The Best Cheeses for Homemade Pizza
When making homemade pizza, it’s easy to include mozzarella in your grocery store list . But which mozzarella is better? Fresh, crushed, rope? And is it really the best cheese for the pizza you’re craving? I’m sitting here typing when I should be tending to my burnt palate because some wonderful pizza discoveries were made in my kitchen today – my cheese burnt mouth can wait.
Just as the best grilled cheese sandwich has good and bad cheese options, pizza requires a cheese with good melting properties (high-fat cheese), good water balance, and not too much protein (which can resist melting). There are a few surprises here, including cheeses you’d typically find on a sandwich counter and cheeses you’ve probably seen on pizza before. Here are the best cheeses to try on your next pizza, and surprise cheeses to avoid.
Muenster cheese (and full-fat cheeses)
For a long time I thought shredded cheese was the only cheese for my homemade slice, but I tried some muenster sandwich cheese slices and was shocked. Munster is a semi-soft cheese that does not break up into buttery lumps after cooking. I tore up a piece of muenster and scattered the jagged slices around my pie and gravy. After about 15 minutes in the oven, I pulled out a pizza that could stand up to even the boogieiest Brooklyn pizzeria.
Fat slices of sandwich cheese—the same ones you use for grilled cheese—make excellent meltable cheeses for high oven temperatures. They don’t get greasy once they melt and reward you with lovely gooey cheese once sliced. Since they do melt all over the place, don’t load the pie too much. You can leave a little space between each island and still maintain a good balance of cheese and sauce.
Other full-fat cheeses such as Muenster are Havarti, Gouda, Taleggio and Fontina.
A little mozzarella
Mozzarella is a pizza cheese . There’s no doubt that the flavor and elastic consistency make it both the perfect centerpiece and a great canvas for stuffing. There are a couple of mozzarellas out there, though, and not all of them can handle the heat.
Fresh mozzarella and the like . Fresh mozzarella, burrata and buffalo mozzarella are gorgeous moist balls of creamy white cheese. They are usually wrapped in a package with a small amount of moisture or immersed in a liquid and floating in it. While you might think these cheeses would be crazy creamy and great on pizza, stay cheese-ready.
When fresh mozzarella is cooked, especially at high temperatures such as 350 to 450°F, the protein network of the cheese begins to denature and shrink, squeezing out the moisture that was previously living in the network. Fresh mozzarella contains a lot of moisture and will end up sitting on the surface of the pizza as a watery puddle. Besides the sadness of a soft, soggy pizza crust, you also have balls of rubbery cheese that come off in one bite.
There is a way to avoid this unfortunate outcome: In my tests, after about five minutes, the fresh mozzarella was nice and melty. But after 10 minutes in my 450°F oven, the water started pooling and the cheese started to take on color. The pizza takes at least 15 minutes to cook in a very hot oven. If you must use fresh mozzarella, I recommend adding it to the pizza during the last five minutes of cooking.
Low moisture mozzarella . Fresh mozzarella, burrata and buffalo mozzarella are expensive and decadent. I wouldn’t want you to ruin them by cooking them on the pizza for too long. Instead, rely on reliable low-moisture mozzarella. This cheese is made with less moisture retention and you don’t risk it getting on your pizza. You can buy it crushed, slices or large bricks. You can enjoy all the flavor and meltability of fresh mozzarella in a more pizza-friendly form.
Parmesan (and hard cheeses)
Parmesan and other aged hard cheeses have a strong, bold flavor that pairs well with pizza. However, as cheeses age, they lose moisture and can become broken and greasy on pizza. Cheeses melt best when they have a balance of fat, water and protein, so when you have a hard cheese at a high temperature, it doesn’t do much other than squeeze out the fat and become even harder.
I added grated Parmesan to top one of my pizzas, and when I took the pie out of the oven, the cheese stayed grated, not melting, but becoming quite clear. It looked like I barely added any cheese at all. However, the taste was amazing. Parmesan is present; It’s not a soft cheese like mozzarella. I would recommend grated Parmesan if you prefer the flavor over cheese. It is important to note that it is better to put parmesan on the bottom of the pizza. Cooking your pizza in a cast iron skillet will give you a crispy frico cheese crust. Check out the recipe here .
Hard cheeses with a rich flavor, such as Parmesan: Asiago, Manchego, aged Swiss cheese, aged cheddar.
Winner – mixture
It may come as no surprise, but the best cheese for homemade pizza will always be a blend of cheeses. Each cheese has its own strengths, so don’t deprive yourself. Low-moisture mozzarella is stretchy but soft, so add some grated Asiago to give it a tangy flavor. Love a good cream cheese pie? Skip the Asiago and opt for something like fontina to mix with the mozzarella. My favorite mixture so far is mozzarella with pepper and a little muenster. The options are limited only by the cheese section of your grocery store, so grab a few slices of your sandwich and experiment. Once you’ve chosen your cheese combination, you’re ready to hear even more of my tips on how to make the best homemade pizza every time ; First, you should leaven the dough .