The right cheese can make or break a pizza.
So are you at risk of ruining your pie with the wrong cheese?
Store-bought, pre-grated parmesan cheese is arguably easy to use for a quick topping on
literally everything.
However, it is definitely not the best choice when topping a pizza.
According to Foods Guy, at its most basic, pre-grated parmesan will not melt because
it has undergone too much processing and is too finely ground.
Even freshly-grated parmesan can be fickle in terms of melting due to the temperature
at which it melts.
Foodiosity goes into further detail as to the factors that may prohibit pre-grated parmesan
cheese from melting.
Again, this has to do with science.
Most pre-grated and pre-shredded parmesan cheese products are made with poor quality
or fake cheese that has been produced using acid to curdle the milk.
Cheeses made with acid don't tend to melt well.
Additionally, these pre-grated and pre-shredded samples are mixed with an anti-caking agent
like cornstarch, flour, or cellulose, which keeps the cheese from absorbing moisture and
clumping together.
Depending upon how much of this anti-caking agent has been added, the cheese may never melt.
Instead, it could become gummy when heated.
There's no arguing that pre-shredded cheeses of all kinds are convenient, notably when
large quantities are needed for a recipe and you are trying to protect yourself from developing
cheese-grating-induced tennis elbow.
However, there are definitely cons to using these products — especially where meltability
is of primary concern.
The anti-caking agents can adversely affect the final texture of a dish, particularly
if you are attempting to melt the cheese.
Reader's Digest notes that it has to do with the quantity of the anti-caking agent added
to the shredded cheese.
The type that's most commonly used is cellulose, and there is no guarantee as to the percentage
of actual cheese versus cellulose you are getting in a bag of shredded cheese.
Something that may seem like a cost-effective buy may end up being an expensive bag of cellulose.
The bottom line is that you should always grate your cheese fresh from the block to
ensure quality as well as maximum meltability.
There are some hacks for grating cheese that will help make it easier, such as using a
food processor or spraying a box grater with cooking spray to keep the cheese from sticking to it.
While processed American cheese does find its way into the culinary world thanks to
its long shelf life, consistency, and unique melting properties, we have discovered that
it isn't necessarily a great option for pizza.
Per Medicine Net, processed cheese is in fact made with real cheese — at least 51 percent
of it to be exact.
A combination of cheddar, Colby, and cheese curds is heated with an emulsifying agent
and supplemented with a myriad of chemicals to reduce mold, tackiness, discoloration,
and bacterial growth.
Strictly from the vantage point of health, this highly processed cheese-like specimen
often contains excess levels of sodium and fat, which are potentially problematic for
those who are at high risk for cardiovascular issues.
Health ramifications aside, if the purpose of using processed cheese is its meltability,
then shouldn't it be the ideal topping for a great pie?
Not exactly, as explained by Ripley's in an article about the most highly flammable cheeses.
They set out to experiment by testing several different kinds of cheese for what's called
the Maillard reaction — the process by which browning occurs when a food is subjected to heat.
What they discovered was that due to the added chemicals and emulsifiers in American cheese,
it is very unlikely to burn or even brown except under tremendous direct heat.
Since one of the fundamentals of a good pizza cheese is its ability to brown, this renders
processed American cheese incompatible with a great pizza pie.
“Here’s your very own cheese pizza.”
According to Insider's ranking of melting cheeses, sheep's milk cheeses are the worst
when it comes to melting.
They cite two factors that limit its capacity to liquify: its high protein content and its
higher-than-average fat content.
These cheeses typically hold their shape and ooze out fat — not altogether terrible,
but certainly not ideal as a pizza topping.
Foodiosity goes into more detail with a cheese that is commonly made with sheep's milk — feta.
In addition to the high protein and fat content typical of sheep's milk cheeses, feta is also
high in acidity and moisture.
In fact, more than half of feta is water by weight, and about 19 percent of it is a specific
type of acid — Pantothenic acid — which is known to have a disproportionately high
melting point.
Between all of these factors, as feta heats up, it basically steams, leaving a soft, creamy,
slightly browned clump of cheese that —while delicious — isn't precisely what most pizzas
call for.
According to The PHCheese, there is a basic rule of thumb that can be applied when you
are staring at a cheese counter attempting to decipher which one to try on your next
homemade pizza.
For the most part, fresh cheeses that haven't been aged are much higher in moisture and
tend to have more sporadically distributed pliable protein molecules known as casein,
which make them ideal for melting.
