# What is American Cheese? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538 "2003-01-18T21:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/21 "2003-01-19T16:09:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by k2dave \* > \*\*Can you give us some quick tips? I would assume the piece must be sealed in wax. What types of cheeses can be aged this way with good results? \*\* Go to your local cheese factory, and ask them for a wheel of their oldest cheese. Buy it, and put it in the back of the fridge, with a label that says “do not eat or open under penalty of death until 2010”. What do you mean you don’t have a local cheese factory? What the hell kind of place do you live in? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/22 "2003-01-19T16:16:27Z")
You kin mail-order from Vermont, too. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/23 "2003-01-19T16:50:24Z")
Colby and Brick were also invented in the US [http://wisconsincheesestore.com/history.html](http://wisconsincheesestore.com/history.html) As a native Wisconsinite, I must point out that the US can and has and does produce world quality cheese. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/24 "2003-01-19T21:01:57Z")
i’ve definitely had some excellent cheeses made here in the USA - but “american cheese” has never been one of them. In no way was this thread meant to denograte my country - only the cheese-product named after it 🙂 Some of the best super-sharp cheddars i’ve had have been from wisconsin and upstate new york (if i remember correctly). but kraft singles… ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/25 "2003-01-19T21:06:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalt \* > \*\*but kraft singles… \*\* Well, that’s what I’m saying. Kraft singles are NOT american cheese. They are Processed cheese food. Processed cheese food != american cheese. There is a product, called american cheese. Kraft singles are not this product. What you’re saying is equivalent to asking about grapes, and then saying “Well, there are some great fruits! Some of my favorite things to eat are apples and oranges. But Bubble Yum Wacky Grape Gum…” ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/26 "2003-01-19T23:40:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyla \* > \*\*American cheese is a vile cheese-like substance. It comes in individually-wrapped slices, so you don’t have to go to the awful, horrible trouble of slicing the cheese yourself. It’s very orange, and not particularly cheese-like at all. \*\* Not necessarily. It is almost always available in the whitish, uncolored version, as well. Usually, the two variations are side-by-side in the dairy case. And, it is available in blocks, if you really want to go to the trouble to get one. Deli counters use them, all the time. And, as others have pointed out, there’s American cheese and then there’s American cheese. They ain’t all the same. > [@](#): > > \*\* Despite **Davebear** ’s assertion that it’s what most of us grew up thinking cheese should be like, and that it’s proper for a grilled cheese sandwich, I never encountered the stuff 'til I was 10 or 11 and visiting a friend. \*\* I _did_ say **most** of us. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/27 "2003-01-19T23:43:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalt \* > \*\*thanks for the great answers, davebear! \*\* You’re welcome 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/28 "2003-01-19T23:48:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalt \* > **Some of the best super-sharp cheddars i’ve had have been from wisconsin and upstate new york (if i remember correctly).** Then, you should try some cheddar from Vermont. Cabot’s routinely kicks butt against Wisconsin cheddar. (Sorry, N9IWP) ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/29 "2003-01-20T00:23:15Z")
I have to back Flymaster up on this. There is a common misconception among people, that Kraft Singles is the same thing as american cheese. They don’t label it cheese they label it cheese food. It is not, at least for the most part, made from dairy products. It does not taste like cheese. I personally can’t swallow the stuff. Kraft Delux is american cheese. You will notice it does not come in individually wrapped slices. I have never seen cheese that comes in individually wrapped slices. I have grown to like this type of cheese for everyday use. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/30 "2003-01-20T00:54:38Z")
I’ll agree with those re: American cheese vs. “Kraft Singles” (cheese food). Try the American they have at most deli counters (Land o’ Lakes is a popular one). It’s damn good. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/31 "2003-01-20T00:59:33Z")
American cheese is not something you eat chunks of with wine. It is used primarily as a sandwich condiment. And it’s perfect for that purpose. It’s very mild (some would say bland) and it has a very soft and creamy texture. This way it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the other ingredients of a sandwich, it compliments them. Swiss, Jack, hell even Cheddar are all strong enough to dominate what you put them on. ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/32 "2003-01-20T01:29:42Z")
Flymaster, I don’t know if they’re really two totally different creatures as you say. I think Kraft singles are just really bad american cheese. The cheapest, crappiest form of it. There’s good cheddar and there’s bad cheddar… ditto with american cheese. Good american cheese may be somewhat oxymoronic, but surely some is of better quality than others. For a follow-up question, we all seem to agree that American cheese is rancid with the exception of it’s proper usage on grilled-cheese sandwiches. I have tried fancy swiss/cheddar/etc melted between two slices of bread, and it just doesn’t work the way American cheese does. The “other cheese is overpowering” theory is doesn’t, in my opinion, explain this fully. What are you overpowering, the bread itself? If a good stilton is great alone, why isn’t it good melted between two slices of bread? Stilton is an extreme example… how about a good, semi-sharp basic cheddar. That’s a better example. ---
