Parmasean cheese - why won't it melt?

[Deja Q]

What's it made from that it refuses to melt?

It's nice to know it's low in fat, so I can eat a pound of it and be no worse off, but why won't it melt?

[WCGreen]

1. Cuse it is cured far longer than regular cheese...

[Deja Q]

2. Cured? What disease did it have?

[WCGreen]

6. Well, basically that is how they make cheese....

Parmasan has far less water than other cheese so it doesn't melt as easily...

[idgiehkt]

15. you are so silly

[Deja Q]

16. I'm just like putty too!

Silly putty!

[QMPMom]

3. It's a very hard cheese...

and has very little moisture. To get it to melt it needs to be in a sauce or grated at home off a freshly cut wedge. The green canned stuff won't melt no matter what you do to it. And...it's got the same calories as other hard cheeses. Sorry.

[datasuspect]

4. parmagiano reggiano

(the stuff that costs $13/lb.) DOES melt.

the plastic shavings shit or the powdery sprinkle GARBAGE is not even food.

[Kali]

9. Yup

that is what I was going to say.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. You can melt the powdered stuff in the green can

if you use a nuclear reactor. Otherwise it remains inert and pretty much inedible.

[querelle]

5. Parmesan Cheese is Evil

It smells like freshly brought up vomit. How can you eat that shit? I would rather eat dirt.

Q

[WCGreen]

8. Vivid!!!!!

[kedrys]

18. It gets better as you get older

and your senses of smell and taste change. When I was a kid, I couldn't be in the same room with the stuff - now I can't live without it. It's weird.

[libnnc]

7. 'Cause it hates our freedoms?

Darksided!111!!11

[Nikia]

11. It is dry

For that reason, it is fairly shelf stable too although it stays fresher refrigerated.

[photogirl12]

12. It's simple

It doesn't want to!

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. You have to finely grate it if you want to melt and go into solution with

something else.

If you just put it on a pizza, and want melted cheese, it will melt fine.

But if you want to make, say, an Alfredo sauce, that cheese better be finely ground up.

And it's because, as you noted, it's low in fat.

[DawgHouse]

14. I dunno but it's delicious, all brown and crunchy.

MMmmmmmm

[Floogeldy]

17. Because it hates you.

Now, don't you feel bad?

[ElboRuum]

19. It's the curing process...

It dries out the cheese, the moisture in the cheese helps it to melt.