WEBVTT - What Is American Cheese Really Made Of?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works, Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Christian saga. Here. Humans have been making cheese for at

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<v Speaker 1>least seven thousand years. It is, after all, an efficient

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<v Speaker 1>and tasty way to preserve nutritious milk beyond its normal lifespan.

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<v Speaker 1>But cheese can be expensive, inconsistent from batch to batch

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<v Speaker 1>in some varieties don't last a whole lot longer than milk.

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<v Speaker 1>And have you ever tried cooking with it? Let's say

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<v Speaker 1>you want to make nacho dip. Everybody wants to make

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<v Speaker 1>nacho dip. But when you heat regular cheese, the fats

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<v Speaker 1>can melt away from the rest of the cheese solids,

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<v Speaker 1>leaving you with a pool of oil and a lumpy,

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<v Speaker 1>stringy mess. Enter processed cheese, of which American cheese is

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<v Speaker 1>a particular type. This stuff is consistent by design, has

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<v Speaker 1>a longer shelf life, and is usually cheaper than natural cheese,

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<v Speaker 1>while melting like a dream. But how what arcane science

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<v Speaker 1>imbued natural cheese with such unnatural properties? Well? Here in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States, the f d A is crafted an

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<v Speaker 1>exhaustively specific legal definition of processed cheese. The short version

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<v Speaker 1>is that it's a type of food made by pulverizing, heating,

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<v Speaker 1>and mixing actual cheese of one or more types with

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<v Speaker 1>an emulsifier into a homogeneous plastic mass. That's plastic as

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<v Speaker 1>in the physical definition, i e. A substance easily shaped

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<v Speaker 1>or molded. Processed cheese isn't actually made of plastic, but

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<v Speaker 1>it can contain water, salt, artificial color flavorings, and a

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<v Speaker 1>very long list of chemicals that would bore you to

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<v Speaker 1>tears on a podcast. The key to processed cheese smoothness

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<v Speaker 1>is the emulsifying agents, and emultion is a mixture of

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<v Speaker 1>two liquids that don't usually mix, like oil and water.

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<v Speaker 1>No matter how hard you stir or shake them together,

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<v Speaker 1>they'll separate back out, but emulsifiers make the two plain

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<v Speaker 1>nice chemically speaking. That's because they interact with both liquids,

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<v Speaker 1>grabbing globules of one and suspending them evenly throughout the other.

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<v Speaker 1>Cheese and milk, for that matter, is made up of

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<v Speaker 1>fats and fat soluble substances, plus a solution of water

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<v Speaker 1>soluble proteins and minerals. The added emulsifiers keep them blended

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<v Speaker 1>together even when they're heated. The other optional ingredients are

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<v Speaker 1>texture and flavor enhancers. Preservatives and cheese making shortcuts designed

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<v Speaker 1>to speed the manufacturing process along. It's science cheese, everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>But as long as the finished cheese has moisture, fat,

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<v Speaker 1>and pH levels that closely resemble those of its actual

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<v Speaker 1>cheese ingredients, the stuff can legally be called quote pasteurized

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<v Speaker 1>processed cheese, and if it's made from cheddar, washed curd,

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<v Speaker 1>colby or granular cheese, it can be called American cheese.

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<v Speaker 1>But you may have noticed some extra words creeping in

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<v Speaker 1>on labels, dubbing the stuff pasteurized processed cheese, food or

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<v Speaker 1>spread or product. Those designations indicate that other ingredients have

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<v Speaker 1>been put in that reduce the amount of actual cheese

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<v Speaker 1>in the finished food. Cheese food can contain additional milk,

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<v Speaker 1>skim milk, buttermilk and cheese whey. These lower the cost

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<v Speaker 1>and increase the meltiness. And that's not a real word,

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<v Speaker 1>but cheese food must have moisture, fat and pH levels

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<v Speaker 1>that are close to natural cheese and cheese product can

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<v Speaker 1>throw those rules right out the window, and cheese spread

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<v Speaker 1>may have added moisture sweeteners, starches, and moisture binding gums

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<v Speaker 1>or hydrocholoids to optimize spread ability. All of these creations

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<v Speaker 1>are required to consist of at least cheese. Check out

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<v Speaker 1>the brainstuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.