American cheese.

[goodbasil]

Some times I come across a rescipie calling for American cheese.
What is it? Just your regular cheddar cheese?
Never see it up here.

[LeeG]

thin slices of gelled orange pastel cheese product encased in plastic sheets

[David G]

thin slices of gelled orange pastel cheese product encased in plastic sheets

See 'Kraft' brand. It's an aquired taste...

Best to substitute med. cheddar, or colby, or mozzarella.

I bet they can find Tillamook Medium Cheddar readily in B.C. - and it's not bad at all. Award winning, even.

[Jim Bow]

Same as this

31417CF6-E89D-4F97-82B7-B4C03676A60E.jpg

[L.W. Baxter]

put a slice on your hot dog and crack a nice shiraz

[David G]

Prolly really jazz up the poutine...

[Chip-skiff]

When I lived in Cache Valley, Utah, home to several cheese plants, I was told that the "processed cheese food" was trim, slopover, and floor sweepings, dumped into a re-melt vat and dosed with various additives.

Waste not, want not. . .

[robm]

Just grate some cheap, old Canadian cheddar on it or in it, and call it good. Or more like, better.

[J.Madison]

If you are following a recipe that calls for American cheese, find a better recipe.

[Nicholas Carey]

Some times I come across a rescipie calling for American cheese.
What is it? Just your regular cheddar cheese?
Never see it up here.

"American Cheese" is a mild cheddar that has been processed - melted with some other ingredients. It is known for its meltability, something it does in a way that no other cheese does.

The process was invented in Switzerland c. 1910, and patented in the USA by some guy named James Kraft.

One of the important ingredients in American Cheese is Sodium Citrate, a sodium salt of citric acid. It acts as an emulsifying agent that allows the cheese to melt without becoming greasy -- most cheeses, if you melt them, will separate, and you'll wind up with a puddle of oil/fat, and a bunch of non-fat solids.

More details at

https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-re...merican-cheese

[Nicholas Carey]

When I lived in Cache Valley, Utah, home to several cheese plants, I was told that the "processed cheese food" was trim, slopover, and floor sweepings, dumped into a re-melt vat and dosed with various additives.

Waste not, want not. . .

"Cheese food" is not American Cheese. Velveeta is "processed cheese food" as is cheese whiz, the dreadful aerosol orange stuff. They are not American Cheese.

[Paul Pless]

a proper cheeseburger is built upon american cheese
there really are no adequate substitutes for the type in this application at least
do not be brow beaten by the cheese snobs on this point

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

a proper cheeseburger is built upon american cheese
there really are no adequate substitutes for the type in this application at least
do not be brow beaten by the cheese snobs on this point

+1.

Cheese snobs are bores!

[skuthorp]

Locally we can buy an American made Red Leicester style cheese that is very good indeed at the price.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

Grilled cheese sandwich with a can of tomato soup, perfect for lunch on a snowy day!

[skuthorp]

We grow and bottle our own tomatoes, and I prefer a good local parmesan style cheese on my toast.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

The key with American cheese is that it is a cheese product. In other words it is cows milk cheese melted with oils and reconstituted into a convenient slice.

It is best when melted. Most people do not eat a plain slice as one might do with a traditional cheese. It's not going to show up on a charcuterie board, and it was never meant to.

[Breakaway]

"Cheese food" is not American Cheese. Velveeta is "processed cheese food" as is cheese whiz, the dreadful aerosol orange stuff. They are not American Cheese.

Plus one!

American Cheese IS a real cheese type. Buy it in a deli, or at least at the deli counter in a supermarket.

But, there are many AMERICAN cheese products that are a mix if dregs and oils as outlined. These will be pre packaged and found in the dairy case.

Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[MushCreek]

American cheese is pretty dull IMHO. There are so many wonderful cheeses in the world it hardly seems worth the bother. I'm a little surprised to see it showing up on more cooking shows lately. On the rare occasion that we have burgers, I go full Martha Stewart, with homemade onion ciabatta rolls, home ground beef, so you can cook them rare, as God intended, and of course, some serious cheese. We found some bleu cheese slices that are amazing on a good burger.

