56 Grilled Cheeses: Which One is Best? | Epicurious

I am third generation cheese Monger out of moscit and I'm about to make 56 grilled cheeses each with a different cheese I've got your classic cheeses some less conventional ones and others that to my knowledge have never been in a grilled cheese before I guess which work which don't and what's the best cheese to make grilled cheese with let's find out American so technically this isn't cheese it's American processed cheese food not traditional cheese stuff the cheese is a little Tangy kind of lactic it's like cooked milk it's creamy also like a little rubbery this sandwich was made with butter and standard white bread that is what we're going to be using for all of our sandwiches today try to keep everything neutral and let the cheese shine this is the classic cheese for grilled cheese because a gigantic Corporation spent a ridiculous amount of money designing this product in a lab so all of you will eat it the cheese won't go bad and it's really cheap personally I think this grilled cheese is super mild kind of bland it's just Flatline basic Vita this cheese product is designed to look super ooey gooey a little bit a Tang the mouth fuel is more creamy normally if you heat a cheese for too long or too high it will break the water in the cheese evaporates leaving a chunky oily mess the Vita is smart they put in emulsifying salts they work with the natural emulsifiers in cheese allowing you to heat it way more than you could a normal cheese not a lot of flavor not a lot of punch when it comes to what I want to eat boring montere Jack so you're starting to see like more of that ooey gooey this one's Tangy a little bit bitter which I think is related to the cheese now is starting to age starting to develop its character the more cheese ages the more lactic acid is developed and the laced acid is what develops more bitter notes so a lot of people would say this is creamy I would I think this is more uh like heated fudge I still think we're living in basic cheese curds cheese pole isn't as sexy as the other cheese cheese is made through the acidification of milk they heat milk they add s culture and rent it and that's separates milk into kurd and Whey kurd is the solid weigh is the liquid this grilled cheese is Bland it's baby cheese it's baby curds it hasn't had a chance to develop its flavor cheese curds are called often squeaky cheese because they're kind of rubbery and it kind of shines through on this grilled cheese monster also has that Tang the textures really chewy this cheese is made from pasteurized milk pasteurization is basically heating the milk killing all the bad bacteria but it also kills all the good bacteria that provide flavor said simply pasteurized milk often makes a sterile Bland cheese whereas raw milk brings the flavor I simply don't taste the cheese in this sand sandwich baby Bell this cheese doesn't really look like it was melted the Tang is starting to get bigger it's milky the problem here's the texture really uncomfortable baby Bell's a cheese that's high in acidity and when a cheese is high in acidity what happens with heat is that the calcium dissolves the water evaporates and it just leaves a really really strong tough protein so it doesn't melt eat the baby Bell like a snack not a grilled cheese Grier look at this look at that look at it it's so sexy it is so sexy full disclosure Grier is one of my favorite cheeses first the bad news the texture is not like oh my God super melty it's stringy but the flavor is incredible tastes like there's like onions in the sandwich and there isn't reason why you get like oniony notes is because this cheese is made from cows that are actually grazing on pasture not just any pasture we're talking about the out have you ever been to the top of a mountain how does it feel when you're at the top of the mountain it feels amazing so how do you think the cows feel they feel amazing how does the grass look how does the grass grow it's as closest to the Sun as any other grass so what does that mean delicious right and that's what's so dope about really good cheese is that it brings flavor notes that frankly a bunch of people aren't used to cheese isn't just supposed to be creamy as a flavor and Grier does not disappoint con basically French Grier so where Grier has that kick of funk Barnard and onion this has more of a sweet buttery mildly sour Tang it's a beauty ktia mild Tangy mild bitter but the problem here again is texture the cheese hasn't melted the butter is the strongest flavor here wahaka what's cool about Waka is that it's pasta Fila style cheese when you're cutting curd and then pressing curd it's basically squeezing out the water this cheese is made by pulling the curd and by pulling the curd instead of cutting the curd it retains more of its moisture and I must admit melty cheese pull makes my body tingle dare I say it's creamy milky lactic plays really well with the butter but more importantly it just feels comfortable my mouth like a grilled cheese is supposed to feel halumi back to cheeses that don't like to melt this doesn't even look like it was hit by heat I'm getting milky lactic notes it's interesting the texture does have like a a semi quality to it which is like really a weird thing for my brain to process the cheese holds heat which sounds weird but out of all the grilled cheeses I've eaten so far like this cheese is the hottest