What's the difference between American and Cheddar Cheese?

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I've wanted to know this for ages. In fact there was a quiz on Blogthings that asks how American are you, and even though I'm Canadian I took the quiz. It asked me what kind of cheese I liked best and I answered American cheese only because I think it's the closest to cheddar cheese and the other two were brie and blue cheese. I've never tried brie and I can't get used to a cheese with big spores of mold growing through it. Anyway, it's been bugging me forever. Is American Cheese just another name for Cheddar Cheese, which originally came from and was named after a place in England, and is the most popular kind in the world, and Americans just wanted to feel superior or something? Does it have something to do with people leaving Great Britain because they were tired of drinking tea and speaking with English accents? And why is American Cheese only available in the US when the international stuff like Swiss Cheese can be bought anywhere? I've seen ads on TV for Kraft American cheese that I absolutely hated, with the arrogant and superior-sounding narrator. I also heard that Kraft Dinner in the 'States tastes different than it does in Canada or anywhere else. I can't believe I'm making such a fuss over a simple dairy product, but then again I can't that Americans are like, "We are so freakin' awesome, we have a CHEESE named after our country". And of course, America isn't a country it's a continent.

American cheese is a processed cheese. Cheddar isn't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processed_cheese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cheese

Isn't American cheese basically like those square Kraft cheese slices and cheddar cheese is the actual real block of cheese?

American cheese is the slices and Cheddar is block cheese.

More to it than that. The taste and texture are closer to Velveeta than any organic cheese. Cheddar is my favorite next to Pepper Jack but those don't blend well on most burgers

That made me so hungry...

I'm pretty sure that American cheese can be used interchangeably with the term "imitation processed cheese food," which is disturbing and could mean anything. Cheddar cheese, on the other hand, definitely came from a cow.

"American cheese" has a legal definition in the United States, which requires it to be pasteurized, processed cheese (that is, cheese to which emulsifiers, salt, colourings, and other ingredients have been added to ensure consistency. Most American cheese is a blend of multiple cheeses (Colby and cheddar most usually), with firm texture and consistent melting characteristics.

In order for cheese to properly be called cheddar, it should be made with whole cows' milk, ripened with lactic acid bacteria, curdled with rennet, and then the curds are cut (to diminish moisture content without losing fat and protein), "cooked" (heated to a temperature to encourage bacterial activity) and then drained. Next, the curds are "cheddared"--a unique process in which the curds are set, cut into loaves, stacked, turned, milled, salted and then aged. These processes will further reduce the moisture content of the curd, resulting in a firm cheese. Salt serves to further reduce the moisture, as well as imparting some flavour, and halting further acidification.

Colby is similar, but it does not undergo cheddarring, which increases the moisture content, making for a softer cheese with less acidity. (Monterey Jack is almost identical, but uncoloured).

One's disgusting and the other is good.

exactly.

"American" cheese needs a new name. I think it's an insult to real Americans.

Not quite so. American cheese must still be mostly cheese--a blend of actual cheeses, plus emulsifiers etc.

But if the fat content or the non-dairy ingredients climb beyond certain thresholds, then the description "processed cheese" must legally be modified to "process cheese food."

So if the pack of uniform, plastic wrapped stuff says "processed cheese" you can be certain that at some point it was milk, and what's in the package is still mostly that. But if it says "process cheese food" then beware.

A more apt name might be Government Cheese. Even if it's not from the government now, it is nearly the same bland style.


Also as far as I know I've never seen Sharp American Cheese, but of course there is Sharp Cheddar which is great in some sandwiches. That alone suggests a difference in style and flavor.

Actually the closest equivalent to that might be Velveeta which is like stronger tasting American.

America, land of the dead cheese.