I’ll cut to the chase. There are a bunch of “American cheese” recipes online using the same cheese/gelatin/milk method. I’ve tried that one. It’s not remotely even close to anything that resembles the taste and meltability of that ooey-gooey lusciousness that we love to snuggle between hot patties of beef for our burgers. Those recipes will give you something that looks like American cheese, but it doesn’t perform like it at all because it’s not emulsified with the proper ingredients. I’m not saying there’s no use for those recipes or anything like that — they’re actually good, but they’re just not American cheese. But this recipe? This recipe is absolute American cheese gold and exactly what you’re lookin for. Kraft, I love y’all, but you could never. 

How to make American Cheese

This phenomenal, perfect recipe is adapted from Chef Steps. What’s really cool about this recipe is that it works for a multitude of different cheeses using different ratios and ingredients, of course. They have ways you can turn parmigiano-reggiano into something ooey-gooey melty. Maybe you want to convert blue cheese into something gooey. The list is expansive, and the options are plentiful. When digging for a true American cheese recipe, I knew they would never steer me wrong.

So what’s my goal? I want what unwrapped Kraft Deluxe singles or any huge block of American cheese behind the deli counter is supposed to give me — gooey melted cheese for my burgers, my kids grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. It’s sublime. If that’s what you want, then follow along.

I cannot stress how delicious this cheese is. It’s straight up the American cheese we all know and love but FAR better. I mean, FARRRRR better!! And it melts better. It’s just amazing.

Ingredients to make American Cheese

This recipe uses five ingredients: real cheddar, whole milk, and a trifecta of 3 very important “cheese world” ingredients, found in many of the cheeses we already eat. You’ll need…

• Sharp cheddar (just plain sharp, not extra-sharp) – flavor and color. 
• Whole milk – for creaminess. 
• Kosher salt – brand preference: Diamond Crystal! If you’re using Morton’s, use half of what it’s called for.
• Sodium citrate – used to stabilize the cheese so that it stays together when it’s melted later. This ingredient also allows the cheese to blend into complete smoothness. A lot of “nacho cheese sauce” recipes call for this one and for good reason. 
• Sodium Hexametaphosphate – this ingredient is used in American Cheese across the board. It’s an emulsifier that allows the melted sharp cheddar and milk to blend beautifully and seamlessly without separating and oozing oil when you melt it down later. 

Tools needed to make American Cheese

• Sous vide machine + pot or cambro large enough to hold bag of cheese. I use the Joule sous vide, but any brand will work. 
• Sous vide bag or gallon-freezer zipper bag for holding the contents. 
• High-speed blender.
• 6×4 mini loaf pan (preferrably) – I don’t have one of these. I have a regular-sized loaf pan like a normal person lol. So what I had to do was improvise by gathering the mixture to fit half of my regular loaf pan and wedge an object against it to keep it from un-molding. It was ghetto, but it worked!
• Plastic wrap.
• Rubber spatula.
• Wired cheese slicer – Option 1 & option 2. I don’t have this YET, it’s in my cart. In the meantime, I used a very thin blade knife. Because the cheese is slightly sticky (yet firm) to the touch, I gripped one side with parchment to avoid a huge mess on my fingers, and sliced the exposed side. You’ll figure out how to get the job done as best as you can, I promise.

Do I NEED a sous-vide machine?

Listen, I get it. Not everyone has these things. I highly recommend you get one, and not just for this recipe. That fancy-sounding-tool is really clutch for those of you who get off on consistency! Whether it’s making this cheese, or perfectly cooking a steak, a sous-vide machine will not fail you.

But let’s say you want to make this cheese and you don’t have one. The temperature we’re aiming for while our cheese-milk-sodium trifecta does its thing is 167 degrees F. That’s almost 20 degrees below a gentle simmer. A gentle simmer is when the bubbles barely break the surface. So, maybe you could bring your water to a full boil and then immediately reduce the heat down to low.

When the temperature lowers to a gentle simmer — which is around 185 degrees F, you can insert your sealed bag (clipped to the side of the pot) of cheese/milk/sodium and let it hang out until everything is melted and somewhat incorporated. I’m thinking the temperature of the contents inside will bring the temp down another 20 degrees, maybe more. Or, you could just wait a while until the temperature is around 170 degrees F and then insert the bag of cheese. I’d err on the side of it taking a little longer to melt, than melting too fast.

I have a suspicion that there’s a reason Chef Steps didn’t say “Hey! just melt it all together over high heat and boom, you’ve got cheese“. I’m guessing those sodiums need time to do their thing, especially since they’re very crystalized. Or perhaps the oils from the cheese need to seep out more gently to help emulsify later? I don’t know, I really don’t. Honestly, none of it may matter at all lol. 