this just comes off like super blend super boring P all right this cheese did not melt or move at all there's no flavor it's like a piece of plastic between two pieces of bread mozzarella I actually like this it's creamy like it's supposed to be lacking a little bit in flavor in terms of a Nuance round robust flavor but the milk I could taste milk and that's really at the end of the day what I want to taste Bara is basically mozzarella with uh cream and stringy curd inside the middle it looks hot molten but also like fluffy wow now that's what I want to grilled cheese to feel like that is like soupy cheese in my mouth that is like milk on my birthday it's got like this like air rated like like whipped cream vibe to it flavor-wise it's not kicking me over but a lot of what grilled cheese is about is texture and we're finally at a texture that makes me happy cream cheese it's not really melty it just kind of looks pasty this actually has some of the most flavor out of any of the grilled cheeses I've eaten so far we're off bitter we're now in sour the texture on this is not cheese like cooked cream foam in my mouth Chev oh yeah ladies and gentlemen we have flavor it's smooth it's creamy what I like about goat cheese is it kind of tastes like you're like taking the the goat's foot and like licking like a lollipop and it's also really high in medium fatty acids so that's where the tanginess comes from but what's nice is that when it's cooked that gets tempered and add a little bit of butter and add the crunch of the bread and like it's just there but kind of in the middle not bam in your face R so unlike most cheeses this cheese is made from the Whey not the curd it's kind of sad really isn't any flavor texture is like whipped cream hit with a steamer it's got like a grainy texture to it oddly enough not good feta when I eat a grilled cheese I don't want the cheese to crumble the high acid it's keeping the proteins together and not not liquefying it's got a brightness to it like Limestone textures grainy sour feta does not belong in a grilled cheese it belongs in a salad havari once again we're like at the Young cow's milk cheese grilled cheese a little Tangy like a little bitter it's okay Fontina we've got a melter we've got a melter H high moisture semi- soft cows milk cheese this Baby's meant to melt people look at look at it just a it's what I want you grilled cheese right oh yeah I get a little bit of funk like garlicky on a subtle note little little bit of like leaks but it's flavor I feel I I I feel flavor I it's squeezing out the bread is now doing its purpose which is like holding holding the cheese I taste cheese I taste i t i taste cheese yes I'm so excited Fontina all day winner want to make a good grilled cheese play with some Fontina Kio cavalo looking at another pastaa cheese just kind of flat boring not super melty there another cheese that to me doesn't really excite a grilled cheese so you know what I just learned I'll take flavor over how it looks every day of the week again we got some funk it's a bit sour getting some vegetable notes is it my favorite one no but it has flavor and at the end of the day it's all about Flavor G the color is exciting the color of a cheese uh like this comes from carotene cow eats grass grass has carotene beta carene and then that beta carotene translates uh into the finished product which is cheese it is a washed curd cheese and by washing the curd before it's pressed kind of wipes away all of the tanginess and you get more of the the flavor notes of the grass so it's sweeter it's also kind of buttery which is kind of nice with the butter on it it's a little rubbery I'm a little disappointed cuz I love G aago so this is going to sound a little weird but this actually tastes like what American cheese is trying to get at it's got like notes of like steamed milk the Tang of like sour cream again I want a cheese that kind of kicks you in the teeth this definitely doesn't do that budas we got cheese pole always happy to see this it looks great but the flavor-wise it's not big it's not pronounced kind of sweet no tanginess whatsoever I like how it looks but uh kind of disappointing in taste cheddar we got the the orange color this likely comes from anado anado is a natural food coloring doesn't do anything for flavor it just makes you think it's cheddar we're still on those like mild flavor notes what determines the sharpness of a cheddar is high acidity cheese is lactose being converted to lactic acid acid equals bitter so the more lactic acid there is in a cheese the more bitter it can become this is a little bit uh timate for me likely a good base in a in in a shred mix but as a standard alone sadly the cheddar could be better mimolet it's like a French cheddar not known for its big flavor I'm actually surprised Supple lactic like a tempered horseradish it oddly comes off as as as I would have hoped the cheddar comes off American Swiss cheese with the holes in it cheese makers don't call them holes they call them eyes why I don't know the holes come from what's called propino bacterium prop bacterium gives off carbon dioxide which makes the ice mildly nutty has like that animal meaty brothy Barney note like sour cream lactic this is good yurg Norway's version of Swiss cheese fascinating so American Swiss and yurg are are almost identical cheeses yurg comes off a little bit more grassy not as Tangy not as sour it doesn't