest textures.

Stringy and Stretchy

These options are great for sandwiches, pizzas, and nachos. They include, but are not limited, to the following:

Mozzarella
Provolone
Cheddar Curds
These alternatives are characterized by their tendency to remain all in one piece when melted; they do not become runny or liquefied, and they may form long strings when pulled.

Smooth and Flowing

Smooth and flowing choices are excellent for making sauces and soups, and Fondue dips. They melt to a liquefied form without clumping or separating easily. A few options for this category include the following:

Cheddar
Muenster
Gouda

Of course, there will be vast difference in the tastes and textures of your dishes, as some of these cheeses are quite viscous when melted, while others have very little substance when melted.

Non Melters

These will not change forms when heated. They may become softer, but they will maintain their flow when baked, fried, or grilled. A few of these options include the following:

Cottage
Goat
Feta

When working with cheeses, you will be at least as interested in the taste they will bring to a dish as the texture. If you have chosen an option that is not necessarily known as a naturally smooth melter, you can often get better results by cooking it in the presence of a starch like flour that will invite the alternative you have chosen to melt more smoothly. Also bear in mind that once a cheese has melted, cooled, and reformed, you will not be able to achieve exactly the same results a second time, as many of the natural moisture and oils will have leached out, changing the consistency of your dish.