Review of American Slices - Pasteurizes Processed Sandwich Slices

Cafe Society
1

16 slices, net weight 9.6 oz, total cost $0.50. Brand name Sunny-Acres

30 Calories per slice, 2 grams of fat (all saturated), 3 carbs (no sugar or fiber), 190 mg sodium, 0 protein.

*Ingredients: Water, food starch, partly hydro. soybean oil, modified food starch, milk protein concentrate (see protein above -can not be much of this stuff in here), Salt, Natural Flavors, Sodium Phosphate, Stablizers (various listed), Sorbic acid, Lactic acid, artificial color. *

Review:

OK I saw this at the dollar store, and was curious of how something that looked like the typical american cheese like ‘cheese product’ could be $0.50 per packet of 16 (normal sized slices), so I just had to buy it and find out.

First there is no cheese listed anywhere on the label, nor does it say cheese anywhere on the label - got it - no cheese - the word simply does not appear, hope I made this clear enough, no cheese. It does however look like the typical slice of American cheese product. It has more of a stiff gelatin like ‘snap apart’ on a pull apart consistency the the gently break apart consistency of typical cheese product.

The taste, well any cheese taste one might get may be just because it looks like cheese product and the mind fills in the blanks. It does have somewhat of a faint taste of milk, and salt, but not much more, besides those there is very little taste. The texture is also that of a ever smaller breaking down ‘stiff gelatin’ mass. Even when chewed a lot it still maintains a non-smooth grainy structure.

Cooking with it, even near boiling it does not melt, it just stays in it’s form, just broken up into smaller pieces. It didn’t matter how long it was heated.

As a final test I attempted to make one of my low carb treats. Usually taking a piece of cheese or cheese product and microwaving it till it started to burn a bit, it gets puffy and hardens and tastes awesome - something like a real cheese puff as opposed to the Cheetos stuff you can buy. Usually it takes a bit to start the bubbling process then it gets all good.

This product started bubbling right away, It did not burn, but did puff up and solidify. The bubbling noise was slowing down so I stopped it, I didn’t want to drive out all the moisture and have the microwave continue with nothing else it could heat up.

This ‘puff’ snapped like a dry and stiff cracker, both in sound and snap. The cheese puff above would usually give some bend even in it’s hardest form. I am a bit hesitant to taste it but here goes…

Well I was not expecting that, It tastes very much like the goldfish type crackers, the ones with the hint of cheese. In this form it actually is not bad, and you can really taste the salt. Perhaps driving out the liquid concentrated the little milk like flavor.

I was going to give it 1 star, however due to this off label use I will give it 1.1 stars.

Enjoy

2

Thank you for taking one for the team, because that sounds absolutely disgusting.

3

That certainly doesn’t meet the definition of pasteurised process cheese.

Kraft Deli Deluxe slices are pasteurised process cheese. So are the logs of American cheese I pick up at Cash & Carry. As such, they are ‘real cheese’ (i.e., they’re cheese and emulsifiers).

OTOH, Kraft Singles and Velveeta Slices are ‘pasteurised prepared cheese products’. So they’re pretty far away from actual cheese. IMO, any ‘cheese’ that comes as individually-wrapped slices is to be avoided.

American cheese, the kind I buy, is pasteurised process cheese. And it’s not bad when used correctly. Applications include cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and mixed in with ramen after you drain off the liquid into a cup and drink it as soup and then add sriracha to the resulting cheesy noodles. That’s the great thing about American cheese; it melts well. American cheese is good in ‘lunchbox sandwiches’. That is, the kind of sandwich you’d make for a kid’s lunch; not the kind of sandwiches you’d choose as an adult.

My ‘rules’ are to check to make sure the slices are not individually wrapped, and to read the label to ensure I’m buying ‘cheese’ and not ‘food’ or ‘product’.

4

The OP made it clear that this product is not even pretending to be cheese, in any way, shape, or form. I guess at 50 cents for 16 slices, it must have some kind of market, but given it’s lack of cheese at all, and it’s equally stunning lack of any nutritional value at all, I’ll pass.

