Cheese comes in many shapes, textures, colors, and flavors. While many cheeses melt exceedingly well and brown slightly as pizza dough bakes, others either do not melt at all or melt with noticeable fat separation. A good melt is achieved with the right combination of moisture content, fat content, and acidity in the cheese. When a cheese lacks this combination, its use for pizza is typically limited to applying after baking, as in goat cheese, blue cheese, and Parmesan. We call these kinds of cheese finishing cheeses.
Our Hypothesis
We wondered if we could manipulate these finishing cheeses using modern techniques and equipment to come up with a protocol for improving their melting qualities. Could we make certain cheeses melt as well as mozzarella? If we could, then we would be able to gain the flexibility of adding these cheeses at any point during baking.
We looked at pairing cheeses that don’t normally melt well with cheeses that do in hope that we could obtain the flavor of the former and the stretch and texture of the latter. We experimented with various cheese blends, and affectionately dubbed them Frankencheeses.
Our first instinct was to start with the one cheese we know melts well on pizza: low-moisture mozzarella (or pizza cheese). Next was to identify the categories of finishing cheeses and a representative cheese from each of these categories. We selected very hard cheeses, blue-veined cheeses, washed-rind cheeses, and acid-coagulated cheeses: specifically Parmesan, blue cheese, Brie, and fresh goat cheese.
Experimentation
Based on the success of the emulsifier technique we used in our Modernist Cheese Sauce recipe (Modernist Pizza vol. 2:255), we had the notion that emulsifiers or emulsifying salts would help mesh the cheeses together. After several trials (and errors) with different cheeses and emulsifiers, we found that some cheeses blended better with 0.5% sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP), while others blended best with 2% mono-diglyceride flakes (MDG) and the addition of water (Modernist Pizza vol. 2:332).
Along with deciding on an emulsifier, we had to figure out the optimal ratio of pizza cheese to the cheese we wanted to blend. Each cheese-blend scenario was different; the cheeses with mild flavor, such as Brie or Taleggio, required higher amounts cheese in combination with the pizza cheese, while in the case of blue cheese, 20% was sufficient. In the end, we found the flavor of the washed-rind cheeses got lost when combined with the mozzarella.
The Results
For some of the cheeses, we were able to bake them successfully at different temperatures. We could bake the goat cheese–based Frankencheese in both a 454°C / 850°F gas-fired pizza oven and a 315°C / 600°F oven. The advantages are clear (and this can be made with just a few ingredients, plus a Thermomix or immersion blender) and offer a leap forward in the ways we can manipulate various cheeses on pizza so that you can keep the flavor while obtaining the ideal quality of the ever-popular pizza cheese.
If you want to try making your own Frankencheese, you can find our fresh goat cheese, blue cheese, and Parmesan Frankencheese on page 333 of Modernist Pizza vol. 2. These blends store well depending on the recipe, blends can be used for 10 days to 2 weeks when refrigerated.
Learn more about Modernist Pizza.