What you need for processed cheese is a base cheese with a high amount of intact casein (correlates with higher pH). Your Gouda is a good example of this. You can add more flavorsome stuff with lower pH (like the cheshire) to make the flavour a bit stronger - but needs to be a smaller amount than your intact casein base to retain its functionality. The melting properties of processed cheese are provided through swapping out the calcium (2 bonds) that is bonded to the casein with single bonding sodium ions. This reaction is called ion exchange - here you've done it with sodium citrate. Another emulsifying salt you can use instead is Sodium Nitrate. Source: I work for a company that makes slice-on-slice cheese for Maccas
If all that is added to make American Cheese is sodium citrate and two cheeses, I see no reason to denigrate is as "processed cheese". It's just a blended cheese. And, to imply that adding sodium citrate is somehow less natural than any other cheese ingredient...calcium chloride, or even sodium chloride (salt)...is, itself, an "artificial" judgment. The problem with store bought processed cheese is that there are way more than 3 ingredients.
Most brand name American cheeses are not that great. However, my local supermarket in Philly has something called "Cooper Sharp", and it's really is great stuff. It tastes like a creamier version sharp cheddar, and of course melts well just like regular American. I suppose if you're lucky enough your local store or deli will have these higher quality American cheeses.
There's a ton of anti-American hatred bubbling up here. In the videos on Colby and Cheddar you have people in the comments fawning over the cheese when literally traditional American cheese is identical to those. Colonial cheeses were typically just cheddar flavored with annatto or sometimes a blend. The recipe used here is a modern mass production focused recipe and is not the traditional recipe used in America for over 300 years. It's very interesting how just attaching the word "American" to something so clearly brings out foreigner's bias 😂
Colby comes from Colby, Wisconsin. If you eat cream cheese, then you have had an American cheese. There are so many original American cheeses. Pinconning, colby, cream cheese, monterrey jack, pepperjack, maytag, shaker blue, driftless, capricious, humboldt fog, farmer, hoop, brick, red hawk, teleme, kunik, verano, invierno, dry jack, grayson, tarentaise, bluebird, cornerstone, harbison, donbarton blue, bellavitano, coupole, capriole sofia, hoja santa, and cayuga blue. These are only some of the cheeses America has invented.
That's what processed means though. That emulsification process of the two different cheeses and the addition of the sodium citrate in order to change the texture and consistency of the product is basically the definition of processed. For example a processed chicken nugget would have chicken that has been broken down an emulsified with other products in order to get it to form into a solid shape which then allows you to use bits pieces and off cuts and parts of the chicken that may not have a good shape or look appetizing on their own and form a solid product out of it.
People is too busy insulting american cheese that they fail to recognize how great of an idea this was. This mean that you can make this kind of cheese from almost any other cheese. You can have cheese that is melty and silky smooth like american cheese and have the flavour of real cheese
so true. Also Colby, Monterrey Jack,Teleme, Pepperjack, Kunik, Pinconning, Farmer cheese, Humboldt Fog, Red Hawk ,Capricious, Maytag Blue cheese and Cream cheese. All cheeses invented in the US.
Processed cheese was invented in Switzerland in 1911. The first commercial processed cheese in America was made by Kraft in 1950. There are several manufacturers in Europe that make processed cheese for the European market.
I can’t believe the number of people who commented without even watching the video. And they were all negative comments. To all of those people I say if you would’ve watched the video first, you would not have said the things you said. You guys are idiots. There’s a difference between American cheese, real American cheese, and the stuff that is called pasteurized processed cheese food product, otherwise known as Velveeta or kraft singles. Real American cheese is good. And natural. And in fact the only thing that is good on a cheeseburger, grilled cheese sandwich, or for making nachos. You don’t have to make it, you can buy it in any good deli. But this video was awesome because now I know how to make it myself with bits of other cheeses that I have left. Thank you for making this video.
I know, I guess the rest of the world is forced to choke down Velveeta (or Velveeter as I call it) or Kraft Singles. A shame that is all the big corporations will let the rest of the world try from here... We got us some good cheddar, baby swiss, Colby, and Monteray Jack that was invented here. Guess people just define a culture by their worst version of a product. I guess all Australian sandwich spreads are just vegemite... Oh wait, they make their own peanut butter... naaah... lies.... its all vegemite.
As a register tender at my local grocer's, I've seen some amount of American cheese pass by me every day. Your work is top shelf compared to the usual (and this is a real label I'm quoting) "Pasteurized Processed Dairy-like Food Product"
I'm glad u liked it brother, also happy that u swallowed your pride and gave it a go for all of us! Been waiting for this recipe since I was a kid. I've always liked most "real" cheeses but missed the meltiness of American cheese. Thank you brother.. Subscribed.
American cheese gets a bad rap. Larry nailed it, there is nothing that melts like American cheese. Its an emulsification made from from cheese thats chilled and solidified. It tastes amazing when properly applied.
I use sodium citrate to make super smooth cheese sauces. It's amazing. Use a bit of chicken broth instead of the water you used, get it to the smooth melty stage and bam, amazing cheese sauce for food/nachos. If you use a good quality cheese, it will be even better.
Awesome video! What most people don't know is the the junk cheese slices we had the we were kids were all mislabeled as being American Cheese, when in fact they are not. The US Government FDA actually went after that company and you will now notice that those horrible individuals wrapped slices are now more clearly labeled so you can see if it is an artificial cheese-like substance (which is what we used to eat) or if it is a proper American Cheese. American Cheese is actually a technique where two or more good cheeses are joined together to make a cheese that can be melted or simply cut into flexible slices that will hold together. Usually you use two good cheeses to form your desired American Cheese, so the resulting American Cheese is now as good as the two originals, so it is still good cheese, and it has the added benefit of being more flexible to you now. Ultimately real, authentic American Cheese is a wonderful thing and if you go to a proper cheese shop and ask for there best cheese you will find that it is nothing like the fake cheese slices we had when we were kids.
I don't remember where I heard this but supposedly most mainstream American cheese (real cheese, not the oil substitute kind) is usually mixed swiss and mild cheddar.
I'm honestly stoked about this. I don't like typical processed cheeses either, but the idea of turning any cheese into a smoothly melting cheese is too good to pass up. My boyfriend is even interested! We're definitely trying this soon.
