this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023

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NaCHO (startrek.website)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 92 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

The image says any cheese...

This is false.

There are two main categories of cheese, Acid and Rennet.

If the cheese is made with Rennet, it will melt, and sodium citrate will make it smooth and creamy.

If the cheese is made with acid, then it will never melt. It will burn first. Think Feta or similar.

The exception is very long aged cheeses. They don't melt all that well, even though they're made with Rennet.

Every Rennet cheese is aged, if only a few weeks, acid cheeses will spoil if aged.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I would like to subscribe to Cheese Facts

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

I seem to be dropping them all over this thread.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What about mozzarella? Can't you eat it right away?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago

You can eat it right away. Fresh mozzarella is the stuff you'll find in grocery stores that's packed in water. It has a fairly short shelf life.

Low moisture mozzarella, on the other hand, is aged a bit. It also has a better cheese pull. Which is due to the aging.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The pedantic chemist in me can't let me upvote this meme. It's too forced. The "NaCHO" isn't even the empirical formula.

[–] threelonmusketeers 27 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yeah, if you ignore the ratios, "NaCHO" represents every sodium salt of an organic compound containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are many of these compounds:

Sodium acetate? "NaCHO."

Baking soda? "NaCHO."

Bar soap? "NaCHO."

[+] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Bechemel sauces are good, but they aren't cheesy enough for something like queso or Mac and cheese

[+] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I've tinkered with it but past a certain point the consistency gets weird in my experience. Maybe it's my combo of cheeses or something. I honestly think it's the milk that fucks with the flavor moreso than the flour and butter. You can get it tasting alright but once you try to get it at the right thickness by adding more milk the taste just goes to hell

[+] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Hey I hope you like it! Pro tip: if you're doing a queso sauce, instead of making sodium citrate from baking soda and citric acid, use lime juice and baking soda instead. Gives it a citrusy pop that's very welcome in anything Mexican/mexican adjacent

[+] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Adding more milk is definitely not the way to go if I've learned anything lol, I just have a tough time nailing the consistency. I'll make my bechemel really soupy and once all of the cheese is added, it's too thick imo. I've never been able to nail a Mornay, I make them so infrequently my technique is probably terrible haha.

As to the sodium citrate thing, I honestly eyeball it. You don't need much for the reaction to take place. I'd guess maybe 1/3 of a cup(~80 ml) lime juice to a teaspoon (5 ml) of baking soda. So 16:1 ish. It's not an exact science. I usually juice two limes and use a spoon to throw a little baking soda in there.

Another thing you could do if you don't want to buy/use straight sodium citrate is to throw a slice or two of American cheese in with your sauce. That shit is absolutely loaded with sodium citrate. Be careful with how much you use though as it will impart the flavor of American cheese into your sauce and if you use too much it can take away from the other cheeses you're using

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I just watched James Dingley's Atomic Frontier video on cheese talk about this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bISFxFauTzM

[+] [email protected] -16 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Just wanted to pop by and say that the rest of the world is horrified that Americans eat this puddle of nonsense

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's real cheese, it's just got sodium citrate,

And you can make sodium citrate at home with 4.9 grams of baking soda and 3.7 grams of citric acid. Add about 15 ml of water to start the reaction and wait. The cool thing about this reaction is that there shouldn't be any side products beyond some co2 and a little water.

Anyway, you'll get about 5 grams of sodium citrate dissolved in water. (and you can safely boil off the water to get pure sodium citrate powder)

Which is far more than you need to make a pot of melty goodness.

Now, you could just make a béchamel and slowly melt a young cheese into it, but that's never going to taste the same. Sodium citrate adds in just a little extra tartness, while also making the cheese so creamy that it's kind of hard to describe for those who've not had it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Babes, the Swiss love a bit of fondue.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago

Not to mention the swiss invented "American" cheese. Heavily processed food and cheese sauces are ubiquitous, this isn't a USA thing