The salt - or sodium citrate - is a special type of emulsifying salt that keeps the cheese glossy and gooey when it melts, even if you heat it up and cool it down a few times. That tapestry of cheese is a big part of why it doesn’t break, or go grainy/oily/gross.
Process American cheese is somewhat eco-friendly - it is produced by cheese manufacturers when they combine scraps and leftovers from various batches of cheese with more milk, salt and fat into a homogenized new product. American cheese is hands down one of the best melters on the market at a budget-friendly price point. No matter whether you make it from scratch with a bechamel sauce, or use the blue box mix, the X factor for amazing mac and cheese is all about putting the right cheese into the mix.Īmerican cheese gets a lot of hate, but there is literally nothing better for melting that is also most likely available at the corner bodega or convenience store. If you’ve ever tried to amp up your pasta only to end up with a gross oily, stringy or grainy mess, here’s the game plan for picking the right cheese for macaroni or pasta. But if you throw it into warm pasta, expect them to remain in clumps or cubes rather than become one with the noodle. They’ll tend to hold their shape, so you can do things like fry them (like Juusto, or bread cheese) and they’ll hold their shape great. Other cheeses are made with high acid or rennet, like paneer, feta and ricotta. Great to pull off a ropey long strand on your French onion soup, but really awful to try to blend into pasta for a cheese sauce. There are many factors that determine a cheese’s meltability - moisture, how it’s made, acidity, fat content and time since production will all play a factor into the melting goo.Ī cheese that’s made by stretching, like mozzarella and provolone, will just want to stretch rather than becoming creamy. Certain cheeses are born to melt, while others get weird and clumpy, and some cheeses wouldn’t melt unless you threw them into an active volcano. The best cheese for mac and cheese might not be the one you’re thinking ofīut you can’t just throw any cheese on top of your pasta and call it a day. Pair that with a nice set of comfy pants, your best fuzzy slippers and the Must Binge Netflix Marathon and you’ve got yourself the ideal cozy night at home.
There’s just nothing to beat that ooey, gooey creamy bowl of happiness and warmth.
Which cheeses are the best cheeses for mac and cheese? When it comes to the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese - hold up, full stop, ANY pasta with cheese– is tops of the list.