Post by Edwin PawlowskiPost by BigbazzaSurely you must mean a 'Cheddar' Tasty Cheese here ?...Is that correct ?..
Americans aren't the only makers of this cheese !!.. The rest of the world
also make it .and probably much better than 'the USA !!
Surely you must you don't know what American processed cheese is. No, it is
not cheddar, although we do have some good ones here. Do a Google search on
"processed cheese" and you will see the difference and know why anyone that
truly likes cheese does not bother with it.
Process
Process (or Pasteurized Process) cheese is made by grinding fine, and
mixing together by heating and stirring, one or more cheeses of the same or
two or more varieties, together with an added emulsifying agent, into a
homogeneous, plastic mass. However, Cream, Neufchatel, Cottage,
Creamed Cottage, Cooked, hard grating, semisoft part-skim, part-skim
spiced, and skim-milk cheeses are not used. Lactic, citric, acetic, or phos-
phoric acid or vinegar, a small amount of cream, water, salt, color, and
spices or flavoring materials may be added. The cheese may be smoked,
or it may be made from smoked cheese, or so-called liquid smoke or smoke
"flavor" may be added.
Cheese was heated and preserved in cans in Germany and Switzerland
as early as 1895. Hard, ripened Process cheese was made in Switzerland in
1911. Canned Camembert cheese from Germany was marketed in the
United States as early as 1914, and the first United States patent for
processing cheese was issued in 1916. It is estimated that at least one-third
of all cheese made in the United States, excepting the soft, unripened
cheeses, is marketed as Process cheese. American Cheddar cheese is proc-
essed in greatest quantities, but considerable quantities of other American-
type cheeses, such as Washed-curd, Colby, and Granular, and also Swiss,
Gruyere, Brick, Limburger, and others are precessed. Most of this is
manufactured in a few large plants, as small-scale production is not practical.
Considerable skill is required in selecting the cheese to be used. It is
selected on the basis of flavor, texture, body, age, acidity, and composition.
Desirable cheese flavor is obtained by using sharp, fully-cured cheese, but
cheese with minor defects such as imperfect rind, pinholes, gassiness, and
open texture, as well as some mild flavor defects can be used, as these defects
are either eliminated or minimized in processing.
Uniform composition, body, flavor and texture in the finished cheese are
obtained by using cheese from two or more vat lots (in some instances as
many as 20 or 30 vat lots) in each batch or blend. A vat lot is the cheese
made from the milk in one vat.
The cheese for each batch is cleaned, cut if the cheeses are large, and run
through a grinder into a steam-jacketed kettle or a horizontal cooker. The
other ingredients are added either as the cheese is run through the grinder
or while it is being heated.
Steam-jacketed kettles, equipped with mechanical agitators to stir the
cheese, are available in various sizes but frequently hold from 200 to 400
pounds of cheese. As much as 30 minutes is required to heat the cheese in
a large kettle.
In most large factories, horizontal cookers that hold 500 pounds or more
of cheese are used. The cookers are equipped with screw-type propellers
to stir the cheese, and live steam injected directly into the cheese heats it
in from 3 to 5 minutes.
The cheese is heated to a temperature of at least 150 F., and usually
155 to 160, and it is held at that temperature for at least 30 seconds but
usually for about 5 minutes, the time depending on the physical character-
istics of the cheese. When long, thin strings of hot cheese can be drawn
from the batch with a spatula and the cheese is smooth, homogeneous,
glossy, and creamy, it is ready to be packaged. In most factories, it is pack-
aged automatically by machine in cartons that hold from 8 ounces to 5
pounds. The cartons usually are lined with transparent film, and they are
sealed to exclude air. The packaged cheese is cooled to room temperature;
then it is placed under refrigeration. The high temperature attained in
heating, together with the heat retained during the several hours required
to cool the cheese to room temperature, makes the cheese practically sterile;
it keeps well and does not ripen further.
Analysis: Moisture, not more than 1 percent more than the maximum
legal limit for the kind of natural cheese from which it is made, or 1 percent
more than the average of the maximum legal limits if it is made from more
than one kind; but in no case more than 43 percent (except 40 percent for
Process Washed-curd or Colby; 44 percent for Process Swiss or Gruyere; and
51 percent for Process Limburger). Fat in the solids, not less than the
minimum legal limit for the kind of natural cheese from which it is made,
or the average of the minimum legal limits if it is made from more than
one kind; but in no case less than 47 percent (except 43 percent for Process
Swiss and 45 percent for Process Gruyere).
Fruits, vegetables, or meats, or mixtures of these, may be added to Process
cheese, in which case the moisture content may be 1 percent more, and the
fat in the solids 1 percent less, than in the corresponding Process cheese.
Process Pimento cheese is made by adding at least 0.2 percent of pimentos
by weight to Process Cheddar or Cheddar-type cheese.
Analysis: Moisture, not more than 41 percent; fat in the solids, not less
than 49 percent.
From USDA Agr. Handbook No.54, Cheese Varieties and Descriptions,
George P.Sanders, issued Dec. 1953
Process Blended
Process Blended (or Pasteurized Process Blended) cheese is made in the
same way as process cheese, except that Cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
can be used in mixtures of two or more kinds and neither emulsifier nor acid
is added. The moisture content must not be more than the average of the
maximum limits of the cheeses blended.
Fruits, vegetables, or meats are sometimes added, in which case the mois-
ture content may be 1 percent more and the fat in the solids 1 percent less
than in the corresponding Process Blended cheese.
Process Cheese Food
Process Cheese Food (or Pasteurized Process Cheese Food) is made in
the same way as Process cheese, except that certain dairy products (cream,
milk, skim milk, cheese whey, or whey albumin) or concentrates or mixtures
of any of these may be added, but at least 51 percent of the weight of the
finished cheese food must be cheese.
Analysis: Moisture, not more than 44 percent; fat, not less than 23 percent.
Fruits, vegetables, or meats are sometimes added, in which case the fat
content must be at least 22 percent.
From USDA Agr. Handbook No.54, Cheese Varieties and Descriptions,
George P.Sanders, issued Dec. 1953
Process Cheese Spread
Process Cheese Spread (or Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread) is made
in the same way as Process Cheese Food, except that it contains more mois-
ture (44 to 60 percent) and less fat (but not less than 20 percent) and must
be spreadable at a temperature of 70 F. Fruits, vegetables, or meats may
be added.