Cheese is one of the best additions to meals like pizzas and other snacks. So here, we will be comparing the three best ones we have with Mozzarella Vs Parmesan Vs Cheddar cheese.
For some people who are not cheese lovers as much as I, you might not be able to tell the difference between the three. However, there are some obvious differences.
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You can use any of the three for pizzas or for pasta, but some specific recipes are better with a particular type of cheese. We will also try to figure out what cheese is best.
Mozzarella cheese is perhaps the most famous type of cheese that almost everyone knows but does not have the details. It is the one advertised with pizzas with its stringy texture.
Cheddar cheese is a more colorful type of cheese. It has a strong taste and is sometimes saltier than most types of cheese, plus it adds a deeper yellow to orange color to the food you cook.
Parmesan cheese is an expensive type of cheese that goes as a garnish for pizzas and other foods. These are just the general description of each cheese, but we will try to be more detailed in this post.
A Bit Of History
There are some interesting differences between these three types of cheeses from their history alone. Cheddar is one of the more common types of cheese for pizzas, for pasta, and other recipes and has larger portions.
What I mean by that is it you make it in several countries around the world. It originated in the Cheddar, an English village found in Somerset, and then made in many countries.
Mozzarella cheese originated from Naples in Italy and is made with two different processes that we will discuss later on. It also has a very short shelf life and is also copied by many.
Parmesan cheese is the most expensive type of cheese and is made specifically in an area north of Italy. Italian law to prevent copycat protects the integrity of this cheese.
With that said, you cannot simply buy the cheese on the shelf in your local supermarket as Parmesan, and be sure that it is the authentic version of Parmesan cheese.
What Are They Made From?
There is also a significant difference between the three regarding the source of the milk used in making them. This is also what makes them different in taste, authenticity, and price.
For cheddar cheese, cow milk goes into making them like the Monterey Jack cheese. Many bacteria act up onto this type of cheese, giving it a yellowish color once it is processed and aged properly.
There are a lot of nutrients in cheddar cheese that are beneficial. Calcium is one of the nutrients that are abundant in cheddar cheese and you can find this nutrient in other types of cheese as well.
This is also the reason why cheddar cheese is relatively cheaper than the other types of cheese. Cow milk is very common, so factories do not usually run out of milk sources.
Mozzarella is a little different and made with milk from water buffalos. This is perhaps the main difference between Cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and you can see it too.
Mozzarella cheese is a bit more expensive than cheddar cheese because of this. Water buffalos are harder to raise and are rarer than cows, so you have to invest a lot in feeding them properly.
Parmesan cheese, on the other hand, has the unique type of milk used. They usually use water buffalos, but only the ones raised in Bologna, Parma, Mantua, or Modena.
These are the specific areas in Italy where they make authentic Parmesan. If the Parmesan cheese you see is made anywhere else in the world, that is not an authentic Parmesan.
This is because you cannot make Parmesan out of these areas because of the specific climate that grows a kind of bacteria that only exists in those areas in Italy.
There have been shortages of buffalos during recent times and the ways to feed them, so some manufacturers make Parmesan cheese from cows and still have a close taste to it.
Traits Of The Cheeses
You can differentiate each type of cheese from the other with its traits alone. There are many ways to compare these three different kinds of cheese when you look at them in person.
The taste, texture, consistency, are the characteristics to find the difference between these three. You can see those when you have them in front of you, but we will also describe them here.
There are also other nutrients that might differentiate the types of cheese. Calories are one of the ones that you should look out for as cheeses have a lot of calories that can harm you if you consume too much of them.
Cheddar cheese has a little more calories than Parmesan cheese while Mozzarella has the fewest. So healthwise, mozzarella cheese is better than the two.
So read on as we discuss the traits of each type of cheese and see how they differ. It can be hard if you do not see them in person, but we will specify it for you.
The Taste
Mozzarella cheese is one of the best cheeses for pizzas and for pasta. It does not have the strongest taste, so it does not overpower the taste of the main ingredients in your recipe so it is better than cheddar.
This is the cheese you often see in commercials which gives the cheese pull. It is the stringy cheese that got us all hungry.
It does have a salty taste, but it highlights the other ingredients in your food. It settles on the more buttery side and sometimes even moist, giving you some sort of a palate cleanser.
Cheddar cheese has one of the strongest flavors in any cheese. It is a type of hard cheese with a strong salty taste which also enhances the flavors on pizzas and sometimes burgers.
Compared to mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese does not melt as easily. It goes well with salads if you do not like other dressings on your vegetable salad.
Parmesan cheese is also considered hard cheese. It is best when grated because of its strong cheesy and salty taste that gives the food another layer of flavor when added to it.
