cheese for melting/cooking - raw?

[onetrumpeter]

It seems like if I'm going to melt the cheese it might as well be pasteurized?? We've not yet bought raw cheese. Our farmer sells it for 8.50/lb. Whoa. I'm used to paying <$3/lb for cheddar from Costco. Yeah, I'm sure it's way inferior, but if it's going to be heated...(?) Thanks for thoughts on raw cheese

also - - - wow is it super convenient to buy the shredded mozz @ the grocery store - any tips on using a food processor to shred it w/o it sticking like crazy to the shredding disk?

[Magelet]

I'm sure there are differeing opinions, but I definitely don't buy raw cheese to melt/cook with. I don't always buy raw cheese anyways, but certainly I buy the cheaper real cheese that is pasturized to cook with. I suppose if you are just melting it it might not reach a hot enough temp to pasturize it and would still have goodies raw but I don't know.

[BedHead]

Pre shredded cheese is yucky - it has wax on it or something to keep it from sticking.

I still buy the big blocks too - I don't have a source for raw cheese here yet, and with the amount of cheese my family consumes it's just cost prohibitive.

I use my food processor to grate it all the time. There's some that sticks to the disc but not much I just pick it off when I'm all done. I grate it all up and put it into ziplocs and freeze it.

[MyLilPwny]

What temperature does pasteurized cheese usually reach? I tried to find it and not sure if this is true but it looks like 250 degrees F according to this: http://curdnerds.com/node/305 which isn't that high considering most thing are baked at around 350 degrees F. I buy both raw and pasteurized cheese and I had the same thought about might as well use pasteurized if I'm baking it, although I've usually been buying my cheeses from Trader Joe's and there isn't much of a price difference between raw and pasteurized. When I was in Hawaii (Kauai to be exact) I went to Costco and discovered they sold raw grass-fed cheddar cheese (not sure if they sell that at our Costco in CA since I never checked). I was browsing the Tropical Traditions web site and saw they sell the same exact cheese. The brand is Pastureland. Otherwise, I don't really see any grass-fed cheese in the stores around here. Organic Pastures sells their raw grass-fed butter in stores here at least.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by BedHead

Pre shredded cheese is yucky - it has wax on it or something to keep it from sticking.

The anticaking agents are typically powdered cellulose, calcium carbonate, and/or potato starch.

[CeciMami]

As for shredding mozz cheese w/o it sticking to your food processor blade...put it into the freezer for a little while till it's as firm as a block of cheddar. Then shred away! Works like a charm!

[krankedyann]

Raw or not depends on the temp of the finished dish for me. If I'm just melting it over top of something using the broiler, I go with raw. If I'm baking it for an extended period of time in a casserole or the like, I use pasturized.

[nerfherderer]

yeah - potato starch and cheese protein would be a digestive contraindication and result in fermented food in the intestines... why do Westerners insist that they know everything there is to know?

do. not. want.

[nerfherderer]

pasturized products are also harmful for a number of reasons. for one - the fortified vitamins in them are not very absorbable (if at all), and can end up stuck to artery walls, in between joints (resulting in arthritis) or simply doing nothing at all. they also tend to come form farm factory environments, and the whole "need" for pasturization is the result of poor farming practices which result in cows' immune systems not functioning properly (thus transferring disease/pathogens into the food products).

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by nerfherderer 

pasturized products are also harmful for a number of reasons. for one - the fortified vitamins in them are not very absorbable (if at all), and can end up stuck to artery walls, in between joints (resulting in arthritis) or simply doing nothing at all. they also tend to come form farm factory environments, and the whole "need" for pasturization is the result of poor farming practices which result in cows' immune systems not functioning properly (thus transferring disease/pathogens into the food products).

I totally agree about factory farming.  If you are trying to eat healthier, then stay away from sick factory farmed animal products.  But then price affordablity is a factor, and if we weren't allergic to dairy we would eat less dairy to afford the good stuff- raw or not.  Check out heinis.com as they carry 7 plus lb blocks of raw cheddar for a really cheap price. 

But what am I saying- we do ocasionaly eat regular ol chicken meat since we can't afford the best, but we try. 

If I had a choice between raw hormone cheese, or pasturized grass fed. I would for sure pick the grass fed.