have that like characteristic note that swiss cheese normally has which just kind of dull I'd rather go with American Swiss emal emol is the Swiss version of Swiss cheese and this is the OG melter more balanced than the American Swiss texture is perfect super cool creamy mouth feel but more tempered than the American Swiss Bri Bri is a very high moisture cheese when you open it up it's all melted what you see here is the penicillum candidum it's the bloomy Rind of Bri it's actually meant to be eaten it's part of the flavor it's part of the texture Shucks bre has a lot more butter fat than other cheeses fat is Flavor so when you got butter fat you got flavor the challenge here is that due to the cooking process all that has been cooked off and it doesn't really ring through on the grilled cheese Cam and bear basically camama be is a mini Bree and so we're dealing again with a lot of butter fat yeah I love it the texture of the cheese is gooey but it's not like overwhelming my whole mouth isn't filled with like a puddle of melted cheese cheese is cooked into the bread it's a little bit like brussel sprout cabbage it's mushroomy it's Umami woohoo finally a cheese with some balls be of France St Andre we're still in this soft ripen bloomy Ry category we're past creamy we're now in custardy St Andre is extremely buttery like holy cow buttery very earthy mushroom e note it's good not great toio yeah it's got funk fair warning guys if something smells like socks try it anyway cuz it doesn't taste like socks all right great texture creamy in the mouth but more subtle in flavor it's being aged in a Sellar and so you get that yey note it's like a fermentation note to it too is a good guy for melted cheese but not really exciting e bang big flavor Bold Flavor a little bitter definitely Umami there's a subtle gooiness this is a big flavored cheese I'm happy rocklet if you want that ooey gooey molten Laval likee melted cheese boom rocklet is your play but it lacks flavor it's not big and bold a lot of people really just want a really melty cheese and for that reason roet is actually a great choice parmesano regano sweet not overly cheese pole butter cheese Poole nonetheless booya it literally has like a boozy vibe to to it salty in a good way it's got some like tropical fruit vibe to it hazelnuts real parmesano Regan from a small specific area of Italy is meant to be melted right you guys know it as a grated cheese in fact often what you think is great at parmesano regano it's not because parmesano regano is not about texture it's about Nuance flavor it's about round multi noted flavor and and that definitely hits here Grana an we got a cousin to parmesan Regan similar similar cheese just from a different place in Italy Yeah Bang all the things I like about parmesano regano just tone down a notch parmesan looks like parmesano Regan and Grana bana now what is Parmesan it's America copying a amazingly traditional cheese from Italy as an industrialized inferior product and then calls it something something similar so you guys get tricked that's what parmesan is gross all I could say there's no character there's no oomph it's just it's just boring P veio the little brother of parmesano regano fruity like cherries salty but not super salty I bet you the kids would love this cuz it's sweet proone another good melter it smells like like baby vomit which some people like I can't I can't oh boy proon as you probably experien it on your sandwiches at the deli is not this provolone that's American provolone this is traditional Italian provolone and it's different I apologize to the Italian provolone cheese makers and anybody who likes uh traditional Italian Pro alone I am at approximately 40 grilled cheeses on the day and Prov alone is not a flavor profile that kid I'm crying it's not a flavor profile that my stomach can handle at this moment it's big it's too bold it's baby vomit I have to take a break mano to me sheep cheese is uh more more sweet all of it is elegant lactic it's fruity texture is kind of rubbery but it's actually good I like it peino Romano sheep cheese like Mano in a much bigger form age for a longer amount of time uh-oh that don't look good typically known for for grating it allows it to interact with heat in a much better way than when it's chunky here like shredded like this sorry not meant for a grilled cheese keep it grated baby petite Basque for back are good texture creamy it's got a Tang to it like a mild parsley type bitter a good cheese for someone looking for not too big of a bold of a flavor good melter and also wants to experience a sheep cheese in their grilled cheese which I think it's kind of cool pepper jack which is basically monterey jack coupled with little chilies Hab Arrow Peppers some garlic they know the regular one doesn't have a lot of flavor and instead of like you know getting bitter milk they added Peppers tastes like jalapenos and I like jalapenos so it's good when you add elements to a grilled cheese that are vegetable nature and have a high acidity it punches up the flavor and so when you find a cheese that's really good at melting but doesn't have as big a b of flavor as you want throw something on it and it does a lot for the flavor pimento this is usually made with a processed cheese or cheddar mayonnaise and pepper not really sure why you put a spread on a grilled cheese but heck why not yeah that's weird um it's oily you get