- 2 days ago
In this edition of Epicurious 101, professional chef Shilpa Uskokovic shares all the ways American Cheese can enhance your cooking. From creating the perfect melt to keeping your dips and dishes creamier for longer, these American Cheese tips and tricks will level up your cheesy recipes.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I love American cheese and I think it is very misunderstood and I think everybody needs to know
00:05that it's just cheese with slightly different properties. Everybody needs to understand that
00:10this is a miraculous invention and we should talk about it.
00:19Here's what to me is mind-blowing about American cheese. American cheese has the unique ability
00:25to melt and then stay completely creamy and fluid without breaking out of its emulsion.
00:32This is a quality that's very particular to American cheese and it's irreplaceable. The
00:37ingredient that makes American cheese super unique is an emulsifying salt and the most frequently used
00:42one is sodium citrate. An emulsifier is any ingredient that can hold two disparate ingredients
00:49together like fat and water. An emulsifier will hold those two things together so they
00:55stay, in the case of American cheese, smooth and creamy without splitting. American cheese is
01:00essentially cheddar, other cheeses such as swiss cheese or colby jack and sodium citrate with
01:06the addition of some kind of liquid and it's made into the cheese that we know.
01:13The common misconception about American cheese is that it can feel plastic or fake but good American
01:19cheese is real cheese. Real American cheese which is made from milk and milk fat is amazing. When I go
01:26looking for American cheese at the store, the words I'm looking for on the package are pasteurized
01:31processed American cheese. That's the one that is closest to actual like cheddar cheese or swiss cheese
01:38or colby jack with the addition of a little bit of liquid and emulsifying salt. I would avoid products
01:45that have the words cheese food, imitation cheese, cheese spread or cheese product. To me these are
01:52indicators that the cheese isn't fully made from milk fat and contains some amount of oil.
01:58The great thing about American cheese is because it melts so well it almost forms its own sauce because
02:08it is so creamy. So for instance in this crunch wrap that I developed I add a layer of American cheese
02:15at the top and bottom and after it cooks and you cut into it it forms its own sort of sauce that works
02:22well with all the other layers. And for these slices I'm using the Kraft Deli Deluxe which is
02:28usually my go-to for any situation where I need sliced cheese. With this recipe I knew right away that
02:36I wanted American cheese and I knew it was going to be the only cheese that would you know melt with
02:41that sort of creamy saucy texture without compromising any of the other ingredients. And then I'm going to
02:47follow it again with a layer of American cheese. And the reason I use the American cheese first before I add
02:54the tortilla chips on top is again I wanted to form a barrier between the rest of the filling and the
03:00chips so the chips have a chance to stay crunchy. And then lay a piece of foil on top, weigh this all down.
03:09Okay so here's my crunch wrap just out of the oven. It is golden brown on top and crispy. I've let it rest
03:15as well for like about 10 minutes so that it's not too hot and holds its shape before I flip it out.
03:20Yay! Perfect! Okay I'm very excited to cut this and to see how everything is held up and how gooey the
03:26American cheese inside will be. Here's the moment we've been waiting for. Oh my god! Crazy!
03:35As you can see the American cheese melts and holds creamy. This was one of the more crazy recipes I've
03:41developed. The ability of the American cheese to stay creamy once it's melted really makes this crunch wrap
03:46I think. So not only does American cheese help emulsify cheese sauces but it also keeps them
03:52creamy for a very long time. I discovered this when I was developing the cheese sauce for my
03:57seven layer skillet dip and I tried I think six or seven times to make a cheese sauce without American
04:04cheese and every single time it was the same result. It tasted delicious but it was grainy, broken,
04:10separated. So on the eighth attempt I trusted my instincts and added American cheese and of course it
04:15was the best cheese sauce ever. So to make my seven layer dip I have my refried bean mixture. I have
04:21everything that I need to make my cheese sauce so I add my water first. If I added just the American
04:27cheese to the pot it would melt but it would also be quite thick and I want it to be fluid and saucy
04:34to meld well with the rest of the dip. To which I add a little bit of salt, ground cumin, adobo sauce from a
04:41can of chipotle. This is American cheese that I got from the deli section of the supermarket and I
04:47shredded it myself. A lot of people don't know this but you could walk up to the deli counter
04:52where you get your you know sliced cheese and you can ask them to cut you a block of American cheese
04:57and they happily will. It has a very low melting point American cheese so it melts pretty rapidly.
