American cheeseAmerican cheese cheese is a common processed cheese marketed by Kraft Foods, Borden, and other companies in the United States, and to some extent elsewhere. It is orange, yellow, or white in color and mild in flavor, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily. It has traditionally been made from a blend of cheeses, most often Colby and Cheddar. Today’s American cheese is generally no longer made from a blend of cheeses, but instead is manufactured from a set of ingredients which meets the legal definition of cheese and includes “whey protein concentrates” regularly imported from other countries.
The common use of the marketing label “American Cheese” for “processed cheese” combined with the prevalence of processed cheese in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world has led to the term American cheese being used in the United States synonymously in place of processed cheese. Moreover, the term “American cheese” has a legal definition as a type of pasteurized process cheese under the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations [1].
Contents [hide]
1 Varieties
1.1 Cheddarly origins
2 See also
2.1 Softer versions of American cheese
2.2 Trivia
3 References
[edit] Varieties
The processed variety of American Cheese can be sold in individually wrapped slices [2] or in large blocks [3] that can be sliced to order at a deli counter. It can range in color from white[2] to orange. The taste and texture of American Cheese varies, and mostly depends on the percentage of cheese versus additives used during the emulsification process. Varieties with lower percentages of additives tend to taste more like natural unprocessed cheese. In addition, depending on the food manufacturer, the color of the cheese (orange, yellow, or white) may signify different ingredients or process. Some manufacturers reserve the white and yellow colors for their more natural (i.e. fewer additives) American Cheese varieties.
Despite its appearance, American Cheese in block form at a Deli is processed cheese. This is not to say that all products with the label “American Cheese” are identical. Depending on the additives and the amounts of milk fat and water added to the cheese during emulsification, the taste and texture of American Cheese varies, with some varieties (e.g. “American Cheese” and “American Process Cheese”) being very similar to non-processed cheese and other varieties (e.g. “American Cheese Food” and “American Cheese Product”) being more like Velveeta or Cheez Whiz. The interested consumer should pay close attention to the wording used on the label of each product and to the ingredient list. (Refer to the definitions in the Sale and labeling section of this article.)
Small (e.g., 16 to 36 slice) blocks of presliced, but not individually-wrapped, American Cheese are also marketed, often with the branding “deluxe” or “old fashioned”. This variety of American Cheese is similar in ingredients and texture to that of modern block American Cheese. Although this type of American Cheese, along with block American Cheese, are both (technically speaking) processed cheeses, they are considered by many Americans to be the “real” American cheese, to which the individually-wrapped processed “cheese food” and “cheese product” so common today are just pretenders.
[edit] Cheddarly origins
Despite the common usage, American Cheese also has another definition. It can also refer to a mild, pale white to yellow cheddar. This is the source of origin of the name, as the gradual “watering down” of mild cheddar by processing it gave rise to modern American cheese.
The term store cheese[4] is sometimes informally used to describe American Cheese and similar American cheddars.
[edit] See also
Processed cheese
Cheddar cheese
List of cheeses
Pasteurization
[edit] Softer versions of American cheese
Velveeta
Cheez Whiz
Easy Cheese
[edit] Trivia
American cheese is also known as pleese, a portmanteau of plastic and cheese, due to its texture, packaging and taste.
[edit] References
^
^ a b For example Kraft sells individually wrapped “American Pastuerized Prepared Cheese Product” under the trade name “Kraft Singles” in both Orange and White colorings, but are otherwise identical.
^ For example, Land O’ Lakes sells several varieties of what they call “slicing cheese” in orange, yellow, and white varieties. The orange variety is labelled “Pastuerize Process American Cheese”; the yellow variety is labelled “Yellow American”; the white variety is labelled “White American”.
^ Refer to definition of Store Cheese at Word Web Online
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