Cheese for a Suffed Pie question

[kurt72]

This is directed at the Stuffed Pies, vice the Deep Dish.  Stuffed as in bottom layer of crust, stuffing (cheese, vegs, meat) top crust tomatoes.  I.e. Giordano's or Nancy's Stuffed Pizza.

i live here in San Diego.  i've found that the Precious brand of low moisture part skim (LMPS) cheese works best for the stuffed.  it melts together evenly, does not leave any white icky residue behind, and tastes AWESOME.  not all LMPS cheeses are created equally though.  i've had some that just don't plain melt, others only partially melt, or other melt, but because of the white residue make the cheese salty.  

with a thin crust, or Deep Dish, this is not usually a problem.  only with the Stuffed pies.  I ask this cuz I have family in Connecticut, Wash D.C. area, and Ft Lauderdale.  when i show up, i always make a pie, and usually have problems with the cheese.  the last 2 trips to Conn, i've managed to find a brand of cheese that works really well.  But in D.C. and Florida, it's always up in the air.  I could go to the deli, but I don't do not feel like paying $7-9 a pound for cheese.  and you need a lot of cheese for a stuffed.

 i should also mention, i always buy my mozz in blocks, and grate it myself.  or slicing if making a deep dish.  anyone else have this problem?  any tricks?  i've been making pies for a long time.  it just irks me when my pies fall flat because of a different cheese.  

thanks in advance.  

[dmcavanagh]

kurt72

When you come East, the cheese you know as "Precious" is called Sorrento. They are the same cheeses packaged under different names in different parts of the country. I also buy my cheese in 5# blocks, and I could be wrong, but I feel that the cheese sold that way is or a slightly higher quality then the 1# packages sold in most grocery stores. I like the firmness of Sorrento (Precious), it makes it so much easier to slice or grate. The cheese is made in Buffalo, NY.

[Garvey]

For DD or stuffed, you should always be using sliced, not shredded.  Have you had the melting problems only with shredded, or have you found the quality of sliced cheese to be lacking, too?

What I'm getting at is that you perhaps only need to switch full time to slices and your problems would go away (rather than goose-chasing a particular brand of shredded cheese that may or may not work well).

[kurt72]

For DD or stuffed, you should always be using sliced, not shredded.  Have you had the melting problems only with shredded, or have you found the quality of sliced cheese to be lacking, too?

What I'm getting at is that you perhaps only need to switch full time to slices and your problems would go away (rather than goose-chasing a particular brand of shredded cheese that may or may not work well).

maybe i'll try sliced for stuffed next time.  sliced for DD like Sicilian pizza goes on first to melt into the crust.  usually any suggestions i have ever seen for Stuffed say use grated. 
check out this vid.  granted, this is for tv, but they are using shredded cheese.   

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJO1-ERxRM" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJO1-ERxRM</a>

i was hoping that i would hear "you gotta grate it and let it sit out", or "grate it, do 3 black flips, run around the block" or something.   

i've been making stuffed since 00'.  guess it just comes down to the quality of cheese.

[kurt72]

kurt72

When you come East, the cheese you know as "Precious" is called Sorrento. They are the same cheeses packaged under different names in different parts of the country. I also buy my cheese in 5# blocks, and I could be wrong, but I feel that the cheese sold that way is or a slightly higher quality then the 1# packages sold in most grocery stores. I like the firmness of Sorrento (Precious), it makes it so much easier to slice or grate. The cheese is made in Buffalo, NY.

thank you, i will remember that.

and i concur with your opinion of the cheese firmness.