the pepper note maybe spreads are not supposed to be in grilled cheese for another spread it's basically a French version of cream cheese with garlic and CH some of the Fat's been cooked off in the in the heating process so it's a little bit more gummy n not what it's made for bone doesn't belong to grilled cheese but garlic and chives do beer cheese so beer cheese is a spread take like Vita add some beer add some garlic add some cayenne it looks like French dressing with Shives in it really runny like soupy there's like a Mayo note in there not meant for a grilled cheese port wine cheesee imagine Vita with port wine included in it this color is just absolutely disgusting it looks like gum tastes like like burnt plastic that is just disgusting truffle cheese banging the Truffle gives it this nice Umami brownness for me I like truffle and so the Truffle plays well with the bread it plays well with the butter the Umami plays well with the notes that she's usually offers you Winsley Dale with cranberries this is a high moisture cheese with with fruit in it all the water is cooked off so you're left with this like chunky protein I don't need to take a bite of this one I could just tell by looking at it that's not what you're looking for in grill cheese gorgona this is gorgona Dolce this is a creamy blue the bluing is still kind of chunky paste is like really ooey gooey melty and the reason why it's so gooey is because the curds are hand ladled into the mold there's not a lot of whe explosion not a lot of water explosion when this cheese is being made yeah it's a mess but it's got flavor it might be a bit too runny I think the paste did break so it's a little oily but the blue the blue just kicks it's just big bold in your face I recommend it Stilton English blue cheese all right we might have gone too bold now first because it's crumbly it's aged it's broken it's really salty kind of barnyardy this has a lot of flavor in it it's a bit too much for me but it's not bad roke Fort this cheese has stood up better than the other two blue cheeses bang love it a bit saltier and definitely more creamy than the other two Blues the cheese is like melted into the bread this is fascinating this it's like cheese French toast blue is coming out like an acetone note kind of like a nail polish remover which for me is like one of my favorite flavors in a blue cheese it's like spicy and like sort of like like vinegary is this is actually one of my favorite of the day vegan cheese this isn't cheese technically it's a nut spread it doesn't taste at all like cheese but it does have a consistency similar to cream cheese has like a Tangy note but also obviously has a Nutty note it tastes better than I thought it would but doesn't taste anything like cheese easy cheese I can't believe they're making me eat this the fakest cheese in the market I'm glad I could be here to try this for all of you and in the hopes of you never trying this at home okay this is scary uh it kind of tastes like something in between Vita and American Cheese Slices with a soupier texture for a cheese that came out of an extruder of a can it wasn't that bad this kind of gives me hope that if nuclear fallout does happen I can still eat grilled cheese nacho cheese sauce this isn't a multipication that comes in a can absolutely disgusting it's very watery it's got the peppers in it so it's got those pepper notes this feels wrong this feels like cheese soup this is crazy I think I might prefer the easy cheese grilled cheese over the nacho cheese if you're going to make a grilled cheese with nacho cheese sauce get pepperjack my top five cheeses of the day are Waka canar vontina Grier and rord with the MVP P being parmesano regano Waka is like mozzarel but it had actual flavor to it and actually like held well on the sandwich cam be when you taste cam be you know you're tasting cam be that still rang true within the grilled cheese Fontina is built to melt it's a high moisture cheese it's got a little bit of funk but not a lot of funk G is just my favorite cheese and it had that bold Funk that I like out of aad roord I love blue cheese but getting blue cheese right in a grilled cheese can be tough but the roofer held up and had the note that I like in a blue cheese which is acetel parmesan regano gave me everything I was looking for in a grill cheese it had texture it had flavor it had melt really good mouth feel it was sweet it was nutty but the most important thing I learned today is that melted cheese is awesome experiment with all sorts of cheeses and if you're not happy just make another grilled cheese you ever cooked like cheese in like a like a pot and then try to wash it after and you notice how like hard it is like you have to like let it sit for like two days that's what my stomach feels like right now

Channel: Epicurious

Views: 795,105

Keywords: best cheese for grilled cheese, best grilled cheese sandwich, different types of cheese, different types of grilled cheese, different ways to make grilled cheese, epicurious, gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, grilled cheese, grilled cheese recipe, grilled cheese sandwich recipe, how to make a delicious grilled cheese sandwich, how to make a simple grilled cheese sandwich, how to make grilled cheese, how to make grilled cheese with mozzarella

Id: ZPQMbbsjXiQ

Length: 24min 36sec (1476 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 10 2024