The main problem with the most common brands of American cheese is that it is mass produced as cheaply as possible. It is typically not aged cheese and sometimes they skip the cheese altogether and just use milk (not legally allowed to be labeled as a cheese). The result is a very bland product. But let me tell you ... when American cheese is allowed to be aged ... it is absolutely delicious. Ask anyone that had the privilege of getting their hands on the government cheese that was handed out to the poor when Reagan was president. It was so good that 40 years later I still think about it.
As stated you can't have a classic cheeseburger without American cheese. Some is better than others. Is it the best cheese? No. Is it the classiest cheese? No. But it has its place as a gooey, melty glob. It's my favorite thing to put on Philly cheesesteaks and variants like Cooper Sharp make a great addition to mac and cheese recipes. Keep in mind we're not talking about Kraft here which is just cheese product and not actually cheese. I have a feeling some of you have never been to a deli in your lives.
Does anyone commenting on this video even make cheese? Why so much hate? Thank you Gavin for trying this cheese. I too dislike processed cheese, not sure how different American is from Canadian however it would be nice to have a cheese that melts well. Thank you again for sharing your cheese knowledge and journey. You have inspired me to make many cheese with my fresh goats milk.
Seems like you've proved that plastic cheese doesn't have to be very unnatural! Amazing that you can make it out of almost any cheeses, could make some very interesting grilled cheeses!
Tried this with 2/3 of the cheese homemade cheddar and 1/3 homemade smoked Gouda. Absolutely excellent. Thank you for your channel and putting homemade cheese making within reach.
I'm sure this took a lot of bravery. I like American cheese for certain applications, and if you throw one or two slices into a cheese sauce, it makes it much smoother, so it has real uses even if you don't like the flavor or texture of it by itself. Plus, you can make it with any cheese that can melt, so I feel the flavor is negotiable, as you the main aspect of American/processed cheese is the texture, and the flavor is variable. Glad you took a chance on this one.
So glad he tackled this one. I was trying to think of what to do with our first cheddar (cracked, over milled and miserable looking). I thought 'hold on, I can make it into American cheese'. My family has been here for centuries and I embrace the 'muttiness' of a true American cheese. No, not that plastic wrapped crap. The stuff from the deli. At least all that time won't go entirely to waste now.
so let me get this straight... natural chese has you add acid, coagulant, turn it into curd, strain cook adn wash the curd, drain it, add salt and age it... but you add a single ingredient to that... and its now processed and unnatural?
I'm an absolute snob for authentic Mexican food and authentic Tex-Mex cuisine (for folks that don't know, those are two definitely distinct things) and for the Tex-Mex classic "Chile con Queso" or "Queso Fundido" dip, NOTHING is better than White American Cheese for the cheese base. We've tried all kinds of authentic mexican melting cheeses for competing in contests, (yes, we have contests for the best queso dips here in Texas,) but nothing works better than a "processed cheese," especially White American Cheese. It's not uncommon to see blocks of the stuff (or its yellow-orange counterpart -- but not the individually-wrapped stuff) in the kitchens of some of even the best and fanciest restaurants serving Tex-Mex. So it does have it's place other than on burgers or in a grilled cheese. So thanks for doing this, despite your reluctance. I'll add these techniques and try to make my own special processed cheese. It might even become my friends' "secret weapon" for our next contest entry queso dip, when COVID is over and folks start hosting contests again!
Nice collaboration, Gav. I watched Larry's vid also. A couple of years ago I started experimenting with making "meltable" cheeses with different kinds of cheese combinations and found it to be an entertaining exercise, especially when somebody thought it was a crap, er, I mean, Kraft single, and then they took a bite and the flavour profile was out of their zone of expectation. Nice to play with. I never expected to see you do it, but we all have to challenge our preconceived notions, or we wouldn't improve our craft. Good for Kim to make you that grilled cheese sandwich with onion. Yum!
@@jmbkpo I like cheddar as a base and then something spicy as an accent, so a blue cheese works well. I haven't tried any Brevebacterium linens cheeses. But I would say, start with bout 60% of a milder cheese and add 40% of a piquant cheese.
Thanks Gavin, I wouldn't say I am a big lover of this cheese but there are certainly some applications where it works very well. Great video as always.
Oh man, thanks so much for the recipe! I can't get american cheese where i live, so i gotta try this now. p.s. If you don't want do deal with stove evaporation and drying, you can simply recrystallize the sodium citrate from a saturated solution. Just put the hot solution in a fridge (preferably in a clear jar, so you'll see the progress) for an hour or so, the solution will crystallize, then pour off the remaining water and you'll be left with nice crispy white crystals.
American cheese: it melts well, but the flavor and texture are both soft and mild. (Irrational distaste for the concept of "processing" is illogical as any cheese is made through a man-made process of heating, cooling, fermentation, straining, compressing, drying, aging, etc.) I know many who prefer it on cheeseburgers or grilled cheese, but I don't often eat those things anyway. I rarely eat cheese in general. When I do eat cheese, I prefer them hard, sharp and paired with fruit, nuts, cured meats and other charcuterie. Cheese snobs need to stop being so snobby about it though.
A lot of people are confusing "Processed American Cheese" with "Processed American Cheese Food" ( Kraft is the latter, Gavin produced something similar to the former ) - There's actually a regulation behind it. If your ingredients include 2 or more cheeses, sodium citrate, and nothing else, it is the former ( though the regulations are rather specific as to what cheeses can be used ) If you add in more dairy products and/or oils, it's the latter which tends to have far less flavor and tends to end up with almost no actual cheese.
I think the biggest problem is that nowadays “process cheese” is just that…made by a process of combining vegetable oil and salt into a solid mass of grease. Miles from anything that could ever considered cheese. That is not to say American cheese…it gets a bad rep from above. It says something when a shop calls it yellow cheese or white cheese.
As an American who eats non-processed American cheese over processed cheese, I would like to tell the other Americans in the thread who are losing their tempers to calm the hell down. Most people I know *in America* do not know that American cheese isnt just that processed cheese. There is no need to throw around accusations that Gav is trying to hurt us specifically somehow. Hes not. Calm down.
