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American cheese
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American cheese is a common processed cheese. 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 all-natural cheeses, but instead is a processed cheese (i.e., it is manufactured from a set of ingredients such as milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, salt) which meets the legal definition of cheese.
The common use of the marketing label “American Cheese” for “processed cheese” combined with the prevalence of processed cheese in the U.S.
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Encyclopedia
American cheese is a common processed cheese. 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 all-natural cheeses, but instead is a processed cheese (i.e., it is manufactured from a set of ingredients such as milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, salt) which meets the legal definition of cheese.
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. The legal definition is discussed in the article on processed cheese.
American Cheese has long been a mainstay in popular American cuisine, most notably on cheeseburgers, in grilled cheese sandwiches, and in ham and cheese sandwiches.
History
Origins in cheddar
British colonists began making cheddar as soon as they arrived in America. By 1790, American cheddars were being exported back to England. The British referred to American cheddar as "American cheese," or "Yankee cheese," and post-Revolution Americans promoted this usage to distinguish the exports of their proud new nation. That is, “American cheese” is used to distinguish it from European cheese. For example, an 1878 newspaper article in The New York Times lists the total export of American cheese at 355 million pounds per year, with an expected growth to 1,420 million pounds.
Originally, the British considered American cheese inferior in quality; still, it was relatively cheap, so it sold. This connotation of the term American cheese became entrenched in Europe even after the Americans began producing quality cheese. Another article from 1878 mentions that the high quality American cheese is usually re-labelled under European names after export, with only low grade cheese retaining American labelling in Europe. It also states that even in the United States quality American cheese is often relabelled, etc, and that this situation is a detriment to the reputation of American cheesemakers. This practice may be in part responsible for the name "American cheese" being synonymous with bland, low quality cheese.
"American Cheese" continued to refer to American cheddar until the advent of the processed cheese that now commands the title. Meanwhile, Americans themselves referred to their cheddar as "yellow cheese" or "store cheese," because of its popularity and availability. Sometimes it was called "apple-pie cheese," after its common pairing with that other iconic American food. By the 1890s, once cheese factories had sprung up across the nation, American cheddar was also referred to as "factory cheese." And in the 1920s another slang term arose for the still popular cheese: "rattrap cheese," or "rat cheese."
Tracing usage of the term American Cheese
The Oxford English Dictionary defines American cheese as a “cheese of cheddar type, made in the U.S.” The Oxford English Dictionary lists 1804 as the first known usage of “American cheese”, occurring in the newspaper Guardian of Freedom, Frankfort, Kentucky. The next usage given is in 1860 by Charles Dickens in his series The Uncommercial Traveller.
Modern varieties of American cheese
Even though the term “American cheese” has a legal definition in the United States as a type of pasteurized process cheese, products with the label “American Cheese” are by no means 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 the article on Processed cheese.)
The taste and texture of American Cheese vary considerably, and mostly depend 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 indicate different ingredients or processes. Some manufacturers reserve the white and yellow colors for their more natural (i.e. fewer additives) American Cheese varieties. In other cases , the ingredients for white and orange colors are the same, except for the coloring. However, this does not necessarily mean that even these white and orange cheeses have the exact same flavor and texture because the spice annatto, which has a subtle but noticeable taste, is often used for coloring American Cheese.
The processed variety of American Cheese is sold in three basic packaging varieties: individually wrapped cheese slices, small pre-sliced blocks of 16 to 36 slices, and large blocks meant for deli counters. The individually wrapped cheese slices are typically the least like natural cheese. These “slices” are actually individually poured onto each plastic wrapper and then set to emulsify. 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. Before the advent of the individually wrapped variety, this was the typical variety that Americans purchased. Hence, some people refer to this as “traditional”, “old fashioned”, or “classic” American Cheese.
American Cheese in block form sold at deli counters is typically a more natural cheese than its individually wrapped cousin. Nonetheless, most block American Cheese is still a processed cheese.
See also
Softer versions of American/Process cheese
External links
- , Farmers' Bulletin No. 1734, U.S. Department of Agriculture, October 1934. Hosted at University of North Texas Government Documents Department.
- , Farmers' Bulletin No. 2075, U.S. Department of Agriculture, October 1954.
- , after cheese comes nothing, WordPress, September 28, 2008.
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