Which string cheese reigns supreme?
By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
Any good cheesemonger can speak to the fine details of a cheese, pointing out a good gouda or an awesome asiago for your pairing pleasure. But what if we step away from the fancy cheeses and into a variety perhaps more ubiquitous in American fridges and lunchboxes—string cheese?
String cheese appeals to my adult sensibilities for the six to seven grams of protein per serving/stick. And it appeals to my inner child who still loves playing with her food.
As a fridge staple, string cheese had become something I rarely thought about. Some foods are stocked out of habit. I reach for the brand I know simply because it’s familiar. But should I be more mindful of some of these choices?
Standing in front of what felt like a wall of string cheese at the grocery store recently, a place where no cheesemonger dares tread, I realized I still had questions. Well, one main question: Are all string cheeses created equal?
String cheese is generally a form of mozzarella which is warmed and pulled repeatedly like a taffy. This aligns the milk proteins and creates the signature stingy texture.
While the options have increased to include other types of cheese, I chose six brands of the most prevalent variety—low-moisture part-skim mozzarella—to test. The picks included the generic Food Club, Wisconsin cheese stalwart Cache Valley, organic options Full Circle and Organic Valley, and a pair of Italian options in Frigo and Galbani. Other popular—and still untested—brands include Kraft and Sargento.
With a raised eyebrow, the cashier questioned my life choices and the stack of string cheese slowly moving toward her on the conveyor. I answered the unspoken inquiry, telling her my plans to compare. In return, I was gifted a tip should there be any leftovers—though the cheese showed expiration dates between March and May, I have some time to get through the stack. String cheese, the cashier told me, makes a great stuffed crust for pizza. Lay out your dough circle and make a ring of cheese around the outside, rolling the crust around the cheese. But don’t cut it, she warned. Something about the shape helps keep it together.
Now, to the trials. In my personal string cheese consumption, I have noticed that temperature can be a big factor in the “stringability” of string cheese. So, to be fair, I took one set of my test subjects out of the fridge a couple hours before my trials to let them come to room temperature. I tested each both directly out of the fridge and at room temp, making notes on taste, texture and shred factor.
The organic options were similar in flavor and mild with a slightly nutty note, though Organic Valley edged out Full Circle with a smoother texture. Cache Valley, which had been my string cheese of choice, offered a flavor akin to Kraft macaroni and cheese in a semi-hard stick. It’s still decent. These three made up the midrange.
Food Club was by far the worst of the bunch. The flavor was mild and inoffensive, but I couldn’t get past the texture. It was both waxy and rubbery and totally failed the shredding test when cold. At room temp, it only showed slight improvement in its ability to string. Overall, the Food Club string cheese reminds me of the pizza cheese in my middle school’s cafeteria. It’s for the economical people who are only in it for sustenance, not the love of cheese.
As I solidified my rankings, I kept going back to my friend Amy’s advice to choose the Italian brands. She was right. The Italian cheeses, even in string form, were a class above the rest. They were softer, with fuller flavors and excellent stringability. Frigo’s taste was closest to the shredded mozzarella I remember from my MacKenzie River pizza-slinging days. It’s pretty great.
The clear winner, though, was Galbani. This was the softest, stringiest string cheese. And the slight tang added a depth to the flavor the others simply couldn’t match.
While I was under the impression that one white stick of cheese is like any other, I was very wrong. Side-by-side, the variations were highlighted. Not all string cheeses are created equal.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
