Hi Karen.... I keep seeing recipies that call for "American Cheese making sure it's not velveeta"...what the heck is it? It's not the equivilant of Canadian Cheddar is it? Thx

Hi - Not sure if this will help, but American Cheese is processed cheese but it is still 100% cheese - the thing you need to watch out for is that it does not say "cheese food" on the label. In the US it is sometimes sold in 3/4 or 1 oz servings wrapped in plastic. It is a smoother, faster melting cheese.

PecanPie

Kraft singles come in both varieties - real cheese that is processed and processed cheese food. I don't use American Cheese very often but it does melt better than cheddar which is why some people like to use it. You can sometimes tell from the carb count too - cheese food has higher carbs than simply processed real cheese.

PecanPie

Best to go to the source, so I looked around for the cheese and the ingredients.

I found this on the Hormel website, but then found this which seems to say more than the Hormel description Food Guide/American Cheese. Hormel doesn't say that the cheese is processed.

I checked the Kraft website too, but couldn't find the ingredients there either.

I did find something on the Kraft website that made me go "what?!". I thought it was a dessert made with Velveeta cheese cubes! I've come across recipes for Velveeta chocolate fudge before, so why not trifle?

All American Trifle

Karen

Velveeta is three cheeses melted together and then processed. It was invented to use up the extra block ends of cheddar mozzarella and i think swiss. American cheese is anything that comes in the wrappers and is orange (except for the tofu cheese). The reason that recipes might say not to use Velveeta is because it melts down much creamier and to a much different texture than American cheese. But, it is made w/ real. cheese