Sorrento Mozz Cheese

[LPcreation]

I plan on cooking some NY Style pies in a 2stone and I was wondering about the Whole Milk Sorrento mozzarella.  Is that a good cheese for high heat?  I plan on mixing it w/ part skim sorrento mozz and a local mild provolone.

I don't have time to order anything I'm going to be getting these locally.  Are there any other cheeses that do well in high heat that are fairly common?  Polly-O?  Sargento? 

I'm also willing to listen to other cheese mixtures/combos such as adding a little fontina or something like that.  Thanks!

[2stone]

Hi LPC,

I use fresh BelGioioso from Sams Club with good results. I can't say it is the best because I haven't tried that many yet. I have heard from other 2stone users that Grande is the best by far, though I have not been able to get my hands on any yet. My experience is that you can put it on in fairly large cubes because the heat in the 2stone air is so intense that it will melt it down pretty quickly. Otherwise if you are using any type of shredded cheese, you are better off covering most of it with toppings or you will end up with some pretty well done (brown) cheese.

The other thing I've been told about Grande is that if you have to buy substantial quantities of it to get your hands on it, that it stands up well to freezing.

-willard

[Pizza_Not_War]

I don't have time to order anything I'm going to be getting these locally.  Are there any other cheeses that do well in high heat that are fairly common?  Polly-O?  Sargento? 

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? If so the North Beach Whole Milk Mozz works very well. They have an excellent assortment of cheese at great prices compared to the supermarket. Some of the stores stock a great Buffala Mozz.

No I don't work for them. LOL - although I wish I owned a chunk of the company.

PNW

[LPcreation]

2stone-
I can get the BelGioioso but I was hoping to cut costs a little bit.  I can't get it in bulk so I need to purchase the small marked up blocks of it.  I'll be making a lot of pizzas and I was hoping to use more of a generic cheese.  I'll get a few blocks of the BG and a thing of the sorrento and compare.  Thanks for the advice on the cubes vs shredding.  I'll do both and post results as best as I can.

PNW -

I don't have a Trader Joe's.  I'm in the NE (pa) and I don't have many specialty stores nearby.  Wegman's is about as good as it gets here.

[scott r]

LP creation, this is an excellent question that I have been hearing a lot lately from friends and even some pizzerias I have been working for, so I think it is worth posting here and in the general pizza making forum with a more appropriate title.  Rather than talk specifically about brands I think it is important to first realize how different types of mozzarella react differently at various temps.

What cheese best suits your pizza style and oven really has everything to do with how high you are going with your heat.  In taste tests with friends and family we have found that most people actually prefer the flavor of a standard dry mozzarella at lower temps, and a fresh mozzarella at higher temps. There is something about how they melt that actually effects flavor, and to use an expensive fresh mozzarella on a lower temperature pizza can almost be counterproductive. The same cheese I love on a 600 degree pizza usually tastes bland and boring on an ultra high temperature pizza even if I play games trying to hide the cheese under the sauce, or add it halfway through the bake.  Somewhere in between a fresh mozzarella and a dry aged (standard) mozzarella are the "cryo pack" style cheeses that are often labeled "fresh" but do not come in water.  In my experience This is your best bet for a medium speed pizza.  Buffalo mozzarella tends to be the best at coping with extreme high heat, and it is no surprise that this type is usually preferred for authentic neapolitan where the pizzas can be baked at speeds approaching 40 seconds!

I will give you a list of cheese types based on optimum flavor and performance relative to baking speeds.  Realize that there are some other variables that happen from brand to brand, such as the fact that grande dry mozzarella tends to do much better at higher temps than other manufacturers dry cheese, and also take into account that a cheese that is older will not perform as well as a younger cheese unless you are using dry mozzarella which should take a few weeks after manufacturing to age properly before use to avoid what is called "green" cheese in the pizza industry.  Anything but dry aged (normal) mozzarella is at it's peak as soon as it cools from manufacture.

dry mozzarella 4-10 minutes or longer
cryo pack "fresh mozzarella" not in water 3-5 minutes
fresh mozzarella in water 1-4 minutes
buffalo mozzarella 45 sec - 3 minutes

When looking at other types of cheese such as fontina, provlolone, etc. I have found that in general the dryer the cheese the lower the temperature you can go with it.  Most provolones and cheddars are better for the long slow bakes involved with a standard 500 degree oven, while wet cheeses such as brie, goat, muenster, and gouda, tend to stand up better to higher temps.

[LPcreation]

Great post scott.  Thank you.

[johnnytuinals]

Geeeeee when I was much young I used to try and make pizza and it always came out bad....
And I used PollyO cheese back 20 years ago......
Now I am rtying to make pizza again since I found this site.
The places around me make terrible pizza,so I felt  why not make my own.......
Once you make your own pizza you will not buy pizza again.....Thats if you use the right stuff...
Well I buy my own dough from walmarts at $1.15 each and it will make 2 small pies.One pie today and another one tomorrow,and the dough is made in New York and not made by walmarts....
I also Bought some pizza sauce already made,and it taste great on my pizza and I freeze the rest.
Now I felt maybe I should try Stella Chesse from my local Sams club.at $13.00 for a 5lb bag Diced..
But as I have read on here manyyyyy people love Grande,,,so I felt why not just buy the BEST....
Problem was,I needed to buy a Case of Six 5lb bags of Grande East Coast Blend Diced at $13.50 for each 5lb bag....
Yep you really think you will waste it buying that much of grande....
But I do freeze it and put it in the Fredge a day before I need it...
You will be very surpised how quick it goesssssss
I make a pizza 2 times a week
1 or 2 pepperoni rolls at night before bed time(after I finished drinking my wine lol}
1 or 2 Meatball or Chicken or veal Heros a week...
So its about 2  Lbs a week and about 8 lbs a month,Or maybe lesssssssss
So the chesse will last you 4 months,,,maybe longer depends on the amount of chesse you use....
Toooooo me I am down to my last 5lb bag and I am glad I bought the Case.....
Yep you have to buy a case of grande but I am sure it will not be wasted at all,,,,even if you frezze it for over 6 months......
If you are used to the NYC style of Pizza,,,,Get the EAST COAST Blend
Once you use the Best,,,you will enjoy making your own pizza and calzones and will never buy out again.........JT