Harder aged cheeses will typically be dryer and — thanks to the aging process — the
casein molecules will become densely packed, rendering them less likely to yield to the
melting process.
While we in no way wish to malign the decision to go vegan, there is a very good reason that
vegan cheese alternatives simply cannot be used as a one-to-one substitute for the real
deal on a pizza.
The thing that makes cheese melt so beautifully is the presence of the dairy protein casein.
Some vegan alternatives may taste somewhat similar to actual cheese, but they tend to
coagulate and remain a bit chewy when heated.
Fear not, however, as Go Dairy Free has a number of suggestions for toppings that can
have that depth of flavor cheese delivers.
They also point out that dairy-free pizza may be more cost-effective, as well as lower
in sodium and saturated fat.
Our favorite options include the mushroom pesto, the roasted vegetables, the Puttanesca-style
sauce chock full of salty olives, and the Thai Curry sauce with peanuts.
According to Dark Cheese, cream cheese is a unique product in terms of its capacity to melt.
While it is a high-fat, high-moisture cheese — which typically means it is ideal for
melting — it's also a high-acid cheese, which usually makes it harder to melt.
It can easily curdle if heated too rapidly, and once it is fully melted it will never
thicken back up again.
Foods Guy notes that one must take extra care when melting cream cheese.
If it's done too rapidly in the microwave, it'll become a watery, greasy mess.
If it's done too rapidly over direct heat on the stovetop, it can easily burn.
By the time the pizza is baked, the cream cheese will likely dissolve into a puddle
of goo atop your pie, making the crust soggy and allowing the toppings to slide right off.
If you've ever enjoyed a flaming heap of Saganaki at a Greek restaurant, you've eaten what is
known as a grilling cheese.
Lithuanian white cheese, queso fresco, bread cheese, and halloumi are just a few examples
of this type of cheese, per Culture.
The key factor for why these cheeses don't melt at high temperatures has to do with the
protein in them.
Grilling cheeses tend to have tightly-wound protein fibers that retain a firm, chewy texture
when heated.
For the most part, these types of cheeses are made using an acid technique.
When the milk is heated to a high temperature, vinegar, lemon juice, or another type of acid
is added, which causes the curds to separate from the whey.
The high heat enables the milk proteins to adhere to one another yielding a dense cheese.
The one exception to this is Halloumi, which — although made using rennet — isn't allowed
to process for as much time as typical rennet-produced cheeses.
This creates a cheese that is higher in acidity, thereby encouraging the proliferation of those
dense protein cores.
So unless you want a pizza with a squeaky layer of cheese between the crust and the
toppings, you should probably avoid putting this type of cheese on your pizza.
Cheese is often vilified as being bad for your health.
And perhaps to a certain extent, it can be if consumed in large quantities.
However, according to a 2017 study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the
idea of substituting low-fat or nonfat cheese options for the full-fat version to mitigate
negative health effects is actually not supported by science.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen conducted a 12-week-long study cross-referencing
those consuming no cheese, reduced-fat cheese, and full-fat cheese.
Their findings were that cheese does not measurably influence any of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
But more importantly, full-fat cheese was uniquely cited as having a positive influence
on HDL cholesterol, which is linked to a reduced risk of heart attack or stroke.
Culinary Nutrition both supports this and reinforces the culinary ramifications of opting
for reduced-fat cheese — particularly for something like pizza.
These cheeses not only take forever to melt, but they often result in a chewy, dense texture
that makes your pizza taste like cardboard.
Just as with anything else, consuming full-fat cheese in moderation where it counts — like
on top of a delicious pizza — is not only more palatable, but ultimately healthier.
Scientific research conducted by the University of Auckland in New Zealand definitively answered
the question of which cheese is the best on pizza.
"American, blue, cream, cottage, gouda, edam, provolone, romano, swiss, you have your entire
cheddar family."
Their study sought to determine which cheese had the optimal Maillard reaction, yielding
a perfectly browned layer of cheese atop a pizza.
You can witness this process in action by gauging the bubbles created by the cheeses
as they melt.
The bubbles cannot be too large, too small, or too flat.
In this endeavor, cameras were used to document the entire pizza-making process, sampling
a wide cross-section of different cheeses.
The end result was that cheddar lacked the necessary elasticity to properly melt — and
its bubbles were too small to brown — making it an undesirable choice to top a pizza.
Mozzarella was once and for all crowned the king of pizza cheeses thanks to its ideal
ratio of moisture to oil.
This gives it the perfect elasticity — which melts evenly — and yields the appropriate-sized
bubbles to brown without burning.