Of course, when using a non-sous vide method like I mentioned above, you would play around with the heat temperatures and maybe have to monitor it more frequently to make sure it doesn’t boil too hard and melt the cheese too fast. While I understand quite a bit of science (it was my favorite subject in school), I’m no scientist — so take this makeshift advice with a grain of salt. The sous vide machine allows this temperature to be maintained at all times while the mixture “cooks” for 30 minutes. Without the sous vide, it would just require more babysitting, but I think it’s doable.

A CRUCIAL Warning!

I know people love to scroll past helpful information in a blog post and just head straight to the recipe. I get it. But if this doesn’t work for you, it’s probably because you didn’t read the following. So boom, after this mixture is properly blended, you need to IMMEDIATELY, and I mean IMMEDIATELY get it into the prepared molding situation because it will literally firm up within seconds. Did I mention IMMEDIATELY??? As I was pouring mine from the blender to my mold, it was cooling down so fast and starting to firm up. If you don’t move quickly, you will have delicious American cheese in a weird blob or droplets. Will it still be edible? Absolutely, but that’s not what you want. I cannot stress enough, you have to move quickly to get the “block” shape you want to later slice it.

What I’m trying next

I think I’m going to try pouring it (QUICKLY AF) onto a flat parchment-lined surface, such as a sheet pan, to cool it down between two layers of parchment. I’m not sure yet, but in my mind that might work — it might not. It’s more surface area for the mixture to cool down, so it may seize up too fast and become a mess. Because per my warning above, you HAVE to work fast! We’ll see. It’ll take some quick finesse and readily-available sheets of parchment to flatten it. I’m down to experiment. 

Try this recipe with

You absolutely must try this recipe with my Smash Burger recipe. I’ve done it multiple times and it’s insane! Enjoy.

Homemade Real-Deal American Cheese

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• Author: Chef Resha
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 24-36 slices

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Description

Kraft, who?? If you’re looking for real deal American cheese recipe, look no further. This is ultra-gooey burger and grilled-cheese greatness. And super easy to make! Recipe adapted from Chef Steps.

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Ingredients

400 grams sharp yellow cheese (see note), cut into 1-inch cubes

160 grams whole milk

12 grams sodium citrate

4 grams kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)

1 gram sodium hexametaphosphate

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Instructions

1. Using a cambro or large pot filled 2/3 of the way with water, set the temperature of your sous vide water bath to 167 degrees F.
2. Line a mini-loaf pan, or other contraption that’s roughly 6×4 inches with multiple layers of plastic wrap. This is to ensure that once the mixture is fully blended, you can immediately pour it into the mold. I cannot stress IMMEDIATE enough. You have to move quickly, trust me.
3. Set up your blender so that it’s ready to go once the cheese is done cooking. Again, you gotta move quickly.
4. When the water bath is finally set to 167 degrees F, add the cheese, milk, kosher salt, sodium citrate, and sodium hexametaphosphate into a 1-gallon ziplock bag. Remove the air from the bag by leaving it slightly open while you carefully drop the bag into the water, because the water displacement method will push the air out. Once you’ve achieved this, zip the bag up and clip it to the side of your cambro or pot.
5. Cook for 30 minutes. The cheese should be fully melted.
6. Immediately pour the melted cheese mixture into your blender and start to emulsify it on the lowest speed, gradually increasing speed all the way to high, for about 1 minute. You shouldn’t have any issues blending, but if you do, incrementally add 1 teaspoon of warm milk to help loosen the mixture. Don’t add too much milk (more than a tablespoon or two), because it will be too soft to slice once it’s fully cooled. After a minute of mixing it all up, IMMEDIATELY pour the mixture into your plastic-lined loaf pan (or whatever you’re using) with the help of a rubber spatula to get all of it out. Work FAST! Once the cheese is all out of the blender and into the mold, give it a good hard tap on the counter to release any large air bubbles. You can also use a toothpick to pop any large bubbles. Cover the cheese with the over-hang of the plastic wrap, making sure no air is trapped. Cool in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
7. This cheese is very soft, and difficult to slice with a knife. I sliced mine with a knife, but I also got super thick slices. If you’re looking for a typical “slice” size, use a wired cheese slicer or unflavored dental floss. To store your slices, layer them between slices of parchment paper, then store into a plastic zipper bag.

Notes

Use regular sharp cheddar, not “extra” sharp or “seriously extra” sharp.

• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 30

Keywords: how to make american cheese, american cheese recipe, homemade american cheese, american cheese from scratch

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