Can't wait to make it and was not surprised at some of the snobbish comments. We are a lot of American cheese also known as "Government Cheese". The US gov turned it out in large quantities and it was given out to the lower classes as a supplement food. This is the way the gov supported the dairy industry. My kids, now grown would kill for it and they always mention Government Cheese as the cheese they love most. It is a staple in the culture on burgers, nachos and grilled cheeses. I can't wait till I get a bunch of fancy cheeses made so I can make "Government Cheese" and delight the family!
The story behind government cheese is longer than that and wasn't intended to help the poor at all. It started out as a helping hand to US dairy farmers. The government bought the surplus milk and then because they had all this milk they needed to store it ... it had to be processed. So the government got into making powdered milk and cheese. The focus was on shelf life above all. And frankly ... American cheese has the longest shelf life. So what was the plan for the products if not for the poor? The intent was for it to be used exclusively for the military. The problem was ... the military couldn't eat it fast enough. The government had warehouses full of aging American cheese. So to clear the warehouses during the Reagan years the excess was distributed to the poor. And yes, that government cheese was positively delicious. I think the fact that it was old is what made it so good. No brand of cheese has ever tasted so good on a grilled cheese sandwich.
For anyone who can only find citric acid monohydrate (or if it's cheaper than anhydrous): There are two forms of citric acid, anhydrous and monohydrate. Anhydrous citric acid means that the crystals of acid have no water molecules trapped within them. A different production method yields citric acid monohydrate, crystals with one water molecule per citric acid molecule. The ingredients SHOULD tell which it is. (The anhydrous form will absorb water from the atmosphere and convert itself into the monohydrate over time if it is left exposed to the air as well.) The main difference between the two is weight. If you get the monohydrate it will work exactly the same chemically, you just need to account for the weight of the water molecules that are hitchhiking along with the citric acid. Instead of 74g of anhydrous citric acid, you would use 81g of citric acid monohydrate. In general, use 9.3% more monohydrate than anhydrous to account for the water.
i think it's the texture that really works there - if you could get a sharp cheddar flavour with the american cheese texture it'd be awesome. sounds like this is what gavin has made here.
American cheese is brilliant to reuse cheeses that have dried up, aren't quite right etc too. I made half a kg with a whole little jar of pickled jalapeños. Delicious on nachos and on burgers.
@@jasonpatterson8091 I think lots of people simply dont know any better and to many word "cheese" means this weird substance fastfood joints slap on their burgers. Lets be honest, with this technique you can take just about anything cheesy, mash it up and serve on a bun. And I really doubt that this recipe is used to produce that cheese-like goo, or that any kind of milk product is used at all. Probably its just food colouring, palm oil and some chems to keep it together. So yeah.. most of the times its not really a cheese.
The first ingredient in Kraft singles is cheddar cheese. There is only one non-milk food item (protein concentrate, no idea what the source of the protein is) and a few other things that aren't found in cheese in general (gelatin, calcium and vitamin D fortification, lactic acid as a preservative, sodium phosphate for pH adjustment, and "enzymes.") Honestly, none of the ingredients are Frankenfood; they're just not all cheese. And also honestly, though I love cheese, it's hard to argue that fermented, enzyme digested infant food from another species is somehow normal food, and adding a few different ingredients changes it fundamentally. (To finish the list, the milk based food items include whey, milk, and milk fat.)
processed cheese certainly has its place, never liked the long list of ingredients on commercially produced stuff, will definitely be giving this a try.
I've made sodium citrate with bicarb and lemon juice once, just experimentally. I didn't dry it or use precise measurements, but it did produce a creamy sauce when mixed with a crumbly aged cheddar. There was a salty aftertaste which made me think I used too much bicarb.
Sodium citrate is amazing for making sauces and meltable versions of crumbly cheeses, but it also comes with a heavy sodium load. Processed cheese foods like Kraft Singles often have about twice the sodium of natural cheeses. Really enjoyed the video! Thanks for making this!
thank you Gavin and thank you Larry. From one American to another it is amazing how many great burgers are ruined by expensive cheese. Gavin a grilled cheese sandwich has to be grilled in butter.
@Sarg8908's Gaming I second that I used to do it with butter and then someone turned me on to doing it with mayo and I've never turned back it is amazing
I'm not usually much for processed cheese either but I accidentally bought a big block of white cheddar instead of sharp cheddar and this seems like a fun thing to do with it I noticed when making sodium citrate that the vessel containing the sodium bicarbonate + citric acid reaction got very cold to the touch. I was making mine in a rice cooker bowl and decided to put the solution in the cooker on keep warm while the reaction was taking place, before the boiling off stage. The reaction was fully completed an no more bubbling would occur even under heavy agitation in 20 minutes and the bowl wasnt even warm to the touch at the end
American woman here. I use "American Cheese" only when I need the cheese to melt, like a grilled cheese sandwich or omelet. When I can get a hold of another type of cheese, I usually will eat it with crackers, bread, or fruit. The other types of cheese are expensive, though.
gavin's such a purist of cheesemaking hahahahaha. The offhand comments in support and in criticism of the method are so funny to listen to. Really happy Larry got his wish--great video!
my issue with american cheese is that nobody looks at the labeling or differentiates the cheese. For example, the brick in delis are different from the single plastic wrapped slices
This is what I’ve been trying to tell people. Everyone thinks American cheese is cheap seed oil laden garbage when that’s just the cheap brands. There are expensive very high quality American cheese like Boars head.
I would never have thought to make this, because processed cheese in the UK has hydrogenated oils in it rather than very much cheese. But I think I would like this! Thanks for having a go for us all. :)
Nice twist on American cheese. I honestly bet it’s even better than ‘kraft singles’. On another note we make grilled cheese with Muenster or cheddar or both! Another good one Gav!
Thank you both Larry and Gavin. I made my first processed cheese from my second generation cheese. I am very new and am learning as much as I can. The cheese came out amazing. Thanks guys.
Nice work with the American "kraft" cheese. We call it "government cheese" around here in Central Texas. Lol. They used to pass them out across the country back in the day. Like a ration of this every month or so. Looks like a Velveeta block of cheese lol. Great share. I love the bit of science there with the making of the salt in the beginning. Fascinating stuff. Thank you for sharing this. I myself am not a buyer of American cheese because it doesn't digest as well as normal cheeses. My kids prefer longhorn Colby or regular Colby cheese as the go to for all recipes. Thank you again.
