Cheese ratios

[rayguy]

Does anyone know what the normal ratio would be when combining low moisture, part skim mozzarella cheese with low moisture, whole milk mozzarella cheese. In reference to mozzarella cheese, is anyone familiar with Krown Dairy Products located in Luxemburg, Wisconsin?

Also, What would be the ideal ratio be when combining mozzerella with fontina cheese.

[mivler]

Rayguy,

I sometimes mix part skim mozzarella with whole milk mozzarella cheese. If there is any "normal" amount, I don't know if it. I don't think many of the people on this forum use part skim mozzarella. I don't have an exact number. The better I want it to taste the less park skim I use. Others would say that you should just eat less of it. I con't answer the other questions.

Michael

[damon141]

Making a pie with 100% whole milk mozz can be kind of greasy for me, especially if you add pepperoni to the mix.   
To answer your question; many pizzerias that have have known mix their cheese 50% whole milk & 50% part-skim while using a cheaper brand for the part-skim and a good brand such as grande for the whole milk.

[Pete-zza]

There are no hard and fast rules on ratios of cheeses. Some people use a 50/50 blend of low-moisture part-skim mozzarella and low-moisture whole milk mozzarella to cut down on the fat released on the pizza during baking, to reduce burning or premature browning that can occur when only the part-skim is used (particularly if it has a high moisture content and low butter fat content), or because it is cheaper to use the blend than the whole milk alone. If one wants to cut costs even more, the part-skim component can be increased in relation to the whole milk component. Not all brands of cheeses behave the same way so some experimentation may be needed in order to get the right combination.

Some operators use a blend of mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Both are string curd cheeses and have similar melting and stretching qualities (although the provolone is a drier cheese with a higher fat content). Grande sells a popular blend of mozzarella and provolone in a 50/50 blend.

I don't believe that there is an ideal ratio of fontina to mozzarella but I wouldn't use too much fontina because it melts differently than the mozzarella and may reduce the "stretch" of the mozzarella if that is what you are after. I have found cheddar cheese to have the same effect.

Peter

[mivler]

Hi,

Sorry I gave incorrect information. I didn't realize this was a normal practice. I thought it was just me.

[November]

rayguy,

mozzarella:fontina; 2:1.  This blend follows the popular trend in matching cheeses based on fat content.

[November]

I thought I would provide a little more information on how I choose a ratio for cheese blends.  I first start with studying the constituent properties of a cheese that melts, firms up upon cooling, and re-melts exactly how I want it.  Almost all the time I use part-skim low-moisture (PSLM) mozzarella cheese as a baseline.  This means for whatever cheeses I blend together, I want the combined moisture content, protein content, and fat content to match PSLM mozzarella, or as closely as reasonably possible.  For reference, PSLM mozzarella is 46.5% water, 26% protein, and 20% fat.  I decide which cheeses to use based on flavor.  If I don't like eating a particular cheese straight off the wheel or block, I don't put it on my pizza.

For experimental purposes, I collected cheese popularity data via google quite a while ago so that I had a reference for the most favored cheeses.  This gives anyone who's experimenting with cheese blends a head start with what will likely turn out to be good tasting cheeses.  Cheeses don't usually become popular because of how bad they are.  The following list is the data I collected (rounded to a total of two digits).  These values are normalized to the top ranking cheese.  Think of them as baker's percentages.  For instance, fontina is 10% as popular as mozzarella.

 ~   mozzarella
 76   cheddar
 46   swiss
 46   feta
 30   provalone
 23   muenster
 15   asiago
 10   fontina
2.3   havarti
1.8   colby
1.8   jarlsberg
1.4   monterey jack
1.4   gouda
1.3   gruyère

The cheese blend I use most of the time is 4 parts PSLM mozzarella, 2 parts muenster, and 1 part low-fat swiss; which has a combined content of 47% water, 25.6% protein, and 20.7% fat.  I could sit down to a plate of any one of these cheeses and eat it straight as a meal.  It was an obvious choice to use these three for my tastes.

- red.november