All-cheese grilled cheese sammitch

This grilled cheese sandwich, made by Dude Food's Nick, is made entirely of cheese -- the "bread" is Finnish "bread cheese," toasted in the skillet with American cheese within. It's an international sensation!

Seeing this cheese really got me thinking. What if I were to make a grilled cheese sandwich that used this cheese in place of bread? A grilled cheese sandwich that was 100% cheese! I had no idea if it would even work, but right on the packaging Carr Valley actually recommends sautéing this cheese in a skillet. Plus, the cheese is already partially baked in an oven — hence the dark brown spots on it — so I figured it would be worth a shot.
I started off by heating up some oil in a pan and cutting the block of bread cheese in half. I added a couple slices of American cheese to the middle of my sandwich and sautéed it for a couple minutes on each side. It turned out way better than I even expected. The bread cheese softened up a bit, but completely kept its shape, while the American cheese melted perfectly in the middle. Long story short, the sandwich was delicious!

The 100% Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich (via Neatorama)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Andrew Singleton

A cheese on cheese sandwich.

Anyone with first hand experiance with this ‘bread’ cheese able to verify?
- http://twitter.com/louiedog louiedog
  
  I’ve had the cheese, it’s delicious, and it should work great. I cannot, however, imagine that I would want more than 4 bites of that thing. It would be too much. I think you need the bread to go along with all of the fat.
  - Jerril
    
    I would probably make the serving suggestion “Cut into 1″ blocks, serve as hors d’oeuvres” just to avoid milkfat overload.
- http://twitter.com/kramski Kramski
  
  I guess I am more traditional than this guy here and would recommend it with cloudberry jam instead of American cheese. Or any other jam really. I guess you could even do a peanut-butter jelly version of this, but putting American cheese in it seems like a really bad idea. To each their own though.
- http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
  
  I’ve picked it up at Trader Joe’s and other nicer supermarkets a few times. Use some nice oil to fry it, and for this I’d do it med-low heat & covered.
showme

Yo dawg, we heard you like cheese so we put cheese in yo’ cheese so you can eat cheese while you eat cheese!
- chaopoiesis
  
  Turtles, all the way down.
pfooti

I’ve never used the Bread cheese, but I do use Halloumi cheese every so often – it’s a grillable greek cheese that doesn’t really melt like normal cheeses. You could totally do that (and I’m wondering now why I never have) with halloumi. The big problem is that Halloumi at least is quite salty, so a big mouthful of it doesn’t seem super-enticing.

Have to check out this other cheese stuff.
- pfooti
  
  Also, needs bacon.
- retchdog
  
  you can soak sliced halloumi in cold water to draw some of the salt out.
  - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
    
    I’ve had it soaked/marinated in white wine at a restaurant.
http://burntheflag.ca Jardine

Does American cheese actually count as cheese? It looks like what’s been made is a sandwich where the bread is made of cheese and the cheese is made of a cheese-like substance.
- nowimnothing
  
  American is a cheese, Velveeta is not.
  - Jemmy
    
    From Wikipedia: “In the United States, [American cheese] may not be legally sold as ‘cheese’, and must be labeled as ‘processed cheese’, ‘cheese product’, or similar—e.g., ‘cheese food’. At times even the word ‘cheese’ is missing in the name on the label, e.g. ‘American slices’ or ‘American singles’.”
    - http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns
      
      IT’S PEOPLE! AMERICAN CHEESE IS PEOPLE!
      - Rich Keller
        
        It’s what they do with the second string Packers at the end of the season.
- HarveyBoing
  
  My thoughts exactly. It’s not really an “all-cheese grilled cheese” sandwich if the inside part is actually a “cheese product” rather than actual cheese.
  
  (And “American cheese” is most certainly a “cheese product”, rather than being actual cheese).
- Jerril
  
  “American cheese” isn’t technically a cheese, as noted, but typical “American cheese” is mostly warm young cheddar and/or colby (and/or a variety of other similar young, firm cheeses), optional anatto, and some vegetable oil run through a food processor until it’s smashed smooth and very well blended. Force into rectangular forms and chill until set back into blocks.
  The vegetable oils and the really thorough blending are what help it melt so evenly, which is a really useful trait.
  I.E. it’s pretty mundane kitchen science, and it doesn’t deserve nearly the bad rap it gets. It’s just that it’s something made out of cheese, and not actually cheese, and that makes people suspicious.
  
  “Whey cheeses” aren’t technically cheese either but most cheese-freaks don’t get so cranky over ricotta.
  
