How to stop oil separating from cheese
I cooked something yesterday similar to a potato Gratin using a cheese sauce. I noticed afterwards that the oil from the cheese had separated and after serving it up, there was a pool of orangey oil sitting on the plate.
Is there a way to prevent this, either by using a certain type of cheese or some other way?
The cheese I used was a mature farmhouse cheddar.
Best Answer
I know you are worried about the flavor being bland, but have you tried mixing the aged, dry cheese with one that will melt better? The flavor of a good, mature cheese goes a long way, so I don't think you will notice a loss of flavor... Find a flavorful, relatively young, melty cheese, experiment with the proportions, and give it another try.
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Quick Answer about "How to stop oil separating from cheese"
You can try to add some emulsifiers. Or even use processed cheeses (which contain those emulsifiers).How do you keep cheese sauce from separating?
A little starch can rescue a sauce In some dishes that require longer heating, such as a potato gratin or a baked casserole with cheese, starch can prevent curdling. Incorporate a little flour or cornstarch\u2014in a roux or slurry, for example\u2014at the start of the recipe before adding the cheese.Why does oil separate from cheese?
As a cheese matures and ages, some of the proteins break apart into peptides (short amino acid strands) and individual amino acids. The resulting fragmented protein matrix is less able to contain fat during cheese melting, allowing the fat to \u201coil off,\u201d or separate from the protein mass.How do you make melted cheese not greasy?
Do use low heat. Gradual temperature changes and relatively low temperatures overall will prevent the fat from separating out of melting cheese. Adding cheese to boiling liquid can cause the protein to coagulate too quickly, turning it clumpy or stringy and squeezing out the fat into a greasy mess.Why is my cheese greasy when melted?
But when heat is introduced, the protein structure falls apart and the emulsion breaks\u2014the fat globules come together into a greasy pool and the proteins congeal to form a stringy mess.How To Fix Curdled Or Broken Sauce
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Answer 2
You can try to add some emulsifiers. Or even use processed cheeses (which contain those emulsifiers).
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