I do not recommend using Parmesan cheese as a part of the recipe to prepare for the cooking process. It is best as a garnish on the food because of its strong flavor.
If you want a little spice on the cheese, then I recommend the pepper jack cheese from Monterey Jack cheese. This American cheese is perfect for pizzas like Feta, Gouda, or Provolone cheese to make a more unique flavor.
Colby Jack also makes American cheese that is semi-hard that you can use on your pizza. They produce sliced cheese with a half-moon shape so they can be used on other foods as well.
The Texture
As for the texture, Parmesan and Cheddar cheese are pretty similar and unless you want that stringy texture, then these two are better than mozzarella in terms of texture for garnishing.
They are hard and often used as garnishes on the food or an additional strong salty and buttery flavor.
Cheddar cheese is sold as thin squares often cooked with burgers at high temperatures, melting a bit slower.
It does cover the burgers but does not melt too much.
Parmesan cheese is better than cheddar for garnishing food such as wings, salads, and of course, pizzas.
It offers a soft texture because of the grated structure, but the taste is still stronger than most.
It does not melt well, so putting Parmesan on the food when cooking is not a great idea.
The heat will only burn the cheese and taste bitter instead of the creamy and salty flavor.
Mozzarella cheese has different types based on moisture content.
It has two major types to differentiate mozzarella cheese from itself when it comes to the texture.
The low-moisture mozzarella cheese is a type of mozzarella cheese made with a longer aging process.
It also lasts longer when storing than the other type of mozzarella.
Low-moisture mozzarella has a saltier flavor and is slightly harder.
It has a dense texture that melts well over the food, so I would choose this for a cheesier meal and melting texture.
High-moisture mozzarella cheese is the fresher option because they make and use it on the same day.
It has a shorter shelf life, so you need to use it right away for the best results.
It has a milder taste and texture, so it does not affect the taste of the food or the main ingredients in your recipe as much as other types of cheese do. It is great for burgers, pasta, and pizzas.
The Color
Another way to differentiate the three types of cheese from each other is the color.
However, I will not rely on this as it can sometimes be inaccurate because of the making process.
The most obvious one is the cheddar cheese because of its deep yellow color.
It has a lot of salt, so the older the cheese is, the deeper the finished product’s color.
There are even times when cheddar cheese has an orange color.
Compared to mozzarella cheese which is relatively white and pale because of its fresh processing method.
Mozzarella cheese ages for a lesser time in comparison to cheddar cheese.
That is why it keeps the natural milk from water buffalos and retains a generally white color instead of a deeper yellow.
Parmesan cheese is a bit harder to differentiate because there are times where it is white, but some age for a long time which improves or deepens the color of the cheese.
So parmesan cheese is either yellow or white.
You can differentiate it from mozzarella with the shape, and then you can differentiate it from cheddar cheese when it has a thicker crust.
What Are They Best Used In?
Using the cheeses needs to be specific to take advantage of the flavor, color, and texture of each cheese.
There are some specific recipes, but we will highlight pizza for this one.
Cheddar cheese is best as a garnish, but I love mixing it with other types of cheese.
If you need to add more flavor, you can mix it with mozzarella.
Cheddar cheese goes well with pizza toppings such as bacon, pepperoni, and even pineapple.
It also goes well with chicken as the meat is relatively bland, adding more flavor to it.
Mozzarella cheese is the highlight of most pizzas.
Although it does not have the strongest flavor, it creates a beautiful texture and balance on the flavor if you put it in your pizza.
The most common type of pizza to use mozzarella on is Margherita.
It has a higher moisture content, and the slightly salty taste goes great with the minty taste of leaves on this type of pizza.
Parmesan cheese is the perfect garnish for any food, in my opinion.
It goes great with fried chicken and on salads, plus it adds a great hint of cheesiness to your pizzas.
Shelf Life
Between these three types of cheeses, cheddar cheese has the longest shelf life.
It can last up to 60 months once you get it out of the aging process and expose it to other elements.
Mozzarella cheese is really easy to spoil as it has the shortest shelf life out of the three.
It can last for up to one month on the fridge, but you should use it right away after the first month.
Parmesan cheese is relative when it comes to storage life.
It gets more expensive if it is aged longer, so you can store it in the fridge for up to 9 months unopened once you buy it.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many differences between these three types of cheese.
I liked all of them because they are all available for almost any kind of recipe.
You can add them to your pizza, burger, salad, chicken wings, and many more.
They all enhance the flavor of your food while giving a salty and buttery taste to the main ingredients.
I love parmesan cheese the most, but it is also the most expensive.
So it depends on your set budget which you should choose, all in all, these types of cheeses will make your food better!
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