Boxed cheese grater - just sayin’.

Dive Bar Casanova

Dive Bar Casanova

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I asked my 98 year old dad why cheese tastes better at his house than mine.
“Shredded you buy in the bag is coated with wax as are individual wrapped slices” my dad told me. “It really effects the flavor.”

That was an eye opener.
I ditched the washboard style shredder and went with the box style for ease of use and the Tupperware style boxes can be capped and placed in the refer.

The kids are on board and really notice the difference in taste.

A year into this and the family still slices and grates our own just about ever morning giving up a bit of (spell check prevents me spelling this correctly); connivence for much better flavor.
 
It is not wax, at least not anymore. It is celulose from plant cell walls. It is there to keep the pre-shredded cheese from chumping up into a big blob of cheese. It's not bad for you, but it does not taste the same, or have the same mouth feel as cheese grated fresh off a block.

If you don't mind the extra effort, grating your own cheese is the way to go.

CD
 
I don't think I ever bought pre-grated cheese. Blocks of cheese are much cheaper here. I don't use a box grater but one like this:

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In fact I don't very often grate cheese. I've found that for many things (including cheese sauce) just chopping or slicing it works and is quicker.
 
I've always used a box grater (its what I grew up with) and I'm another one who I don't think has ever bought pre-grated cheese. It doesn't take long to grate a bit of cheese for cheese on toast or for a sauce.....I find grated cheese melts a lot quicker (very important for cheese on toast because you don't want the edge of the bread to burn before the cheese is full melted!) and once I've got the cheese out of the fridge and the chopping board on the worktop it doesn't take any longer to grate the cheese than it would to slice it.

The only cheese I don't grate this way is Parmesan or Pecorino.....I use the food processor to grate these because they're so hard. But for convenience I buy them in half kilo blocks, grate them and then freeze in small bags - that way I always have freshly grated Parmesan to hand :okay:

I do buy pre-sliced cheese when we're on holiday for convenience - it tends to be one of the more rubbery varieties (eg. Gouda) and usually comes with thin plastic sheets between the slices rather than a coating on the cheese itself.
 
MrsDangermouse said:
.I find grated cheese melts a lot quicker (very important for cheese on toast because you don't want the edge of the bread to burn before the cheese is full melted!)
Click to expand...

I make sure the edges of the toast are covered with the slices. I like it almost dripping over the sides. This I seem to remember was Taleggio which would be impossible to grate anyway. Cheese on ham on toast:

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I prefer whole-milk mozzarella for pizzas I make at home. When I can get to a larger store, I buy it in blocks and cut off what I need (I actually run it through the food processor to make crumbles instead of shredding it).

However, doing most of my shopping in my local small-town shop, they only just started offering whole-milk mozzarella in the last couple of years, and what they have is shredded, so that what I've been getting most of the time.

It definitely the taste, and it also affects the way it melts - it's a little more melt-resistant, you could say.
 
Morning Glory said:
I don't think I ever bought pre-grated cheese. Blocks of cheese are much cheaper here. I don't use a box grater but one like this:

View attachment 52790

In fact I don't very often grate cheese. I've found that for many things (including cheese sauce) just chopping or slicing it works and is quicker.
Click to expand...
I like that gadget. I’ll order one today.
 
We were walking a section of London and came upon an outdoor, covered food court.

Two guys had a cart where they sliced cheese off big blocks and made grilled cheese sandwiches on fresh baked bread.

The most fantastic and the gold standard of grilled cheese sandwiches in my humble life. These guys had it down pat. Fabulous.

What was also super cool was the Food court had a committee that sampled the various vendors fare.

If the food didn’t pass their expectations the vendor was relegated. Out you go.
That kept a fire under everyone’s bahookie.
 
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