Yeah dude tell me about cheese. I learned that gruyere can be a good one to mix with other cheeses to make the combination melt better and not overwhelm the flavor. Any others like that?

Also, any cheeses that melt nicely but are low in lactose? I have intolerance and it's nice to not have to play the guessing game with enzyme pills.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Any others like that?

Yes, definitely! My top recommendation is Raclette du Valais (aka just Raclette), a tremendous melting cheese that is flavorful but extremely "cheese" in flavor (as opposed to having grassy notes, or nutty notes, or any other more unique and distinct characteristic you might find in other cheese). Raclette is damn near perfect for this request, just don't tell any Frenchmen you're using it as a blending cheese rather than serving it in the traditional elaborate preparation. My second recommendation is probably Havarti, which is a very buttery-mild cheese (to the point of being a bit bland on its own) that melts effortlessly-well and thus is a great blending cheese.

Also, any cheeses that melt nicely but are low in lactose? I have intolerance and it’s nice to not have to play the guessing game with enzyme pills.

That's a bit tougher... You may already know this, but in case not, more and more lactose in cheese is converted as it ages, so in general the older and harder/dryer a cheese is, the lower the lactose content. Unfortunately hard aged cheeses aren't often the best melters, but there are some exceptions. Probably my biggest recommendation for a good-melting cheese with low lactose would be to look for a very aged cheddar. And no, I don't mean the "12 months aged extra sharp" orange blocks in the grocery dairy section, I mean like this 4 year aged Widmer cheddar or this incredible 5 year aged Grafton cheddar that I personally adore. Not only will these be lower in lactose, if you've only experienced mass-consumption cheddar then I also promise the flavor and sharpness of these premium cheddars will absolutely blow your socks off too.

Beyond that, another good lactose tip is that while sheep and goat's milk cheeses may not have "less" lactose, but the individual lactose globules (for lack of a better term here) are inherently smaller than in cow's milk, so many people who find cow's milk intolerable are able to process sheep or goat's milk with little to no problems, and thus can also enjoy most goat and sheep's cheeses without the issues that come along with cow's milk cheeses.

Hope that helps some! Lemme know if you've got any other questions or requests 👍

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Hell yeah, thanks for the advice wise cheese guru!

For some reason I've only had Havarti by itself (to my knowledge) so I'll definitely try blending it. And I never thought about melting aged cheddar, it's so good as it comes I always just eat little slices hehe

And yes my guts and everyone around me thank you for the tip on goat and sheep cheese. Merci beaucoup.

[–] WoahWoah 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

While it's not a high-end cheese, Cabot Cheddar melts pretty well, has good flavor, and is lactose free.

Also, if whatever cheese you're buying has nutrition facts, check the amount of sugar. That's rarely "added" sugar, that's lactose, which is a sugar like sucrose and glucose; it just happens to be a sugar the vast majority of the adult population of the planet have trouble digesting.

So if it has 0 grams of sugar, it is lactose free. And generally the amount of sugar then can also give you a sense of how lactose-y a particular cheese is.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Ok that's really useful, thanks! I would have just assumed ''sugar' here meant sucrose or fructose like most products but that makes sense.

[–] WoahWoah 2 points 3 months ago

No prob! I went into a little more detail about in a comment above if you're interested.

My parents, two of my siblings, and my gf are all lactose intolerant lol, but we all love cheese!

[–] WoahWoah 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Beyond that, another good lactose tip is that while sheep and goat's milk cheeses may not have "less" lactose, but the individual lactose globules (for lack of a better term here) are inherently smaller than in cow's milk, so many people who find cow's milk intolerable are able to process sheep or goat's milk with little to no problems, and thus can also enjoy most goat and sheep's cheeses without the issues that come along with cow's milk cheeses.

Sheep and goat's milk do in fact have less lactose (sugar) on average than cow's milk. It has nothing to do with the size of "lactose globules," it is because the overall lactose content is typically lower and because many cheeses made with sheep and goat's milk are regularly aged longer and use less whey in the cheese-making process due to the difference in flavor between the milks.

The more important determining factor is how much whey, which contains most of the sugars, is left with the curds in a given cheese-making process and style of cheese.

The reason aged cheese has less lactose is the same reason it is typically desirable (and the same reason beer "wort" has more sugar content than the final beer itself): over time the (lactose) sugar is broken down by bacteria and the byproduct of that process creates additional complex flavors, like lactic acid.

Same idea in beer brewing, except typically this is done with yeast instead of bacteria, though not always. "Sour" beer styles usually get their flavor from the introduction of lactobacillus bacteria.

[–] Mechanite 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How do you feel about manchego?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I'm for it