The Art of Pizza, Chapter Three: Cheese

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8 Responses

  1. Kazzy says:

    I shred my own cheese and recently discovered a previously-unused attachment for my stand mixer that does far better than the attachment I was using (the meat grinder). This shreds the cheese much finer, meaning I can get a better coating, smoother melting, and even a bit of crisping… all while using LESS cheese! Huzzah!

    I use whole milk mozzarella. If I’m going real fancy, I’ll get the fresh pulled mozzarella. But that can’t be shredded. That needs to be sliced. This is typically called a Margherita pizza here in the states (though a different, slightly sweeter plum tomato-based sauce is typically used in this preparation). But that can get expensive and creates a slightly different pizza experience. If you want to make your more typical slice pizza, whole milk mozzarella with a fine shred is the way to go. Don’t bothers with that part-skim or skim-milk crap. First off, you’re eating pizza; don’t worry about it being healthy. Second off, recent research shows that higher fat dairy products contribute to weight loss better than lower fat varieties. Third — and most important — you need that fat content to get the cheese to melt properly. Also, the difference in fat isn’t that huge when it is all said and done with. So, yea, grab a block of the whole milk stuff. If you shred it fine enough, you should be able to get 3-4 12-14″ pies out of it.

    Also, don’t be afraid to sprinkle a little salt over the top. American mozzarella tends toward the bland… especially the commercially-made stuff. Don’t go overboard but do hit it with a couple of shakes/grinds to draw out the real flavor of the cheese.

    This is where my experience working in a pizza kitchen really comes in handy!Report

  2. Burt Likko says:

    My new favorite pizza topping is cheese. Goat cheese. I put discs of the goat cheese on top of the mozzarella. The goat cheese takes longer and higher temperature than the mozzarella to melt, so it pretty much keeps right where you put it, like little disks of pepperoni or sausage instead of blending in with the mozzarella. And it’s really tasty.Report

  3. Damon says:

    The only real pizza is Canadian bacon and pineapple :pReport

  4. Kimmi says:

    **as always, there may be bias or conflict of interests in the above posting. cook at your own risk.Report

  5. zic says:

    I had wanted to say this on the sauce post, but I was too late to the party, and comments closed early for some reason I do not know:

    I don’t cook the sauce, because I want the tomatoes in it to taste as fresh as possible. My sauce recipe:

    1 lg. can crushed tomoatoes
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon oregano

    stir together, let sit for 15 or 20 min.; use an immersion blender in the can if you want a smoother sauce.

    This should make four 10″ pizzas.

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    Cheese: I like fresh mozzarella, but it’s too moist. But This, too can be fixed. But it in a strainer with some weight on top for an hour or two, a bowl underneath to catch the drippings.Report