  However, like everything made industrially, you can adulterate it with things that really aren’t strictly needed, and turn it into crap food instead of just food. If it costs a dollar for a kilo of something that’s supposed to be nearly entirely cheese by weight, it’s probably crap.
  - retchdog
    
    you’re mostly right, but there’s a bit more to it. in fact, including vegetable oil will put the cheese into the lower category of “pasteurized process cheese food,” whereas “pasteurized process cheese” is more strict.
    
    to elaborate: “pasteurized process cheese” is, in fact, a mixture of cheeses with a small amount of pre-approved emulsifier (vegetable oil is not allowed), which must be 3% or less of the final product by weight. the better american cheeses (the kind you get at the deli) fall into this category, e.g. Land O’ Lakes (my favorite), or Boar’s Head. they are, basically, real cheese apart from a technicality.
    
    the cheeses including vegetable oil, as you describe, are in the lesser category “pasteurized process cheese food,” which are required only to be at least 51% cheese by weight. in fact, there are very few products in this category. for example, the pre-wrapped “singles” are in the even lower category “pasteurized process cheese product,” along with velveeta.
    
    it’s a shame that people associate genuine American cheese (which is basically cheese engineered to melt smoothly) with the awful crap that is Kraft “singles.”
- http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood
  
  Ladies, gentlemen, and elsewise folks, I give you: Vegemite Singles.
  
  It’s like Australia and America got together and had a pseudodairy yeast extract baby, then cut it into slices, individually wrapped it, and stuck it in the fridge to eat later.
  - http://twitter.com/ErnestValdemar Ernest Valdemar
    
    It still doesn’t make up for Yahoo Serious.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    I would love this! Except would be better with Marmite, unless you;re just getting the yeast flavour, in which case it’d be the same. Vegemite just tastes like marmite mixed with vegetable fat.
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  My first thought exactly – it’s ‘almost’ an all cheese sandwich.
  
  Swap out the processed cheese for a good cheddar, and we’re talking.
http://www.disoriented.net/ angusm

Needs more cheese.
- DevinC
  
  How much more cheesy could it get?
  
  None. The answer is none more cheesy.
  - http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher
    
    On a cheesiness scale of one to ten it goes to eleven.
  - nachoproblem
    
    “What’s wrong with being cheesy?”
    
    “IST. Cheese-IST.”
Kyle Sarrasin

Since when is the rest of the world following the USian lead in calling processed cheese “American cheese”? C’mon, Cory.
- blueelm
  
  Heh… I thought the rest of the world called that stuff “American” as a way to tell those of us in the US how they *really* feel about us.
- PhasmaFelis
  
  The rest of the world can do what they like. Cory is American, the original author is American, get over it.
  - edkedz
    
    Cory’s Canadian.
    - timquinn
      
      that is sort of American, no?
      - Preston Sturges
        
        Oh no you didn’t…..
    - Preston Sturges
      
      Then he’d want it with mayo or cheese curds and brown gravy.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      And lives in the UK.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    Cory’s Canadian, and lives in London.
$28084830

Perfect for people who can’t eat gluten.
Halloween_Jack

The more I read about juustoleipa (the variety of cheese in question), the more I want some, like, right now.
jackbird

If you don’t have exotic cheese on hand, you can always make a chupaqueso
sdmikev

you know what they say, too much sandwich, not enough cheese.
until now.
Wreckrob8

Should be washed down with a nice Japanese cheese drink for a truly international flavour.
bzishi

Say “bye-bye” to your bowel movements!
- blueelm
  
  Or “hello toilet” for the lactose intolerant!
  - http://twitter.com/Listener43 Listener43
    
    Another use for hydrophobic prank toilet paper!
  - Nimdae
    
    Real cheese does not affect the lactose intolerant because the nasty bit is metabolised already. Stuff like velveeta (which is a cheese product containing milk) is not real cheese. American is not real cheese either.
    
    Note: I’m lactose intolerant and love cheese. Maybe I’m a cheese snob but I actually prefer “sharp cheddar” over “mild cheddar” because “mild cheddar” reminds me of American.
    - blueelm
      
      Yeah, cheese is very hit or miss with me. Actually a lot of good cheese still makes me sick. I’m better with very aged cheese, but I have to be honest when I hurt myself with Stilton :/ That being said, the occasional pleasure is worth it. Cheese doesn’t always consistently cause me issues the way some other things do.
Kenmrph

You know what would be good with that? A side of cheese.
- edkedz
  
  Or a cheese sauce to dip it in…
http://artdonovan.typepad.com Art

Definitely my last meal request.
Thus foiling the hangman by suffering a massive coronary
PathogenAntifreeze

An alternative cheese, available widely in the US, is Queso Blanco. I buy mine at CostCo. I use it for the middle eastern style domino-shaped grilled blocks of cheese… it fries on the skillet rather than melting, and tastes amazing. During low-carb diets, it’s a wonderful snack… and we never thought to use it this way.
- $8357570
  
  I like Queso Blanco, but I don’t think it’s even remotely similar to bread cheese. I would consider halloumi (as mentioned) to be very similar to bread cheese.
  