TO speed things up you could have dissolved the bicarbonate in half the water and the citrate in the other and just combined solutions. Also have people actually seen the video that are decry his making "fake cheese". Its real cheese with sodium citrate added. No more no less. So you can in essence with a little bit of sodium citrate turn most any cheese into a melty slice of cheese. This is done and discussed in the Modernist Cookbook.
Can't wait to try this with Havarti. A cheese I adore but hate melted because of the oily separation. I can't wait to try a grilled cheese sandwich with Havarti. Thank you Gavin!!
My personal favorite use of sodium citrate to date is in macaroni and cheese, because it turns the name of the dish into the total ingredient list (also I'm usually too lazy for bechamel).
Gavin: There's nothing foreign to the cheese making process except sodium citrate Half this comments section: REEE FAKE CHEESE ITS FULL OF PRESERVATIVES THERES NOTHING THAT RESEMBLES CHEESE IN THIS PLASTIC!!!!!!
so you can make your own cheese spread or dips... consider it as not ruining a good cheese, but making a hard cheese more versatile... just think of the spreadable cheese combinations you could create... I'd kill for a good Roquefort, but I also like something spicy like Pepper Jack or Jalapeno... what if you mixed Blue with Hot for a cheese spread on crackers or to melt on burgers?...
Not giving away any trade secrets, however one of the big American companies use cheddar and motz. I do not want to turn anyone off the American variety, I will tell you though it was aged for quite some time prior to becoming a proper cheese to make the American.
Over here in Wisconsin, you see a surprising lack of American cheese. You can still find Kraft singles, but that isn’t American cheese as far as I’m concerned!
Okay, fan from many years here. You mentioned trying to make a triple pepper jack American style cheese. I'd give anything to see you taste a trippy pepper American cheese toasty!
I haven't bought American cheese in over ten years, no real reason. I just like other cheeses. I needed some for a recipe so picked up a big block. I actually forgot how good it is! I've had the greatest grilled cheeses the last few weeks.
Something to keep in mind about the creation of "American Cheese" - it was largely driven by the need to create long term temperature insensitive, shelf stable cheese. For *drum roll*, American and Foreign interesting during WW2. Literally, you could use the term Freedom Cheese, non-ironically. The blue box Mac and Cheese (or Kraft Dinner for our Canuck's up north), was invented to take advantage of the leftover stocks of powdered processed cheese from WW2. Now you know.
There is one type of American cheese that I love - it does not come individually wrapped. It's in a block form, creamy and is perfect for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Avoid the wrapped slices, go for the block. Look for the made in Wisconsin label! That's real American cheese.
As an American, after seeing how American cheese is made, I totally understand why Gavin wasn't too interested in making the cheese. It's just an amalgamation of other cheeses. Of course, I still love my American cheese, and it was interesting to see what went into the process.
i'll give one thing to american cheese over almost any other cheese, it's meltability. if you want a smooth cheese sauce or a good grilled cheese it's top tier
USA! USA! Never thought I'd say that for a cheese video. The triple pepper (whew!) cheese processed and the results sounds like a video to do sometime down the road as I'd be curious how that would go over for both the process and the burger.
I put American cheese (cut 2mm thick from a block, not pre sliced) on a toasted English muffin, open-faced, and grill it under the broiler just until it puffs up. My favorite grilled cheese sandwich.
![How To Make American Cheese From Scratch [The Perfect Way to Use Up Mediocre Cheese!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A6cVE9XsFZk/mqdefault.jpg)
I big thank you to Gavin for working with me on this project. I had a lot of fun and hope everyone enjoys and is entertained the videos. 🤩 🤠
My pleasure Larry! It was great fun 'working' with you.
Very entertaining. Thank you!
Loved it, thanks to both of you!
Man I've been watching these in quarantine and I have no idea why but I love them
U loved them for the same reason we all do..We love cheese!!
What you need for processed cheese is a base cheese with a high amount of intact casein (correlates with higher pH). Your Gouda is a good example of this. You can add more flavorsome stuff with lower pH (like the cheshire) to make the flavour a bit stronger - but needs to be a smaller amount than your intact casein base to retain its functionality. The melting properties of processed cheese are provided through swapping out the calcium (2 bonds) that is bonded to the casein with single bonding sodium ions. This reaction is called ion exchange - here you've done it with sodium citrate. Another emulsifying salt you can use instead is Sodium Nitrate.
Source: I work for a company that makes slice-on-slice cheese for Maccas
OMG! American Triple Pepperjack!? THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN!
This was great to watch, Gav!
If all that is added to make American Cheese is sodium citrate and two cheeses, I see no reason to denigrate is as "processed cheese". It's just a blended cheese. And, to imply that adding sodium citrate is somehow less natural than any other cheese ingredient...calcium chloride, or even sodium chloride (salt)...is, itself, an "artificial" judgment. The problem with store bought processed cheese is that there are way more than 3 ingredients.
Most brand name American cheeses are not that great. However, my local supermarket in Philly has something called "Cooper Sharp", and it's really is great stuff. It tastes like a creamier version sharp cheddar, and of course melts well just like regular American. I suppose if you're lucky enough your local store or deli will have these higher quality American cheeses.
There's a ton of anti-American hatred bubbling up here. In the videos on Colby and Cheddar you have people in the comments fawning over the cheese when literally traditional American cheese is identical to those. Colonial cheeses were typically just cheddar flavored with annatto or sometimes a blend.
The recipe used here is a modern mass production focused recipe and is not the traditional recipe used in America for over 300 years.
It's very interesting how just attaching the word "American" to something so clearly brings out foreigner's bias 😂
If you buy high quality American cheese there are only 4 ingredients. If you buy Kraft Singles, well that's not even legally considered cheese 😂
Colby comes from Colby, Wisconsin. If you eat cream cheese, then you have had an American cheese. There are so many original American cheeses. Pinconning, colby, cream cheese, monterrey jack, pepperjack, maytag, shaker blue, driftless, capricious, humboldt fog, farmer, hoop, brick, red hawk, teleme, kunik, verano, invierno, dry jack, grayson, tarentaise, bluebird, cornerstone, harbison, donbarton blue, bellavitano, coupole, capriole sofia, hoja santa, and cayuga blue. These are only some of the cheeses America has invented.
