How to cook cheese: Baked honey and thyme camembert with crudités
From a new cookbook featuring gloriously gooey recipes, we present a French classic for you to try at home
Cheese itself is usually an emulsion of dairy fat and water, bound together by proteins. But different cheeses have different additional ingredients and different ratios of fat and water, and they therefore have differing optimum melting points. The first stage of melting occurs in most cheeses about 32°C (90°F), where the milk fat starts to soften. The cheese may start to ‘sweat’ or become pliable. As heat increases, the protein bonds break down too and the whole thing completely collapses into a gooey puddle.
There are four main things that affect how easily a cheese melts, these are:
moisture content
fat content
acidity content
age
Softer cheeses with a high moisture content melt completely at around 54°C (130°F), for aged lower-moisture cheeses it’s 65°C (150°F) and hard, dry cheeses need to reach up to about 82°C (180°F).
Generally speaking, the higher the moisture content, the better the melt. The increased water content allows cheeses to completely liquefy into a pool of cheese, whereas this is harder in cheeses with very little water.
Cheeses loaded with fat make perfect melters (just one reason that full-fat cheese is always preferable) and cheeses with naturally occurring acid are able to dissolve more easily under heat. Finally, cheeses that are more aged sometimes have a tougher time melting as the proteins become more tightly bound as time goes on.
How to melt cheese like a pro
Granted, some cheeses melt more easily than others but, as a cook, there are still definitely things you can do to make sure your melted cheese is the best it can possibly be.
Pick the right cheese for the right recipe
Different cheeses respond to heat in different ways. Some become liquid, some become stringy and some just soften or don’t really melt at all.
Choose your cooking method wisely
The oven is a great way to melt cheese because it provides a nice even heat and you can easily control the temperature.
Alternatively, the grill/ broiler is perfect for turning cheesy toppings golden. It is not usually a good idea to melt cheese in the microwave, as this produces an uneven heat, which will leave some bits of cheese scalding hot and others lukewarm and not fully melted.
Treat it gently
Melting cheese requires a delicate touch. Don’t stir too roughly when making cheese sauces and don’t heat your cheese too quickly at a fierce temperature.
Heating cheese too fiercely can sometimes result in its proteins separating from the water and fat rather than nicely emulsifying, leaving you with rubbery cheese and pools of oil. This is at worst a bit disappointing on a pizza, but it’s a full-blown disaster in a cheese sauce or a fondue.
Bring it to room temperature first
If it’s fridge-cold all the way through, your cheese will take longer to break down. Bringing it to room temperature before cooking gives it a head start and lessens the dramatic rapid change in temperature, which could result in the liquid and fat separation.
Grating/shredding is good
Grating or shredding cheese that is going to be melted is a wise move, as it gives more surface area for the heat to permeate and thus the melting process will be quicker.
It also means you will have perfectly even pieces which will all melt at the same rate. A cheese plane slicer is also a great tool for making thin, evenly sized slices ready for melting.
Acidity and starch are your friends
Adding certain other ingredients can be a way to improve the texture of your melted cheese.
White wine or lemon juice are both high in acidity and can be added to fondues, sauces or soups to help keep the texture silky smooth. Starches such as flour or cornflour/cornstarch also act as a barrier against clumps.
Keep it hot
If you let melted cheese cool too much before serving, it will lose its beautiful oozing texture and become firm and congealed. Serve immediately for best results.
Recipe: Baked honey and thyme camembert with crudités
How to make friends and influence people? Serve them this oozing, melted cheese with a selection of chopped vegetables, apple slices and sourdough bread for dipping.
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
250g/9oz. Camembert
leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp runny honey
1 red (bell) pepper, sliced into 1cm/½-inch pieces
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced into 8 wedges
1 large carrot, cut into 3cm/1¼-inch fingers
Sourdough bread, to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
2. Score the top of the Camembert with a sharp knife, but leave the cheese in the box [check it is stapled – not glued – since glued boxes can melt in the oven].
3. Push the thyme leaves into the scores, then drizzle over the honey.
4. Replace the lid loosely, and place the box onto a
baking sheet.
5. Bake the Camembert in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the cheese is all melted and wobbles when you move the sheet pan gently.
6. Serve the Camembert with the pepper, apple and carrot crudités, and sourdough bread.
Recipe from Melted Cheese published by Ryland Peters & Small (£9.99)
Photography © Ryland Peters & Small