(I’m with you, Deli Deluxe is absolutely the lowest quality I’ll buy. I’ll note that Deli Deluxe is $4.39 for 16 slices.)

5

Yes, I was agreeing with her.

Kraft Deli Deluxe is too expensive, IMO. It shouldn’t matter, since we don’t use a lot of American cheese here. I tend to buy the five-pound logs of some other brand at Cash & Carry. (Which is strange, since we don’t use a lot of American cheese here. But it’s cheaper.) Fifty cents for pseudo-cheese? Too cheap. I wouldn’t touch it except on a dare. I’ll try anything once, but there are other things I’ll try once before I’ll try the stuff in the OP.

(And now I’m thinking I need to go to Cash & Carry for another six pounds of bacon and five pounds of Tillamook medium cheddar. And I may as well go to Trader Joe’s for some nice sharp crunchy cheddar.)

6

Despite an only tangential resemblance to actual food, I’m moving this to Cafe Society.

7

Years ago, an organization I worked for had a chalupa booth at a festival to raise money. I believe that elsewhere in the country these are called tostadas-- basically a crispy corn tortilla topped with refried beans, grated cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. The food items were supplied to us by a board member who ran a Mexican food products company. He referred to the “cheese” as “cheese analog.” How’s that for honesty.

8

Aha!

I was in Mississippi a couple of weeks ago, and we had Mexican food one night. I ordered a combo that contained a chalupa because I liked the other items. My friends (one, like me, from Southern California, and one from Peru) didn’t know what a ‘chalupa’ was. I recall that Taco Bell (?) had a chalupa taco, but I don’t eat there. Anyway, I thought the chalupa seemed an awful lot like a tostada.

9

Here, “tostadas” are just the plain tortilla chips. Chalupa (which, I’m told, means “boat”), refers to the whole fried, crispy tortilla piled high with yummy stuff.

Carry on.

10

This is a tostada, as I know them, and what the ‘chalupa’ was in Mississippi.

Just chips? We call those ‘chips’ or ‘tortilla chips’.

11

That picture would be a chalupa here. Yeah, we usually just say tortilla chips, but “tostada” isn’t really a dish… it’s just the chips. If you went into a hole-in-the-wall, mom & pop Mexican restaurant and ordered a “tostada,” I’m not sure what you’d get… they’d probably ask you what you meant. You wouldn’t get what’s in the picture.

12

All the Mexican joints I’ve been to here around here (CT and NY) describe what you’re calling a chalupa as a tostada. That includes the mom and pop places and larger restaurants. I’ve always wondered what a chalupa is and now I know. Thanks!

This is a place we used to go to a lot: http://www.puertovallartausa.com/documents/PV_dinner_menu_final.pdf

[QUOTE= from the linked menu]
TOSTADAS
A crispy fried corn tortilla layered with refried beans and your
choice of beef, chicken, shredded beef picadillo or vegetarian,
covered with shredded lettuce, guacamole, cheddar cheese and
tomatoes and sour cream.
[/QUOTE]

13

Incidentally, you should never use American cheese on Mexican food. And NEVER use ‘process cheese food’ or ‘process cheese product’.

14

Pasteurized processed tostada slices are OK though, right?

15

Okay, I’ll just have EVERYTHING on that page, please. Now, please.

And where does that leave “cheese analog”?

16

Yes, thank you. Last time I was at the dollar store, I almost bought some of this stuff, sheerly out of curiosity. Now I don’t have to.

17

Yeah, me too. For one thing, there are several burritos listed. Since moving to Texas I have learned that Tex Mex does not do burritos.

18

It’s pretty much been outmoded by “cheese digital.”

sorry

19

Excuse me very much, but we absolutely DO have burritos!

If by burrito you mean a big flour tortilla wrapped around a delectable and heart-stopping filling. And it might or might not be deep-fried. And covered with cheese.

What do YOU mean by a burrito? And what part of Texas are you referring to-- it’s a big place.

20

Second-biggest state in the union!