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Turns out Kraft parm does not make for good parmesan crisps (thelemmy.club)
submitted 7 hours ago by thrawn21@lemmy.world to c/cooking@lemmy.world
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So I've managed to end up with two Costco-sized containers of Kraft grated parmesan. I'll reach for real parmesan 95% of the time, with Kraft being an occasional nostalgia pick, but these will go bad long before I can get through them at my normal consumption. The containers are both opened, so can't donate and I'm loathe to waste food, so been trying to think of ways to use it all up.

These sad, dense, salt pucks (with a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning) were an attempt to make parmesan crisps. Thinking of trying again with smaller spoonfuls spread thinner, but don't know if the cellulose additive makes the endeavor hopeless.

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[-] joandaro@mstdn.games 2 points 2 hours ago

@thrawn21 looks like flowers

[-] thrawn21@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Here I thought they kinda looked like cookies :p

[-] joandaro@mstdn.games 1 points 1 hour ago

@thrawn21 they can look like both ;p

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 22 points 6 hours ago

Well, anti caking agents are a pain in the ass if you want to do anything with shredded cheese other than dump it on top of something where its properties don't matter.

Luckily, there's really only two types in use across the majority of pre packaged shredded cheese. Cellulose and starch. And, if you want to sell pre shredded cheese, you have to use something. Both of those options are good ones, with starches being perhaps the better overall choice. Not that cellulose is a bad option, just that starches leave the cheese a little more versatile.

All of the starches work essentially the same, and have the same nutritional profile. Cellulose is indigestible, though it might ferment in the gut.

But the good news is that you can remove them from most cheeses with only minor changes to the usefulness of the cheese. No shit, you can rinse the majority off, use a blow dryer (on cold) on the cheese, and as long long as you don't fuck around, the resulting cheese is going to be closeto what you would have shredded yourself.

Now, is it worth that effort normally? No, under normal circumstances, if you don't want the anti cakiing stuff there, just shred your own cheese, the time and effort is about the same (or less).

But if you're stuck with the pre shredded/grated stuff and don't have a use for it because if those agents, why not?

[-] thrawn21@lemmy.world 10 points 6 hours ago

Oh interesting, I'll have to give rinsing off the cellulose a shot.

Onomatopoeia also mentioned that it's a very dry parmesan, so I'm thinking round two will involve reducing the amount of cellulose, mixing the cheese with a bit of extra fat, and then spreading thinly to bake. Fingers crossed!

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 25 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I don't think you'll get that stuff to work, ever.

Besides the cellulose, it's a very dry parm, not like real parm at all.

You're just going to have to make a lot of spaghetti and ~~slather~~ pile that stuff on there!

[-] cattywampas@lemmy.world 9 points 7 hours ago

Good on a weeknight spaghetti, bad for parmesan crisps.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 5 points 7 hours ago

IIRC Kraft parmesan isn't really parmesan cheese.

[-] cattywampas@lemmy.world 17 points 7 hours ago

It is, but it also has powdered cellulose to prevent caking.

[-] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 10 points 6 hours ago

Yep, any pre-grated cheese will

[-] LuxSpark@lemmy.cafe 4 points 6 hours ago

Is it from Parma? No.

[-] kuiskaaja@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 hours ago

found the EU citizen

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

lmfao at first I read this comment without remembering the context. Was very confused why someone was talking to me about cellulose and "cake".

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 hours ago

Anything not made in the right region of Italy isn't real parmesan, and kraft isn't labeled DOP, so it ain't, unless they're buying the really bottom of the barrel stuff.

That doesn't mean it isn't the same process used to make a cheese from the same ingredients won't be just as good, it just won't be exactly the same, and can't legally be billed as parmagiano reggiano (spelling?)

Afaik though, Kraft is using the same basic process and ingredients, so it's a very similar cheese in terms of what kind of dishes it'll work in

[-] BenLeMan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

The original doesn't have any kind of anti-caking agent added and will spoil quite quickly.

But considering that it's a lot more difficult/expensive for you guys to get the real stuff, yours is a pretty based take. You even know about DOP and got the spelling of Parmigiano Reggiano 95% right. 😉

Until I spent a year living in the US I never realized how good we have it with actual Black Forest bacon (not ham!), parmesan, Swiss chocolate, etc. being readily (and cheaply) available.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

lol no true parmesan!

I'm just parroting what my mom told me. Not trying to be hoity toity

I use kraft, dont go through enough parm to bother with anything else

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 hours ago

No worries, didn't think you meant it that way :)

[-] kinkles@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 hours ago

Darn, good attempt though

this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
61 points (98.4% liked)

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