Mac and cheese is a staple for the upcoming holiday season. Here’s a hack to make the cooking process easier.
Mac and cheese is undoubtedly one of the stars of the Thanksgiving table. Given its ranking, families are often picky about who gets the high honor and huge responsibility of mac maker, and there are many opinions about what consistency it should be.
A debate sparked online after Tineke Younger, more popularly known online as chef Tini, posted two mac and cheese videos that on TikTok alone have more than 186 million views.
Some are calling it the “mac and cheese that broke the internet.” Her recipe went wildly viral as it attracted both fans who were grateful for the guidance and haters that said the consistency and techniques were all wrong.
Whether you love Tini’s recipe or not, if you prefer a creamy mac and cheese or a more solid variety, there’s one thing most people can agree on—freshly grated cheese makes a world of difference.
Pre-shredded cheese typically comes with a starchy film, often potato starch, around the shreds to keep them from sticking together. This can impact the final texture of one’s mac and cheese, so freshly grated is the way to go.
Here’s how to make the grating process less strenuous.
How to quickly grate cheese
In a viral video with more than 1.3 million views, mom Liana Davis (@liana_davis__) stitched a game-changing hack for those who were dreading the pain that comes with manually shredding blocks of cheese.
In the stitched video, the person puts two blocks of cheese in a blender, turns it on, and you watch as the blocks are transformed into shreds. Other cooks pointed out that you’ll reach a better consistency if you cube the cheese and pulse it until you get the consistency you’re after.
If you have a food processor, many come with a disc specifically for shredding.
“Seeing this the day after my arm almost fell off,” Liana said.
Why is freshly grated cheese better?
While bags of grated cheese are convenient, it’s usually preferable to grate it yourself. Here are a few reasons why, according to Taste of Home:
- Meltability: Have you noticed that grated cheese often has a little bit of powder in the bag? Those are preservatives, like potato starch and natamycin, that help prevent the shreds from clumping together. But those same ingredients make it harder for the cheese to melt when cooking.
- More bang for your buck: A block of cheese will usually be cheaper than its bagged equivalent since you’re paying extra for the convenience of it being pre-shredded.
- Taste: Many people point out that freshly grated cheese tastes better since it doesn’t have those aforementioned additives.
@liana_davis__ #onthisday
♬ original sound – Liana | First Time Mom💙
Commenters react
“Rotary cheese grater. Will shred a block of cheese in 20 seconds. You’re welcome,” a top comment read.
“Nah nah cleaning the cheese off the blender blades sucks way more than just using a grater tho,” a person said.
“My bf is a unit, and I had him shred 4 big blocks of cheese for thanksgiving.. he bought me a food processor after he finished hahaha arms hurting after is valid,” another shared.
“Store-bought shredded cheese are ok if you like your sauce a little runny. just go low and slow when making the sauce and add a little extra water and stir well,” a commenter wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Davis for comment via email and Instagram direct message.
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