That's what processed means though.
That emulsification process of the two different cheeses and the addition of the sodium citrate in order to change the texture and consistency of the product is basically the definition of processed. For example a processed chicken nugget would have chicken that has been broken down an emulsified with other products in order to get it to form into a solid shape which then allows you to use bits pieces and off cuts and parts of the chicken that may not have a good shape or look appetizing on their own and form a solid product out of it.
People is too busy insulting american cheese that they fail to recognize how great of an idea this was. This mean that you can make this kind of cheese from almost any other cheese. You can have cheese that is melty and silky smooth like american cheese and have the flavour of real cheese
so true. Also Colby, Monterrey Jack,Teleme, Pepperjack, Kunik, Pinconning, Farmer cheese, Humboldt Fog, Red Hawk ,Capricious, Maytag Blue cheese and Cream cheese. All cheeses invented in the US.
Chef Jean Pierre sent me. Great video!!!
Awesome! Thank you!
Processed cheese was invented in Switzerland in 1911. The first commercial processed cheese in America was made by Kraft in 1950. There are several manufacturers in Europe that make processed cheese for the European market.
I can’t believe the number of people who commented without even watching the video. And they were all negative comments. To all of those people I say if you would’ve watched the video first, you would not have said the things you said. You guys are idiots. There’s a difference between American cheese, real American cheese, and the stuff that is called pasteurized processed cheese food product, otherwise known as Velveeta or kraft singles. Real American cheese is good. And natural. And in fact the only thing that is good on a cheeseburger, grilled cheese sandwich, or for making nachos.
You don’t have to make it, you can buy it in any good deli. But this video was awesome because now I know how to make it myself with bits of other cheeses that I have left. Thank you for making this video.
I know, I guess the rest of the world is forced to choke down Velveeta (or Velveeter as I call it) or Kraft Singles. A shame that is all the big corporations will let the rest of the world try from here... We got us some good cheddar, baby swiss, Colby, and Monteray Jack that was invented here. Guess people just define a culture by their worst version of a product. I guess all Australian sandwich spreads are just vegemite... Oh wait, they make their own peanut butter... naaah... lies.... its all vegemite.
I very much agree with you
As a register tender at my local grocer's, I've seen some amount of American cheese pass by me every day. Your work is top shelf compared to the usual (and this is a real label I'm quoting) "Pasteurized Processed Dairy-like Food Product"
I'm glad u liked it brother, also happy that u swallowed your pride and gave it a go for all of us! Been waiting for this recipe since I was a kid. I've always liked most "real" cheeses but missed the meltiness of American cheese. Thank you brother.. Subscribed.
American cheese gets a bad rap. Larry nailed it, there is nothing that melts like American cheese. Its an emulsification made from from cheese thats chilled and solidified. It tastes amazing when properly applied.
true
I use sodium citrate to make super smooth cheese sauces. It's amazing. Use a bit of chicken broth instead of the water you used, get it to the smooth melty stage and bam, amazing cheese sauce for food/nachos.
If you use a good quality cheese, it will be even better.
Awesome video! What most people don't know is the the junk cheese slices we had the we were kids were all mislabeled as being American Cheese, when in fact they are not. The US Government FDA actually went after that company and you will now notice that those horrible individuals wrapped slices are now more clearly labeled so you can see if it is an artificial cheese-like substance (which is what we used to eat) or if it is a proper American Cheese. American Cheese is actually a technique where two or more good cheeses are joined together to make a cheese that can be melted or simply cut into flexible slices that will hold together. Usually you use two good cheeses to form your desired American Cheese, so the resulting American Cheese is now as good as the two originals, so it is still good cheese, and it has the added benefit of being more flexible to you now. Ultimately real, authentic American Cheese is a wonderful thing and if you go to a proper cheese shop and ask for there best cheese you will find that it is nothing like the fake cheese slices we had when we were kids.
I don't remember where I heard this but supposedly most mainstream American cheese (real cheese, not the oil substitute kind) is usually mixed swiss and mild cheddar.
I'm honestly stoked about this. I don't like typical processed cheeses either, but the idea of turning any cheese into a smoothly melting cheese is too good to pass up. My boyfriend is even interested! We're definitely trying this soon.
The main problem with the most common brands of American cheese is that it is mass produced as cheaply as possible. It is typically not aged cheese and sometimes they skip the cheese altogether and just use milk (not legally allowed to be labeled as a cheese). The result is a very bland product. But let me tell you ... when American cheese is allowed to be aged ... it is absolutely delicious. Ask anyone that had the privilege of getting their hands on the government cheese that was handed out to the poor when Reagan was president. It was so good that 40 years later I still think about it.
Greedy corporations gave it a bad name across the world.
love to get the recipe for government cheese
TH-cam recommendations brought me here! Really cool to see communities like this pop up on sites like TH-cam. Great video friend
As stated you can't have a classic cheeseburger without American cheese. Some is better than others. Is it the best cheese? No. Is it the classiest cheese? No. But it has its place as a gooey, melty glob. It's my favorite thing to put on Philly cheesesteaks and variants like Cooper Sharp make a great addition to mac and cheese recipes. Keep in mind we're not talking about Kraft here which is just cheese product and not actually cheese. I have a feeling some of you have never been to a deli in your lives.
Does anyone commenting on this video even make cheese? Why so much hate? Thank you Gavin for trying this cheese. I too dislike processed cheese, not sure how different American is from Canadian however it would be nice to have a cheese that melts well. Thank you again for sharing your cheese knowledge and journey. You have inspired me to make many cheese with my fresh goats milk.
I never made cheese, I am just curious to see how they make American cheese. I don't like American cheese anymore
Seems like you've proved that plastic cheese doesn't have to be very unnatural! Amazing that you can make it out of almost any cheeses, could make some very interesting grilled cheeses!
Tried this with 2/3 of the cheese homemade cheddar and 1/3 homemade smoked Gouda. Absolutely excellent. Thank you for your channel and putting homemade cheese making within reach.
Must have been extra satisfying, knowing that you made not only this cheese, but just about every precursor that went into it! Thanks for vid!
