I’ve really only put it on some burgers, but would like to see what others like it with :D
Steak as in a Philly Cheesesteak.
What’s really funny is cheese whiz on a steak sounds nasty. But biting into one is like a small piece of heaven.
American cheese is just normal, cheddar style cheese but with the addition of some sodium citrate.
Sodium citrate is a fun little food chemical that give the cheese a slight citrus bite, but more importantly acts as an emulsifier. It keeps the oil and water inside the cheese bonded together. This means the cheese melts and then never becomes greasy.
You can abuse this. You can make a super creamy cheese sauce for a higher brow mac and cheese by using some shredded cheese, a couple slices of American, and a few splashes of the pasta water.
This person emulsifies.
American cheese, like sliced bread, is an amazing achievement of food science. And then people shit on it because they don’t understand it’s purpose.
yep i have been a sodium citrate convert since i watched an adam ragusea video on the topic. https://piped.video/watch?v=KcM_MZoJWOo
i picked up a bag off amazon for cheap and it really is magic.
My wife just made a bagel, egg, bacon and American cheese sammich, pretty damn tasty
American cheese is not a flavor. American cheese is a blend of cheese, fat, and emulsifying agents. if there’s cheddar in the blend, it’ll taste mostly like cheddar, but less of it because it’s only, like, half cheddar.
The important part of the American cheese, in figuring out how to use it, is the emulsifiers.
My preferred use case is using a slice of American cheese in mac and cheese, alongside some other cheese (I love Gouda) for flavor. Or like four other cheeses, whatever. Sometimes I mix in a tiny bit of cream cheese or mascarpone or a little milk, which gets emulsified into a sauce thanks to the American cheese, and makes the whole situation creamier. And then I season the whole situation well, especially if I added that last ingredient, to bring out the flavor of the cheeses.
Now, that’s not a real, advanced mac and cheese. I could be making a mornay or something. But I’m lazy and I don’t really keep butter in the house. So I cheat. Pro chefs might also use other emulsifying agents to control the flavor and chemistry better, rather than just chucking in a slice of some american blend.
but it’s a handy shortcut.
I recommend putting a slice or multiple slices of American cheese on a hot bowl of Top Ramen, Chicken flavor. Cheesy ramen is pretty good
