Grilling Recipes

Why Do Some Cheeses Melt Easily and Others Don't? | Grilled Cheese | What's Eating Dan?



In this episode, Dan explains why some cheeses melt effortlessly while others separate into a greasy mess. Armed with this scientific knowledge, you’ll be able to make the best grilled cheese for your tastes.

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29 thoughts on “Why Do Some Cheeses Melt Easily and Others Don't? | Grilled Cheese | What's Eating Dan?

  • ok, hang on a second there bud, i'm one of those dudes that put mayonnaise on my grilled cheese and their are multiple reasons for this(my quick 2 cents to the episode: whats eating chuckles)
    first off, nayonnaise has a higher smoking point meaning you can cook it at higher temperatures and it would be crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
    second off butter can leave the sandwich to be more oily while mayonnaise leads the sandwich to be less oily
    also mayonnaise allows for better heat penetration making the cheese easier to melt(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDw3gqHMTHQ )
    also while butter has well a buttery taste mayo has " had a slight but discernible tang." a quote from cooks illustrated website which you came from(source: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/9570-the-mayo-advantage-for-grilled-cheese ), take that dan.
    also, what stops anybody from using both? i don't see a problem with that.

    Reply
  • FUN FACTS: According to the US Standards of Identity for Dairy Products, part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), to be labeled "American cheese" a processed cheese is required to be manufactured from cheddar cheese, colby cheese, washed curd cheese, or granular cheese, or any mixture of two or more of these. Because its manufacturing process differs from traditional cheeses, federal laws mandate that it be labeled as "processed American cheese" if made from combining more than one cheese, or "processed American cheese food" if dairy ingredients such as cream, milk, skim milk, buttermilk, cheese whey, or albumin from cheese whey are added. "American slices" are vegetable oil–based products that are meant to mimic the meltability and flavor of actual American cheese. They do a pretty poor job at both. American Sandwich Slices, Tropical Sandwich Slices, Valu Time Sandwich Slices, or anything else that doesn't have the word "cheese" in it.

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  • I prefer relatively hard colby jack for my grilled cheese. Because it's one of those cheeses that doesn't melt quickly like American, I have to use extremely low heat to avoid burning the bread. This combined with the sheer amount of cheese I use means that the sandwich can take up to a half hour to cook. The end product is definitely worth it, though. That being said, I have to resist the temptation to take a bite right away and let it rest for a minute before slicing or biting. Immediately off the stove, the cheese stretches almost as far as Silly Putty. It's a lot more manageable once it has a little time to set up. Does my preferred style of grilled cheese fly in the face of Dan's advice? Yes. Is it still good? I think so.

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  • Always loved America’s Test Kitchen for finding out how to cook it right, so great to see this series with Dan as I totally pictured him as being the newest food science guy in the likes Bill Nye or Alton Brown of “Good Eats”! Good science!

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  • as if the pool and pudle of older cheeses tastes bad

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  • Once bought a cheese called "FMV cheese" (for maxium value) took it camping, put it on a VERY hot skillet with eggs. The cheese wasn't touched and tasted exactly like plastic. Threw a few shreds into the fire, after an hour it was only blackened. We didn't touch it and then threw it away.

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  • love it or hate it but Velveeta makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches.

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  • Is it just me or did it feel like when Dan compared cheese to humans he was about to start talking about cannibalism? And the title was just to throw off the yt algorithm? Ok just me then.

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  • Disagree that mayo is inferior to butter.

    Kewpie Japanese mayo is god on the outside of a grilled cheese

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  • I love this show I am a sophisticated but might buy the geek product! nacho

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  • Using coconut oil on the bread for grilled cheese sandwich will give it crispier bread but not have quite the flavor of butter.

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  • Geez, that music is almost unbearable. It's so unnecessary and extremely irritating!!

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  • I literally thought that at 3:03 he said, "All this cheese science is making me hard."

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  • I'd like to eat you Dan.?
    Ain't my fault of your so cute and yummy…..?

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  • can you cover your mouth when speaking? the videos are amazing, but the mouth is weird and drives me out of my mind.

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  • Add a thin slice of beefsteak tomato from your garden, and enjoy one of life's simple pleasures .

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  • Help a Canadian out. What is 'American Cheese'? And what can I use as a substitute? Mozzarella?

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  • thank you i will now put my newborn son on a buttered pan to have a nice melted consistency

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  • This is a great video but……….the "a" in sodium shouldn't be capitalized. It should be Na not NA
    3:05

    Reply

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