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With Americans caught between a love of cheese and a need to lower their saturated fat intake, fat-free cheeses has come into the market to serve as alternatives to their saturated fat-laden counterparts. One of the issues with fat-free cheese is, however, its resistance to melting. Cheeses with normal fat contents typically melt very easily, while fat-free cheese lacks the lipid base to facilitate melting. The melting issue can be countered with the creative use of lipids or water.
Although it tastes fine, having cheese curdle in your recipes can be frustrating and it can easily ruin a soup, sauce or fondue. Heat is the culprit when it comes to curdling, but there are steps you can take to keep your melted cheese smooth. A rule of thumb to remember is to add the cheese in last to avoid over-cooking and take the sauce pan off the heat when doing so.
Melting cheese is an important part of making a variety of sauces, toppings and other dishes. Cheese is created from bacteria that ferments milk curds into a variety of shapes, sizes and tastes. While firm cheese usually is grated for melting, blocks of cheese also can be melted to create a sauce-like consistency. The way cheese is melted is important to prevent it from becoming stringy or tough when liquefied.
Cheddar is a fairly hard cheese that will transform into a smooth-flowing cheese used for a variety of purposes when melted. As with all cheeses, a specific process is required to melt cheddar to prevent it from burning, breaking down or becoming hard and stringy, and patience is key. Always melt cheese in a double boiler to eliminate the possibility for burning it.
Cheddar cheese originated in Western England in the 12th century and is now produced and imitated throughout the world. It is a moderately hard, slightly crumbly cheese used for its pungent, sharp and earthy flavor. Improperly melted cheddar cheese, however, tends to have a grainy, stringy texture, which detracts from its robust taste. Melting the cheese in a béchamel sauce (a creamy white sauce used as a base) and combining cheddar with a softer cheese often can fix the problem.
The Bacon Cheddar Potato is a perfect combination of mouthwatering flavors. And if you use low-fat cheddar with low-fat, low sodium bacon, it isn't unhealthy. Of course you can just pile on the good stuff. Here's a quick and easy recipe for a Bacon Cheddar Potato.