**Author:** ![martin\_ibn\_martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@martin\_ibn\_martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martin_ibn_martin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/33 "2003-01-20T01:57:00Z")
Kraft singles and their ilk are mostly emulsified vegetable oil. Yum!:rolleyes: American cheese is actually cheese, albeit lacking in character. I remember one roommate of mine had a membership to “Cheese Of The Month”. I’m sure cheese snobs the world over would freak at what I melted between bread that year. The bread was good, homemade artisinal stuff, if that makes it better. Here in the States, if it’s worth eating, it’s worth eating between bread. Martin ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/34 "2003-01-20T04:18:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > \*\*Then, you should try some cheddar from Vermont. Cabot’s routinely kicks butt against Wisconsin cheddar. (Sorry, N9IWP) \*\* Eh, to each their own. Cabot’s is **very, very good** , yes. But when I can talk my local cheesemaker (in Wisconsin) to part with some of his ‘special’ stuff, it wins hands down. It’s for family and special customers, and doesn’t get paraded out at cheese shows. ---
**Author:** ![SC\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@SC\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SC_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/35 "2003-01-20T05:57:33Z")
Call me a heathen, but there are times when I apreciate squirting down the contents of an aersol can filled with Artificial Processed Cheese Food Flavored Substitute. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/36 "2003-01-20T11:16:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SC\_Wolf \* > \*\*Call me a heathen, but there are times when I apreciate squirting down the contents of an aersol can filled with Artificial Processed Cheese Food Flavored Substitute. \*\* **Heathen!** ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/37 "2003-01-20T11:59:39Z")
Count me as another who says that you don’t know from American Cheese if you think that it can be purchased in individually wrapped slices or anywhere in a store other than the deli counter. That stuff _is not cheese_ and shouldn’t be confused as such. As for other countries, I do know that when we were in Niagara Falls last spring, we went to the Perkins restaurant adjacent to the the casino for breakfast, and I noticed that all of the dishes which would be made with American Cheese stateside were supposedly made with something called “Canadian Cheese” at that particular Perkins locaton. I was happy to get the pancakes and avoid the issue, but I did feel it necessary to cross my eyes twice at the menu for the obnoxiousness of it. Blah, we _know_ we’re in Canada. No need to be snarky about it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/38 "2003-01-20T12:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalt \* > \*\*Flymaster, I don’t know if they’re really two totally different creatures as you say. I think Kraft singles are just really bad american cheese. The cheapest, crappiest form of it. There’s good cheddar and there’s bad cheddar… ditto with american cheese. Good american cheese may be somewhat oxymoronic, but surely some is of better quality than others. > > \*\* No, Kalt, no no no! You’ve seen Kraft Swiss singles, right? Now, you wouldn’t in your right mind actually compare Kraft processessed Swiss cheese product to a real Emmental, now would you? American cheese IS real cheese, as has been pointed out by several posters. There is a world of difference between “processed cheese product” and “cheese” and you’re being very unfair to American cheese. It’s a decent, mild cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/39 "2003-01-20T12:12:11Z")
Kraft makes both, actually, an American cheese (called “Deluxe”) and a processed American cheese food. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538/40 "2003-01-20T12:26:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Davebear \* > **It is almost always available in the whitish, uncolored version, as well. Usually, the two variations are side-by-side in the dairy case.** From my experiences a long time ago, in a supermarket deli far, far away… The _only_ difference between “white” (pale yellow) and “yellow” (orangish) American cheese is the color. It’s a vegetable-based dye. Why use it at all? American cheese is essentially a very mild cheddar, usually processed to make it melt more evenly. And true Cheddar cheese is orange. So, some American cheese is orange. My experience was that it was most popular with moms and dads with little kids in tow. In fact, we kept a stack of slices of yellow American handy to offer to small fry while their parents waited for their deli orders. The supermarket where I worked had two kinds of American cheese in its deli case: store brand (white and yellow) and Land O Lakes (white only, I believe). To my taste LOLs was somewhat tastier, but both of them were far, far better than Kraft Singles. Not my favorite cheese in the case, but just fine for sandwiches. For what it’s worth, by far the most popular cheese in Norway is called http://www.tine.no/intproducts/4802/]Norvegia (about half-way down the page). It’s easy to slice and mild to the point of being bland, and in recent years has been offered ready-sliced. So a fondness for very mild cheese is definitely not “just an American thing”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-american-cheese/149538.md?page=3)