Yes, it was very satisfying
Very cool! Thank you for making this video. And thank you, Chef JP for getting me here. :)
Thanks for coming
I'm sure this took a lot of bravery. I like American cheese for certain applications, and if you throw one or two slices into a cheese sauce, it makes it much smoother, so it has real uses even if you don't like the flavor or texture of it by itself. Plus, you can make it with any cheese that can melt, so I feel the flavor is negotiable, as you the main aspect of American/processed cheese is the texture, and the flavor is variable. Glad you took a chance on this one.
If Chef Jean Pierre recommends it, I watch it!
When he mentioned watching a video on cheese making, my first thought was Gavin Webber
So glad he tackled this one. I was trying to think of what to do with our first cheddar (cracked, over milled and miserable looking). I thought 'hold on, I can make it into American cheese'. My family has been here for centuries and I embrace the 'muttiness' of a true American cheese. No, not that plastic wrapped crap. The stuff from the deli. At least all that time won't go entirely to waste now.
Good onya Gavin for taking the plunge. Most interesting.
so let me get this straight... natural chese has you add acid, coagulant, turn it into curd, strain cook adn wash the curd, drain it, add salt and age it... but you add a single ingredient to that... and its now processed and unnatural?
Lol this dude is making his own american cheese while simultaneously remaining pretentious about it.
I'm an absolute snob for authentic Mexican food and authentic Tex-Mex cuisine (for folks that don't know, those are two definitely distinct things) and for the Tex-Mex classic "Chile con Queso" or "Queso Fundido" dip, NOTHING is better than White American Cheese for the cheese base. We've tried all kinds of authentic mexican melting cheeses for competing in contests, (yes, we have contests for the best queso dips here in Texas,) but nothing works better than a "processed cheese," especially White American Cheese. It's not uncommon to see blocks of the stuff (or its yellow-orange counterpart -- but not the individually-wrapped stuff) in the kitchens of some of even the best and fanciest restaurants serving Tex-Mex. So it does have it's place other than on burgers or in a grilled cheese.
So thanks for doing this, despite your reluctance. I'll add these techniques and try to make my own special processed cheese. It might even become my friends' "secret weapon" for our next contest entry queso dip, when COVID is over and folks start hosting contests again!
Nice collaboration, Gav. I watched Larry's vid also. A couple of years ago I started experimenting with making "meltable" cheeses with different kinds of cheese combinations and found it to be an entertaining exercise, especially when somebody thought it was a crap, er, I mean, Kraft single, and then they took a bite and the flavour profile was out of their zone of expectation. Nice to play with. I never expected to see you do it, but we all have to challenge our preconceived notions, or we wouldn't improve our craft. Good for Kim to make you that grilled cheese sandwich with onion. Yum!
Will you share a decent combination? Thanks
@@jmbkpo I like cheddar as a base and then something spicy as an accent, so a blue cheese works well. I haven't tried any Brevebacterium linens cheeses. But I would say, start with bout 60% of a milder cheese and add 40% of a piquant cheese.
i give my vote to melty triple pepperjack
Thanks Gavin, I wouldn't say I am a big lover of this cheese but there are certainly some applications where it works very well. Great video as always.
Cheap cheeseburgers when you're hungover with American cheese, perfection
Jean Pierre sent me. I like how you put onyo in the sandwich.
Was surprised to see your a fellow Aussie. Subed
" I hate American cheese"
"That's quite nice, perfect, lovely, nostalgic"
Well this isn't exactly American cheese, it's an emulsion of real cheeses he actually likes.
Oh man, thanks so much for the recipe! I can't get american cheese where i live, so i gotta try this now.
p.s. If you don't want do deal with stove evaporation and drying, you can simply recrystallize the sodium citrate from a saturated solution. Just put the hot solution in a fridge (preferably in a clear jar, so you'll see the progress) for an hour or so, the solution will crystallize, then pour off the remaining water and you'll be left with nice crispy white crystals.
American cheese: it melts well, but the flavor and texture are both soft and mild. (Irrational distaste for the concept of "processing" is illogical as any cheese is made through a man-made process of heating, cooling, fermentation, straining, compressing, drying, aging, etc.) I know many who prefer it on cheeseburgers or grilled cheese, but I don't often eat those things anyway. I rarely eat cheese in general. When I do eat cheese, I prefer them hard, sharp and paired with fruit, nuts, cured meats and other charcuterie. Cheese snobs need to stop being so snobby about it though.
A lot of people are confusing "Processed American Cheese" with "Processed American Cheese Food" ( Kraft is the latter, Gavin produced something similar to the former ) - There's actually a regulation behind it. If your ingredients include 2 or more cheeses, sodium citrate, and nothing else, it is the former ( though the regulations are rather specific as to what cheeses can be used ) If you add in more dairy products and/or oils, it's the latter which tends to have far less flavor and tends to end up with almost no actual cheese.
I think the biggest problem is that nowadays “process cheese” is just that…made by a process of combining vegetable oil and salt into a solid mass of grease.
Miles from anything that could ever considered cheese.
That is not to say American cheese…it gets a bad rep from above.
It says something when a shop calls it yellow cheese or white cheese.
As an American who eats non-processed American cheese over processed cheese, I would like to tell the other Americans in the thread who are losing their tempers to calm the hell down. Most people I know *in America* do not know that American cheese isnt just that processed cheese. There is no need to throw around accusations that Gav is trying to hurt us specifically somehow. Hes not. Calm down.
I'm a proud American and I hate American cheese.
I haven't eaten it in years. 🤢
@@manbearpig5907 I love American cheese. With smoked ham, it is the best.
I don’t know how I found you but CHEESE ON, my friend. 👌🥛🧀
Can't wait to make it and was not surprised at some of the snobbish comments. We are a lot of American cheese also known as "Government Cheese". The US gov turned it out in large quantities and it was given out to the lower classes as a supplement food. This is the way the gov supported the dairy industry. My kids, now grown would kill for it and they always mention Government Cheese as the cheese they love most. It is a staple in the culture on burgers, nachos and grilled cheeses. I can't wait till I get a bunch of fancy cheeses made so I can make "Government Cheese" and delight the family!
I remember it well. Great stuff!