  The Queso Blanco you get at costco is not the same Queso Blanco as anywhere else in the world. That’s why it usually says Manchego on it as well – it’s not the same Manchego as Manchego elsewhere in the world, either.
- retchdog
  
  also, “queso de freir,” or “cheese for frying.” it’s basically a firmer queso blanco which would be perfect for this sandwich.
rattypilgrim

I just had a come to cheeses moment.
- timquinn
  
  Oh what a trend we have in cheeses.
  - Preston Sturges
    
    Blessed are the cheese makers.
  - rattypilgrim
    
    Honk if you love cheeses
  - chaopoiesis
    
    I just Googled “Cheese Louise”… it’s frightening.
Snowlark

I think my colon just went into preemptive peristalsis.
zuludaddy

But can it really be called a sandwich if there is no bread? Discuss.
- edkedz
  
  I’d say that the term “sandwich” has more to do with the layering than with what the outer layers have to consist of.
  You even see it as a tech term for things composed of completely inorganic, inedible layers.
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/FHET55LHLJ5UNOHDUBOWJG275E aryn
    
    OED Definition:
    An article of food for a light meal or snack, composed of two thin slices of bread, usu. buttered, with a savoury (orig. spec. meat, esp. beef or ham) or other filling.
    
    Though it is “bread-cheese” right? I’d say it counts!
  - http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi
    
    I’d say any term that uses the word sandwich without it referring food encased in two slices of bread is using the word as a metaphor or analogy. Much as when my wife says “I want to be little spoon” she does not expect to become a a little spoon, but rather to be cradled like two spoons in a drawer.
    
    So by an extension, a literal ice-cream sandwich would involve ice cream between bread and would be disgusting, and a figurative and much more common ice-cream sandwich would include substitute bread for those frozen biscuit cookie things they use.
- Alan Goulding
  
  Can we settle on “cheese laminate”?
Rachael Hoffman-Dachelet

I think with a nice cheddar inside this could be awesome, though I would share with several friends. We like the bread-cheese grilled, you have to watch it like a hawk, it goes from lovely smokey melty to burned very fast.
Nick Harvey

Finally, a vegetarian version of the double down. Now they can get heart disease too!
Preston Sturges

Impossible to read without hearing Tom Servo sing “Keep your eeeye on that sammich!”

http://littlecomment.tumblr.com/post/972306973/keep-your-eye-on-the-sammich
http://daruiburns.tumblr.com/ Dlo Burns

I’d probably throw some basil, arugula, and spinach on there to help balance the flavor.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Dale-Jack/698328731 Dale Jack

Yes, I have to ask that too… by “American Cheese” you mean processed? If I were American I’d be a bit offended
- timquinn
  
  we have to build in some bad things so that the whole world doesn’t want to come live in our capitalist paradise.
http://www.fieldsovgravity.com/ Garymon

Looks perfect for dipping into a cheese fondue pot.
speno

Use two of these sandwiches as the bread for a nice medium rare burger topped with ham, pickles, mayo, mustard and more cheese. Enjoy.
Dave Howell

“American cheese” is cheddar and colby cheeses blended together. In the USA, anything that isn’t a single straight-line cheese has to be called “processed cheese food” by law.

This dates back to the early 20th century, when Kraft introduced Velveeta. Velveeta is colby and cheddar with milk added back in to make it soft. The cheese/milk mixture is sealed in foil and pasteurized, so it’s shelf-stable; it does not spoil at room temperature.

When it was first introduced, it was tremendously popular. Sales of other cheeses plummeted. Panicked cheese makers ran to Congress to try to legislate away what they couldn’t compete with. What they *wanted* was to force Kraft to label their killer product “embalmed cheese,” but they had to settle for “processed cheese spread.”

That sandwich looks awfully over-cheesed to me. I like the contrast that a fairly light bread (esp. a good sourdough) brings to the sandwich; the delicate crunchiness to contrast with the soft ooze of the cheese. Velveeta or gouda in the middle, and a light dusting of grated Parmesan on the outside, for extra crunch and flavor after it’s grilled.
ncarp

I live in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan which is inhabited by the descendants of 19th century Finnish copper miners, and Finnish fare is pretty standard up here. The bread-cheese is locally known as Juustoa and contains a bit of corn starch to give it its unique consistency. It also goes by the name “squeaky cheese” in reference to the characteristic squeaking sound it makes against your teeth… which makes it a little less like bread and a lot more like calamari.

Aside from the bizarre texture, it is quite good…slightly salty and a touch sweet. A heart attack in the making, of course.

A bit more about Juustoa: http://up.secondwavemedia.com/features/juustoa8311.aspx
- C W
  
  “It also goes by the name “squeaky cheese” in reference to the characteristic squeaking sound it makes against your teeth”
  
  That generally just refers to cheese curds.
http://twitter.com/mikesnavely Mike Snavely

Yo dawg
http://fallsastar.com Crashproof

Queso con queso!
Tom

Dude, I want to take that but bread it in a thin tempora like coating and fry it in bacon. Also rap it in bacon. BACON!