Turns out Kraft parm does not make for good parmesan crisps
So I've managed to end up with two Costco-sized containers of Kraft grated parmesan. I'll reach for real parmesan 95% of the time, with Kraft being an occasional nostalgia pick, but these will go bad long before I can get through them at my normal consumption. The containers are both opened, so can't donate and I'm loathe to waste food, so been trying to think of ways to use it all up.
These sad, dense, salt pucks (with a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning) were an attempt to make parmesan crisps. Thinking of trying again with smaller spoonfuls spread thinner, but don't know if the cellulose additive makes the endeavor hopeless.
31 replies
I don't think you'll get that stuff to work, ever.
Besides the cellulose, it's a very dry parm, not like real parm at all.
You're just going to have to make a lot of spaghetti and
slatherpile that stuff on there!And try to forget the smell of baby vomit from that crap.
Butyric acid (the baby vomit smell) is a quintessential component of parmeggiano reggiano.
Kraft Parmeesian is not parmeggiano reggiano. It's as close to reggiano as olive garden is to italian food.
Doesn't matter, they both have the butyric acid smell since it's an essential component of the style.
Well, anti caking agents are a pain in the ass if you want to do anything with shredded cheese other than dump it on top of something where its properties don't matter.
Luckily, there's really only two types in use across the majority of pre packaged shredded cheese. Cellulose and starch. And, if you want to sell pre shredded cheese, you have to use something. Both of those options are good ones, with starches being perhaps the better overall choice. Not that cellulose is a bad option, just that starches leave the cheese a little more versatile.
All of the starches work essentially the same, and have the same nutritional profile. Cellulose is indigestible, though it might ferment in the gut.
But the good news is that you can remove them from most cheeses with only minor changes to the usefulness of the cheese. No shit, you can rinse the majority off, use a blow dryer (on cold) on the cheese, and as long long as you don't fuck around, the resulting cheese is going to be closeto what you would have shredded yourself.
Now, is it worth that effort normally? No, under normal circumstances, if you don't want the anti cakiing stuff there, just shred your own cheese, the time and effort is about the same (or less).
But if you're stuck with the pre shredded/grated stuff and don't have a use for it because if those agents, why not?
I wonder about this. If you just grate a bunch of cheese and stick it in bag, obviously, it will stick together a bit, but I wouldnt mind it if all I had to do is rub it between my hands to make it fall apart.
I dont need each shred to be completely loose. I would be willing to pay that little extra for grated cheese that isnt treated with the anti-caking agents. I want my pizza cheese to be a choking hazard.
Well, if you want to know what it's like, grate some cheese, store it in a plastic bag. Then carry it with you in a small cooler all day, making sure to pull it out for maybe five to ten minutes two or three times. That gets close to what the shipping process is like. It isn't usually a matter of just rubbing it between your hands. You'll have clumps that are so tightly bound that it defeats the purpose of pre shredded.
Not that there's anything wrong with preferring freshly shredded at all. But you gotta have realistic expectations. Cellulose and starches don't hurt anything. They're essentially flavorless, and don't cause any harm. They only drawback to them is when you try to melt cheese, and if you're doing that, why pay the extra per unit price for pre shredded to begin with?
Oh interesting, I'll have to give rinsing off the cellulose a shot.
Onomatopoeia also mentioned that it's a very dry parmesan, so I'm thinking round two will involve reducing the amount of cellulose, mixing the cheese with a bit of extra fat, and then spreading thinly to bake. Fingers crossed!
Good on a weeknight spaghetti, bad for parmesan crisps.
IIRC Kraft parmesan isn't really parmesan cheese.
It is, but it also has powdered cellulose to prevent caking.
Yep, any pre-grated cheese will
Is it from Parma? No.
We're not in Europe, your DOP rules have no power here.
You can buy the low grade fake parm if you want. It doesn’t change the fact that the real thing is a superior product.
Brother, Kraft's American cheese isn't even legally cheese. You're having a superiority complex against a kid on the short bus.
found the EU citizen
lmfao at first I read this comment without remembering the context. Was very confused why someone was talking to me about cellulose and "cake".
Anything not made in the right region of Italy isn't real parmesan, and kraft isn't labeled DOP, so it ain't, unless they're buying the really bottom of the barrel stuff.
That doesn't mean it isn't the same process used to make a cheese from the same ingredients won't be just as good, it just won't be exactly the same, and can't legally be billed as parmagiano reggiano (spelling?)
Afaik though, Kraft is using the same basic process and ingredients, so it's a very similar cheese in terms of what kind of dishes it'll work in
lol no true parmesan!
I'm just parroting what my mom told me. Not trying to be hoity toity
I use kraft, dont go through enough parm to bother with anything else
No worries, didn't think you meant it that way :)
The original doesn't have any kind of anti-caking agent added and will spoil quite quickly.
But considering that it's a lot more difficult/expensive for you guys to get the real stuff, yours is a pretty based take. You even know about DOP and got the spelling of Parmigiano Reggiano 95% right. 😉
Until I spent a year living in the US I never realized how good we have it with actual Black Forest bacon (not ham!), parmesan, Swiss chocolate, etc. being readily (and cheaply) available.
Parmigiano Reggiano has basically never spoiled for me. Since it's aged, there's not a lot of water for spoilage. The only cheese that I ever have spoil are really fresh cheeses.
We're talking about grated cheese here, and the increased surface area leads to increased spoilage. It's only natural.
Swiss chocolate isn't the good stuff, somehow it's branded so people feel so.
If you're going for the absolute top, local chocolateries is the desire - They're good all over the continent.
But the step just underneath handmade artisan chocolate is Amedei and Neuhaus - Italian and Belgian respectively.
When we get into general higher consumer grade chocolate, then Swedish and Finnish chocolate tends to mock Swiss chocolate. Marabou and Frazer over Lindt any day of the week.
Toms and Pergale floors for slightly fancier stuff
Chocolate isn't as dominated by singular countries as some people think, but Swiss products are generally over priced and better products can usually be found within Europe
OK, better example for my list: Gouda cheese. Middle-aged. Nice.
As for chocolate, most German store brands are better than anything I've had in the U.S.
Darn, good attempt though
@thrawn21 looks like flowers
Here I thought they kinda looked like cookies :p
@thrawn21 they can look like both ;p