The story behind government cheese is longer than that and wasn't intended to help the poor at all. It started out as a helping hand to US dairy farmers. The government bought the surplus milk and then because they had all this milk they needed to store it ... it had to be processed. So the government got into making powdered milk and cheese. The focus was on shelf life above all. And frankly ... American cheese has the longest shelf life. So what was the plan for the products if not for the poor? The intent was for it to be used exclusively for the military. The problem was ... the military couldn't eat it fast enough. The government had warehouses full of aging American cheese. So to clear the warehouses during the Reagan years the excess was distributed to the poor. And yes, that government cheese was positively delicious. I think the fact that it was old is what made it so good. No brand of cheese has ever tasted so good on a grilled cheese sandwich.
For anyone who can only find citric acid monohydrate (or if it's cheaper than anhydrous):
There are two forms of citric acid, anhydrous and monohydrate. Anhydrous citric acid means that the crystals of acid have no water molecules trapped within them.
A different production method yields citric acid monohydrate, crystals with one water molecule per citric acid molecule. The ingredients SHOULD tell which it is. (The anhydrous form will absorb water from the atmosphere and convert itself into the monohydrate over time if it is left exposed to the air as well.)
The main difference between the two is weight. If you get the monohydrate it will work exactly the same chemically, you just need to account for the weight of the water molecules that are hitchhiking along with the citric acid. Instead of 74g of anhydrous citric acid, you would use 81g of citric acid monohydrate. In general, use 9.3% more monohydrate than anhydrous to account for the water.
Some of us actually LIKE American cheese!
I do if it is really American cheese and not processed 'cheese food' made with oils and hydrogenates.
I'm typically not a fan of processed cheese but it does marry beautifully with a grilled cheese or a burger
i think it's the texture that really works there - if you could get a sharp cheddar flavour with the american cheese texture it'd be awesome. sounds like this is what gavin has made here.
Sodium Bicarbonate = Baking Soda
Citric Acid -check your canning section at the grocery store.
American cheese is brilliant to reuse cheeses that have dried up, aren't quite right etc too. I made half a kg with a whole little jar of pickled jalapeños. Delicious on nachos and on burgers.
Sounds Delicious!
@@mr.bonesbbq3288 oh, it was. I recommend it. Just consider that the chopped chillies will add moisture so less beer/milk.
Well done, Gavin! That's no where near the "Chernobyl Drippings" I was expecting of processed cheese.
Why would anyone eat it if it were that horrible? People love the stuff for a reason.
@@jasonpatterson8091 I think lots of people simply dont know any better and to many word "cheese" means this weird substance fastfood joints slap on their burgers. Lets be honest, with this technique you can take just about anything cheesy, mash it up and serve on a bun. And I really doubt that this recipe is used to produce that cheese-like goo, or that any kind of milk product is used at all. Probably its just food colouring, palm oil and some chems to keep it together. So yeah.. most of the times its not really a cheese.
The first ingredient in Kraft singles is cheddar cheese. There is only one non-milk food item (protein concentrate, no idea what the source of the protein is) and a few other things that aren't found in cheese in general (gelatin, calcium and vitamin D fortification, lactic acid as a preservative, sodium phosphate for pH adjustment, and "enzymes.")
Honestly, none of the ingredients are Frankenfood; they're just not all cheese. And also honestly, though I love cheese, it's hard to argue that fermented, enzyme digested infant food from another species is somehow normal food, and adding a few different ingredients changes it fundamentally.
(To finish the list, the milk based food items include whey, milk, and milk fat.)
processed cheese certainly has its place, never liked the long list of ingredients on commercially produced stuff, will definitely be giving this a try.
Same here
"I'd probably do this again"
I'm not going to lie, my jaw actually dropped at that
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for editing out the eating sounds! Haha
I've made sodium citrate with bicarb and lemon juice once, just experimentally. I didn't dry it or use precise measurements, but it did produce a creamy sauce when mixed with a crumbly aged cheddar. There was a salty aftertaste which made me think I used too much bicarb.
Sodium citrate is amazing for making sauces and meltable versions of crumbly cheeses, but it also comes with a heavy sodium load. Processed cheese foods like Kraft Singles often have about twice the sodium of natural cheeses. Really enjoyed the video! Thanks for making this!
thank you Gavin and thank you Larry. From one American to another it is amazing how many great burgers are ruined by expensive cheese.
Gavin a grilled cheese sandwich has to be grilled in butter.
@Sarg8908's Gaming I second that I used to do it with butter and then someone turned me on to doing it with mayo and I've never turned back it is amazing
@@thedrunkennorsemen8944 Personally i prefer butter but to each their own, its still good with mayo
This video needs to go into the vault! A true national delight!
I'm not usually much for processed cheese either but I accidentally bought a big block of white cheddar instead of sharp cheddar and this seems like a fun thing to do with it
I noticed when making sodium citrate that the vessel containing the sodium bicarbonate + citric acid reaction got very cold to the touch. I was making mine in a rice cooker bowl and decided to put the solution in the cooker on keep warm while the reaction was taking place, before the boiling off stage. The reaction was fully completed an no more bubbling would occur even under heavy agitation in 20 minutes and the bowl wasnt even warm to the touch at the end
That seemed fairly easy, id like to see it again with different cheeses, like the pepperjack you mentioned
American woman here. I use "American Cheese" only when I need the cheese to melt, like a grilled cheese sandwich or omelet. When I can get a hold of another type of cheese, I usually will eat it with crackers, bread, or fruit. The other types of cheese are expensive, though.
gavin's such a purist of cheesemaking hahahahaha. The offhand comments in support and in criticism of the method are so funny to listen to. Really happy Larry got his wish--great video!
my issue with american cheese is that nobody looks at the labeling or differentiates the cheese. For example, the brick in delis are different from the single plastic wrapped slices
This is what I’ve been trying to tell people.
Everyone thinks American cheese is cheap seed oil laden garbage when that’s just the cheap brands.
There are expensive very high quality American cheese like Boars head.
I would never have thought to make this, because processed cheese in the UK has hydrogenated oils in it rather than very much cheese. But I think I would like this! Thanks for having a go for us all. :)
Nice twist on American cheese. I honestly bet it’s even better than ‘kraft singles’. On another note we make grilled cheese with Muenster or cheddar or both! Another good one Gav!
Thank you both Larry and Gavin. I made my first processed cheese from my second generation cheese. I am very new and am learning as much as I can. The cheese came out amazing. Thanks guys.
p.s. we wont talk about my first generation cheese.