05:02So I'm going to turn this heat off and the residual heat should be enough to melt the pepper jack
05:08cheese. If I were to have made the cheese sauce with just pepper jack cheese it would have broken
05:14and it would separate and turn very clumpy and it is a little bit thinner than one would think. That's
05:22just because it's very hot and as it sits for a few minutes it'll thicken up and be perfectly creamy
05:28and spoonable. I'm going to top it with all of my other ingredients for a little bit of spice and then
05:35I'll finish it off with a bit of cilantro. As this begins to cool down the American cheese sauce will
05:42thicken just a little bit but it will stay creamy and when you dip it with a tortilla chip it won't
05:49break your chip like it wouldn't have congealed so it's very easy to scoop and this is the American
05:54cheese and the sodium citrate keeping the emulsion together and keeping it smooth and creamy for a long time.
05:59Another great quality about American cheese is its ability to remain fluid after it's melted and this
06:09is because of the sodium citrate again because it denatures the proteins in the cheese even upon
06:13cooling they never quite bond the same ever again so the cheese remains fluid for a long time and I
06:19think mac and cheese is a great example to illustrate that property of American cheese. So I have some
06:24noodles cooking here in milk I like to add the American cheese first because it's like an entrance
06:30almost it melts first and stabilizes the sauce so that when I add the other cheese it won't break. I
06:38use a combination of cheeses and this is something that I think is a valuable lesson when using American
06:43cheese because American cheese the properties of its meltability are commendable but sometimes the flavor
06:50can be one dimensional so using it in a combination with another cheese which is much stronger something like an aged
06:56cheddar really helps to balance the best of both worlds. The American cheese essentially keeps things fluid and
07:01creamy and the cheddar cheese will bring flavor and to finish it off I'm going to add a little bit of
07:07mustard just for flavor and a little bit of paprika for color. This is ready for me to plate up. You know as I'm
07:14spooning this in I can see that the cheese sauce is coating the noodles very evenly. I know because of
07:20the American cheese that it is not going to form up and coagulate so it'll stay creamy for a while. Who
07:26doesn't like a creamy mac and cheese? The great thing about using American cheese for mac and cheese is it
07:32gets you in this perfect in-between spot between the convenience of box mac and cheese and the flavor of a more
07:39complicated homemade version. And the other bonus of using American cheese is the sauce stays extremely
07:46silky and fluid for a very long time.
07:51Why is American cheese the perfect cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich is because its melting point
07:58is so low and when you toast bread on a skillet it doesn't need a long time so by using a low melting
08:05point cheese such as American the cheese melts by the time the bread is toasted. For a grilled cheese
08:11I think you know it makes sense to use sliced American cheese and this one is the Kraft Deli Deluxe. You
08:17certainly can add a slice of a sharper more flavorful cheese such as a cheddar in addition to the American
08:25cheese. I would caution against using just a cheddar cheese. I don't think it will melt as well. The result
08:31will be a little bit stringy and broken perhaps even oily and greasy. I would always use another
08:37cheese in combination with American cheese. Okay I'm looking for the bread to be golden brown and toasty
08:44and the cheese to begin melting and sort of coming up the sides. And here's a grilled cheese made with
08:50American cheese. Oh my god you can really see how gooey and even the melt is. An exceptional specimen of a
08:57grilled cheese sandwich. You can see how the cheese is melted evenly. There are no pools of oil or grease
09:03and it's just a creamy melt from edge to edge. Once American cheese is melted it also sort of
09:09holds all of the ingredients together. So in the case of these make-ahead breakfast sandwiches for
09:14instance I am going to lay a slice of American cheese on top and so I have my egg, bacon, cheese and I've
09:23closed the top of the English muffin. And now I am going to wrap them up and hold them in the freezer
09:30until I'm ready to eat them. And when it's time to reheat them the cheese will melt and sort of trickle
09:35down and hold the bacon and the egg together. These breakfast sandwiches have been in the oven for about
09:4010 to 15 minutes just for them to warm through. So I'm excited to open one and see how it looks inside.
09:45You can see here that the cheese is effectively holding down the bacon. So when you go to bite it,
09:52the bacon won't just like slide out of your sandwich. The American cheese here is essentially
09:56creating like a sticky network that binds the bacon to the bread. In conclusion, American cheese deserves
10:04your respect. As a big believer of American cheese, I implore you to go and find a good quality American
10:11cheese. Make the right choices when you're at the store and you will be surprised at just how good,
10:15useful and miraculous American cheese is.
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