Tips For Using Cheese In Casseroles

Casseroles are a popular meal choice as there are limitless options and varieties available. You can combine almost any type of meat and vegetables, letting you use up leftovers before they go bad. Almost all casseroles will involve cheese as that is part of what adds to their flavor and texture. The cheese also serves as the binding agent, letting all of the ingredients easily connect together. The following tips can help you with selecting the right cheese for your casserole or actually cooking it.

Consider Melt

When it comes time to think about which cheese to use in the casserole, you want to think about its melt. Not all cheeses are capable of melting, and many fresh cheeses are not. Generally speaking, harder cheeses (which are low-moisture) need to melt at higher temperatures. Softer cheeses with high moisture (like mozzarella) tend to melt at lower temperatures. Also keep in mind whether you want a cheese that melts in strings or forms a cohesive melted mass. Hard cheeses, like parmesan, tend to melt in individual into individual pieces, while semi-hard cheeses, like cheddar, form a melted mass.

Improve Melt Efficiency

When it comes to preparing your casserole, you probably won’t want to cook the cheese for too long. In order to make it melt more efficiently, most recipes call for shredding or grating the cheese. This allows you to increase the surface area so the cheese melts quicker and in a more uniformed manner.

Cooking Temperature And Placement

If you are making a cheesy casserole, you want to keep the temperature at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit or less (definitely not over 375 Fahrenheit), otherwise the cheese sauce may begin to break up. Also keep in mind that the longer the casserole cooks, the dryer the cheese will become. Generally speaking, you want to keep the casserole three of four inches away from your oven’s heat source to prevent burning the cheese. Your main concern when cooking with cheese is to not overcook it, which is why the recommended temperature sits firmly at 350 degrees.

Adding Cheese Toppings

If you plan on adding some cheese to the very top of your casserole, either instead of or in addition to cheese throughout the dish, save this for almost the very end. You should try to add these final cheese toppings when there are about five to ten minutes left for cooking the casserole. This will give the cheese enough time to melt, but not enough to burn.