Part of my body weight is American Cheese. Awesome video.
Nice work with the American "kraft" cheese. We call it "government cheese" around here in Central Texas. Lol. They used to pass them out across the country back in the day. Like a ration of this every month or so. Looks like a Velveeta block of cheese lol. Great share. I love the bit of science there with the making of the salt in the beginning. Fascinating stuff. Thank you for sharing this. I myself am not a buyer of American cheese because it doesn't digest as well as normal cheeses. My kids prefer longhorn Colby or regular Colby cheese as the go to for all recipes. Thank you again.
in western NC we've always called it "commodity cheese"
Swap the water for beer, hard-cider or white wine. You're welcome :) I also like to add a dash of worcestershire sauce and a tsp of mustard to mine.
So happy you demonstrated this. It really is useful. Props!
Blessed Are the Cheese Makers...
Loved the way sodium citrate was made! Wonderful! WoW!
TO speed things up you could have dissolved the bicarbonate in half the water and the citrate in the other and just combined solutions.
Also have people actually seen the video that are decry his making "fake cheese". Its real cheese with sodium citrate added. No more no less. So you can in essence with a little bit of sodium citrate turn most any cheese into a melty slice of cheese. This is done and discussed in the Modernist Cookbook.
Can't wait to try this with Havarti. A cheese I adore but hate melted because of the oily separation. I can't wait to try a grilled cheese sandwich with Havarti. Thank you Gavin!!
Oh geez, someone get this man a Philly cheesesteak. 😂
That cheez wiz tho
"hello curd nerds"
Wtf did you just call me
🤣
gavin, we are fully aware of the condition of our staple cheese. It's primary purpose is burgers and it works and we are sorry LMAO
My personal favorite use of sodium citrate to date is in macaroni and cheese, because it turns the name of the dish into the total ingredient list (also I'm usually too lazy for bechamel).
I love American Cheese. Thank you for sharing this valuable video!
Very interesting video, Gavin. Cheers!
Gavin: There's nothing foreign to the cheese making process except sodium citrate
Half this comments section: REEE FAKE CHEESE ITS FULL OF PRESERVATIVES THERES NOTHING THAT RESEMBLES CHEESE IN THIS PLASTIC!!!!!!
other half = Cheshire is MiSs PrOnUnCiAtEd
so you can make your own cheese spread or dips... consider it as not ruining a good cheese, but making a hard cheese more versatile... just think of the spreadable cheese combinations you could create... I'd kill for a good Roquefort, but I also like something spicy like Pepper Jack or Jalapeno... what if you mixed Blue with Hot for a cheese spread on crackers or to melt on burgers?...
I look forward to the triple pepper jack (and other cheeses) having this done to it/them.
Not giving away any trade secrets, however one of the big American companies use cheddar and motz. I do not want to turn anyone off the American variety, I will tell you though it was aged for quite some time prior to becoming a proper cheese to make the American.
Sodium Bicarbonate = Baking soda
Sodium citrate is amazing. Love it
MAKES BREAD & PIZZA RISE TOOOO... !!
Over here in Wisconsin, you see a surprising lack of American cheese. You can still find Kraft singles, but that isn’t American cheese as far as I’m concerned!
Okay, fan from many years here. You mentioned trying to make a triple pepper jack American style cheese. I'd give anything to see you taste a trippy pepper American cheese toasty!
I haven't bought American cheese in over ten years, no real reason. I just like other cheeses. I needed some for a recipe so picked up a big block. I actually forgot how good it is! I've had the greatest grilled cheeses the last few weeks.
So the americans really took different kinds of cheese made in other countries, processed it, and called it "american cheese".. wow, just wow.
We sure did lol
Classic lol smh
Tis American tradition to take others food and make it our own
Something to keep in mind about the creation of "American Cheese" - it was largely driven by the need to create long term temperature insensitive, shelf stable cheese. For *drum roll*, American and Foreign interesting during WW2. Literally, you could use the term Freedom Cheese, non-ironically.
The blue box Mac and Cheese (or Kraft Dinner for our Canuck's up north), was invented to take advantage of the leftover stocks of powdered processed cheese from WW2. Now you know.
It is pretty silly when you really think about it... lol
I grew up eating White American Cheese, a block cheese sliced at the deli. New York Deli and Land-O-Lakes brands mostly.
Great video that explains Sodium Citrate and how it effects Cheese !
There is one type of American cheese that I love - it does not come individually wrapped. It's in a block form, creamy and is perfect for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Avoid the wrapped slices, go for the block. Look for the made in Wisconsin label! That's real American cheese.
Love the red onion add to a grill Ed cheese. Gt video. Thank you sir forrt your work well done.
Now if you can just figure out a way to put it in an aerosol can......
Cheese wiz! Haha, I remember that from the states. Shame you can't get it here.
@@MrRedeyedJedi it's 'cheez wiz' actually because it doesn't have enough cheese to be considered cheese by the FDA
As an American, after seeing how American cheese is made, I totally understand why Gavin wasn't too interested in making the cheese. It's just an amalgamation of other cheeses. Of course, I still love my American cheese, and it was interesting to see what went into the process.
i'll give one thing to american cheese over almost any other cheese, it's meltability. if you want a smooth cheese sauce or a good grilled cheese it's top tier
Sodium citrate is basically Alk-Seltzer after it's fizzed. I'm pretty sure... And minus the aspirin of course.
Thanks for sharing how to make processed cheese.
American Cheese is like the meatloaf of the Cheese world. It can still be finely crafted and oh so much better then that crap in the plastic wrap.
Asking Gavin to make it is equivalent to having Picasso do a paint by numbers.
One of the most interesting recepies of cheese, thank you for your work
My pleasure 😊
USA! USA! Never thought I'd say that for a cheese video. The triple pepper (whew!) cheese processed and the results sounds like a video to do sometime down the road as I'd be curious how that would go over for both the process and the burger.
I put American cheese (cut 2mm thick from a block, not pre sliced) on a toasted English muffin, open-faced, and grill it under the broiler just until it puffs up. My favorite grilled cheese sandwich.
Please, Gavin. You misspelled "Cheez Product"
The great chef Pierre sent me, awesome video fellas