According to Wikipedia:
Government cheese is “pasteurized process American cheese”, a term with a standard of identity. It is produced from a variety of cheese (cheddar cheese, Colby cheese, cheese curd, or granular cheese), made meltable using emulsifiers, and blended. Other ingredients specified in the standard of identity may be used.[3]
Velveeta contains sodium citrate, to help it melt smoothly. You can actually add sodium citrate to any cheese to get the same meltiness. Or add some hunks of Velveeta to other cheese of your choice.
I’m not sure the exact origin of the term, but my first experiences with it were with the music industry and new albums and singles dropping. I feel like it’s at least a couple decades old, but I’m not sure. Time is a bit fuzzy with me.
I wonder how Miracle Whip would do on a grilled cheese sandwich? Mrs. Cardigan has a dietary sensitivity to eggs so we usually swap MW for mayo when called for.
I imagine it should work fine. The whole point of the mayo is to create an oily base the bread can fry and brown on, and I don’t see any reason MW wouldn’t work in that regard.
Yeah, so @Chronos is correct. Government cheese is like the deli American singles. Velveeta is more like the plastic wrapped American singles. Government cheese is process cheese. Velveeta is labeled as a “pasteurized processed cheese product” (which actually is not an official FDA classification.) Kraft Singles are “pastuerized process cheese food.” Neither Velveeta nor Singles qualify for the “pasteurized process cheese” labeling. Government cheese does (or did.)
Miracle Whip has eggs in it.
True, but the eggs are heated during the processing in a way that it alters the proteins she’s sensitive to so that she can consume it without a problem. Food sensitivities are a weird thing, I know.
I was going to mention this, but was concerned with getting beaten-up after school here.
I won’t argue that. I’ve never had “real” government cheese. Just heard tales.
If ya’ll say so, I’ll agree Velveeta is a different animal. (No labels in the house to compare, not in a place/mood I can look it up).
I have new facts to file in my on-board resource. (My noodle. Hey I want Mac n cheese, now 
!).
Thx.
Nope, but it is Pasteurized Cheese, American style.
You are correct about the Mayo, but dont use cheap cheese, use plain grocery store Colby cheese. Nothing fancy, but not “Pasteurized product Cheese food” crap.
You are correct.
I bow[ed] to the experts. 
You know… I like my grilled sharp cheddar cheese on toast. But a greasy fried cheese sandwich full of melting cheap American cheese is also nice to eat, in a different way. Even better if you slipped in some fried ham or bacon.
I, personally, wouldn’t use Colby, which is a very bland cheddar. I mean, I’m sure it’s fine. But I’d rather go all the way in, in one direction or the other. (I do sometimes ask for Swiss if there’s going to be ham.)
I can see your point about the sharp cheddar, I do use that also. After we get a ham for a holiday, I make grilled ham & sharp cheddar cheese sandwiches. The secret is lightly browning the ham slices first.
To me, Colby is the cheapest blandest cheese I use- I often use better.
The Butternaise kit that started this thread uses equal parts 60 day old medium white cheddar (baby) and 9 month old sharp yellow cheddar (toddler). While both are too young to get all crumbly, the combo does give it a bit of depth of flavor as well as some color contrast.
While the kit was sold out before I could get it, I did order the spice blend used in their frankenmayo. Once that is here, I’ll match the other ingredients in the kit and give their recipe a shot.
I just made a grilled cheese for lunch. I didn’t have the spice blend, but I did have Kewpie mayo already in the fridge and mixed it 50-50 with salted Irish butter. For the cheese, I used a medium cheddar, and grilled it on medium-low (as recommended by America’s Test Kitchen which experiments with this stuff endlessly).
Soooo good. The mayo gives it a lighter crispiness on the outside while still maintaining a nice buttery taste. Don’t dismiss it if you haven’t tried it yet.
(And to whoever said warm mayo is gross: yes it is, but the mayo here ends up fried, not warmed. If all you’re doing is warming the outside of your grilled cheese, you have bigger problems than your choice of fat.)
I would not turn my nose up at any form of grilled cheese, but it has to be said that there is a gradient. Tillamook for the win.
My issue is that it’s bland. I’d prefer a cheese with some punch.
I’m not so sure about that. MW has a lot less fat than regular mayo.
I’ve seen a couple videos with it and it looks like it works fine, just as I’d expect.