[CWSmith]

Try to avoid the stuff where every slice is wrapped in plastic. It's convenient, but that plastic does not help what little flavor there is.

[The Q]

+1.

Cheese snobs are bores!

Legally it's not cheese even in the USA, but a cheese product, that means some cheese is used in its preparation, but it's not actually cheese.Clever wording to get round the law...

[Norman Bernstein]

a proper cheeseburger is built upon american cheese
there really are no adequate substitutes for the type in this application at least
do not be brow beaten by the cheese snobs on this point

I am in complete agreement. There is no substitute for a proper cheeseburger. In fact, I have seen professional chefs on TV use American Cheese in gourmet recipes precisely because it contains those emulsifiers. Too bad Joe isn’t around, he would undoubtedly be the leading cheese snob

[Nicholas Scheuer]

Years ago I believe one could buy sliced "American" cheese in packages similar to Suise and Cheddar, without the extra individual wrap, it being of a slightly harder consistency. Possibly it was replaced by a variety of Cheddar.

[Rich Jones]

My wife is a real American cheese snob.
It has to be Land O' Lakes White American Cheese freshly sliced at the deli counter of the market.
For me, it's good for cheeseburgers, grilled cheese and nothing else.

[LeeG]

It’s like cheap white bread, the fun part is the physical experience of tearing it up and molding it then eating it. Think of ten yr old boys making jokes.

[Todd Bradshaw]

It is one of those things where you get what you pay for. Unlike the cheap kind that is squirted into plastic wrappers, the real deal is sliced stacked and has some body to it. For a toasted cheese sandwich it is excellent as well as on a burger (although crumbled and grilled blue cheese and sliced mushrooms is probably our favorite burger dressing). If you want to add a little zing to a toasted cheese sandwich put a few drops of A1 sauce on the American Cheese slice before toasting it.

cheese.jpg

[Jim Mahan]

Make a goram cheeseburger or grilled cheese with good ol' cheddar. Much superior to the fastfood type cheeseburgers mentioned above. American cheese is to 'real' cheese what canned tuna is to real fish.

Or as OSB to real wood.

When I was a high school freshman, I would get home from school and make a sandwich with a single slice of AC on white bread toast.

[JOBBER]

For the less snobby connoisseurs...

cheese.jpg

[Bobby of Tulsa]

^ Hey that's Nacho cheese.

[CWSmith]

a proper cheeseburger is built upon american cheese
there really are no adequate substitutes for the type in this application at least
do not be brow beaten by the cheese snobs on this point

I'm sorry, but that's simply too pedestrian.

Blue cheese with fried onions and jalapeno chips and a good spicy aioli is the best way to go.

[Jim Bow]

I make my grilled cheese with Tillamook cheddar. I use a sliced Italian bread. The melted cheese that drips out onto the pan is a favorite.

[Peerie Maa]

I'm sorry, but that's simply too pedestrian.

Blue cheese with fried onions and jalapeno chips and a good spicy aioli is the best way to go.

Blue cheese can be a moveable feast.
Some blues, like Stilton are good, in others like Danish Blue the mould rips the back of your throat out.

[LeeG]

I’ve never been a fan of cheese on burgers. The fast food versions are extra icky and putting it on the burgers on the grill is another step for burning knuckles or watching cheese slide off. Picking cheese for how it drapes on a hot burger is silly. Not a snob, just don’t care for it.

[Jim Mahan]

My vice-habit currently is a dish of Tillamook vanilla ice cream at bedtime. I remember fondly, visiting the creamery on the Oregon coast when I lived in Grants Pass in the nineties. I get a wee charge out of the schooner logo on the label.

[SaltyD from BC]

To maximize the processed food experience you need some baloney with that American cheese. On white, of course.

afa cheeseburgers go. Aged real cheddar and do not look back.