One of my mates recently had a cheese melting disaster. Up until that moment I had never even thought about the possibility of how cheese meltability (did I just make up a word?!) could totally wreck your dish. We were at a dinner party together, one of those bring a dish types, so my poor friend was really embarrassed her dish didn’t turn out.
So she was trying to make a cheese dip to go with cornchips. She bought this cheese. 4 Cheese Melt Blend by Perfect Italiano. Sounds like the perfect cheese option for making a melted cheese dip!
Here’s what it says on the packet;
A delicious blend of traditional and easy melt Mozzarellas with Cheddar for full flavour and Romano for bite. Doesn’t go oily, melts golden brown. Perfect for melting and grilling.
Still sounds like the perfect product. But what happened was the mozzarella when heated came together as a sticky lump. So you couldn’t stick a cornchip into it.
So here’s a guide – without the science – of what cheese to use and where to use it.
Creamy Melting Cheeses for Sauces
For sauces, dips, fondue and quiche.
- Cream cheese
- Marscapone
- Quark
- Fontina
- Taleggio
- Gouda
- Gruyere
- Jarlsberg
- Raclette
- Roquefort
- Gorgonzola
- Most blue cheese
- Edam
- Havarti
These are the cheeses that melt almost into a cream and have minimal stringiness. They will meld effortlessly into other ingredients like butter or cream to produce a beautifully textured sauce.
Cheeses for Toppings
For pizzas, burgers, and nachos these are the cheeses that perform beautifully when melted over something. They’re the superstars! The most popular of all our cheeses and for good reasons.
- Mozzarella
- Cheddar
- Monterey Jack
- Red Leicher
- Bocconcini
- Comte
Mozarella is particularly problematic in sauces as it will congeal into an unattractive lump.
Cheeses that Never Melt
These are the ones that can handle high temperatures and don’t mind being thrown on the BBQ or in a curry. They solidly keep their shape.
- Haloumi
- Sagnaki
- Kefalotiri
- Paneer
- Feta
- Parmesean
- Ricotta
- Burrata
- Romano
Some of these like romano and parmesean are great for toppings, but don’t melt beautifully like the others in that category.
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