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Scientists Discover Why Mozzarella is the Ideal Pizza Cheese

posted by janrinok on Sunday August 31 2014, @05:16PM   
from the now-I-feel-hungry... dept.

AnonTechie writes:

This being the weekend, something in a lighter vein:

Pizza is essentially the perfect food. Well, so long as you aren't lactose intolerant or have problems with gluten. NPR spotted a study of why different cheeses diverge in looks and taste when baked. Seriously. In a paper called "Quantification of Pizza Baking Properties of Different Cheeses, and Their Correlation with Cheese Functionality," researchers found that, among other things, the reason why mozzarella is so unique of a topping has to do with the way it's prepared. The cheese bubbles and browns because of its inherent elasticity due to stretching. In contrast, cheddar isn't as ideal because it isn't very elastic, thus it doesn't bubble as well. The same apparently goes for Edam and Gruyere, too.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/30/mozzarella-pizza-cheese/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/27/342448774/science-crowns-mozzarella-the-king-of-pizza-cheese

[Abstract]: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-3841.12540/abstract

• Re:seems to be related to how the cheese is made Re:seems to be related to how the cheese is made (Score: 3, Interesting) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @09:16AM

  by SlimmPickens (1056) on Monday September 01 2014, @09:16AM (#88048)

  or example, could a soft cheddar be treated in a similar manner to get a stretchier cheddar cheese?

  Unfortunately not, mozz is is made at a higher temperature with thermophilic bacteria, soft cheeses are made with Mesophilic culture at a lower temperature.

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• Re:seems to be related to how the cheese is made Re:seems to be related to how the cheese is made (Score: 2) by khallow on Monday September 01 2014, @01:57PM

  by khallow (3766) on Monday September 01 2014, @01:57PM (#88091) Journal

  Well, the article mentions special treatment of the mozzarella cheese with mechanical stretching as well. That appears like it could be applied to other soft cheeses as well. For example, heating the above cheddar cheese a bit and then subjecting it to the same mechanical processes?

  Parent

  • Re:seems to be related to how the cheese is made (Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Monday September 01 2014, @08:20PM

    by SlimmPickens (1056) on Monday September 01 2014, @08:20PM (#88191)

    Yeh I said that wrong. It doesn't develop that elasticity without the high temperature.

    Cheddaring [youtube.com] is whole other thing.

    Parent