The Best American Cheese For Melting

A frustrating part of making cheeseburgers is overcooking a nice juicy patty while you wait for the cheese to melt on top. The same can be said for a good grilled cheese sandwich. Sometimes the cheese just resists melting, especially if you use the good stuff -- an extra sharp cheddar or a nice Gruyere. It's reasons like this that diner cooks use American cheese -- it melts in a flash (and yes, it's cheap).

American cheese gets a bad rap, and perhaps for good reason -- it's not real cheese, after all. It hasn't even earned the right to be called "cheese" on its packaging. Instead, it goes by labels such as "pasteurized prepared cheese product " or "process cheese food" (appetizing, no?). Some American cheeses get their creamy texture from ingredients like oil and gelatin, while others rely on more wholesome elements like milk and whey (check out the lists of ingredients in our slideshow below).

Despite its faults, American cheese shines in terms of meltability. In a matter of seconds, heat can morph the cold, rubbery sheets into bubbling mounds of cheesy goodness -- and that's a good thing, especially as grilling season approaches.

We blind-tasted nine different brands of yellow American cheese, taking special care to note each one's properties after being melted. Though there weren't drastic differences in flavor, their textures ranged from creamy to rubbery and even plasticky. We had strict guidelines in terms of testing only those "cheese foods" labeled as "American cheese." We didn't test slices labeled as "cheddar flavored" (such as the popular Kraft Deli Deluxe Sharp Cheddar Singles).

Check out the slideshow below to see how our American cheeses performed, and submit slides of your own favorite cheeses to participate in the discussion.

As always, our taste test was in no way influenced by the brands involved.

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Comments

[Jhazmine Ver]

11:19 AM on 06/10/2012

Its been a tradition to our family to always add cheese in some of our recipe to make it more tasty and full of nutrients. My kids really enjoyed the taste of it! Try also visiting my favorite site, GOURMANDIA. They have lots of exciting and interesting recipes for you to choose from. Not only that they have lots of recipe videos for you to watch and replay again and again. Enjoy!

[GraniteSkyline]

07:16 AM on 05/27/2012

Really? We're discussing the supposed merits of processed non-food pseudo-cheese?

Even "real" America cheese is disgusting--this cr@p doesn't even rise to that level.

[greggied]

04:14 PM on 05/30/2012

Oh, jeez...

[mmxxmmxx]

06:31 PM on 05/26/2012

Hoffman's Super Sharp. Creamy, melty, cheesy. Great on grilled burgers.

[qaan]

04:29 PM on 05/26/2012

Individually wrapped cheese slices are simply disgusting.

[missirish9]

03:17 AM on 05/26/2012

American cheese sucks. You can get cheddar, muenster, swiss, provolone and many others in slice form if you are too lazy to slice it thin yourself. Or even bleu or feta and crumble it.

Had horseradish cheddar on a burger today. Yum!

[Montana 123]

11:51 AM on 05/29/2012

Swiss!

[Shakirah Miles]

01:44 AM on 05/26/2012

I hate this American cheese. It's disgusting that people have the nerve to call this cheese.
I like a nice bit of English cheese when I'm in the UK. I have yet to find anything better in the US

[BernieTime]

05:04 AM on 05/25/2012

I'm sure the author of the piece had best interests for the article, but with the crowd that hangs here they should have known it would get picked apart for not showcasing "real" cheese for the food snobs.

[blurredmolly]

07:57 PM on 05/24/2012

Boarshead.

[mlaiuppa]

06:35 PM on 05/24/2012

Where is Kraft Deli Deluxe? That is real cheese, that other Kraft stuff is processed cheese food so not real cheese.

[TSRVT]

02:49 PM on 05/24/2012

American Cheeze is disgusting. I use Cabot extra-sharp cheddar only. The real deal, not some chemical compound the color of a traffic cone.

[BebeLush]

05:26 PM on 05/25/2012

Well, there is White American Cheese.

[John Ramsey001]

02:31 PM on 05/24/2012

"American Cheese" is not Cheese.

[tombollocks]

08:37 AM on 05/24/2012

I find American "cheese" bland, and even as a kid I didn't understand why cheddar wasn't put on burgers. Now being older, and having expanded my palate over the years, I prefer ementaler, gouda, muenster, bleu...you name it! Give me flavor!

[suemj]

11:08 PM on 05/23/2012

Cheese-food? Y-e-c-kkkk! Sharp cheddar or bleu? Oh God!

[imissmydog]

05:39 PM on 05/23/2012

Came home and found a pack of "American Accents" in my parents' fridge, poor kids. :(

Try Rumiano Cheese, ultra affordable, organic, & humane.

[thebarbecuemast]

04:23 PM on 05/23/2012

you need to use the cheese at the end when the burgers are almost done take the burgers of the grill and then add your bones and take your sliced cheese and cover the buns in them.

http://www.thebarbecuemaster.net/barbecue-hamburger-recipe.html