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Bleck. I like real cheese.

I think you meant you can't do much better for sheer melting quality. I totally agree with you on that, for certain! And I do love it on my burgers. I'm also a sucker for the version on Kraft macaroni and cheese with the squeezy cheese instead of the powder. It does indeed have redeeming qualities.

nope.

This post is actually making me contemplate the number of times I come to this site.

Seriously.

Yes to deli-sliced american cheese. BIG fat no to individually wrapped slices.

Nom-nom, grilled cheese.

American cheese is my special comfort food. I don't ever buy it now, but I have family coming into town this week, and decided to make cheesy scrambled eggs with toast and bacon for breakfast one day while they're here, to remind us of when we were kids. I LOVE scrambled eggs with american cheese.

And if you want to pull out the big guns, try taking half a bagel, putting on a slice of american, then crumbled sausage and caramelized onions, then another slice of american, then broil the whole thing till melty. MMmmmm.

I think I'll have breakfast for dinner tonight.

Yes, I agree. And it's easy. I throw it on my sandwiches, both egg and turkey, in the morning. The less work I do to make my breakfast at 6 a.m., the better.

Nuh-uh.

I see your point, but i've replaced american cheese with sliced munster for pretty much all american cheese applications (burgers, grilled cheese). Its mild, melts well, and is tasty.

Them's thin, thin, arguments you've got there.

American Cheese is the reason I refused to eat cheese for my entire youth, only relenting and trying a teensy-weensy bit when I actually moved to Paris at 20! My brother used to unwrap it, toss the slice at the fridge a few times and peel it off, then eat it. It's up there with Silly Putty and Slime--it won't kill you to eat the stuff but why would you?

There is a huge difference in taste between American Cheese (ie Land O Lakes) that you purchase at the deli versus cellophane wrapped processed cheese singles. The melting quality of both are excellent, but the former is definitely made with only milk, not oil. I would never serve American Cheese as a part of a cheese platter, but on sandwiches it's my default cheese.

I do agree that it seems a little out of place for the kitchn to be touting the wonders of plastic wrapped processed singles though.

I'm glad to see this, because I do agree there is a time and a place for American cheese. I'm surprised no one has brought up white american, which is really the best for all the uses stated above, and has an extra little zing.

Frankly, I'm horrified by the stuff.

We never ate American cheese at home, so I never developed a taste for it.

For breakfast, I love to put all sorts of cheeses under my scrambled eggs, on top of the French bread -- fresh goat cheese, St. Nectaire, Morbier, different Gruyères, Brie... the list is practically endless...

For burgers, I like slices of Emmenthaler as a counterpoint to the horseradish sauce and sweet caramelized onions... mmm... And for mac'n'cheese, I mix cheddar and Gruyère. Mmm...

I've never had American cheese from the deli, but we had the plastic wrapped slices in my house growing up. I ate it no problem, until one day I threw up from it (I imagine my taste buds kicked in) and now American cheese is my only food aversion and really the only, only food I can think of that I won't eat.

I love it!!! I love that you put this up...I have sophisticated my taste buds over the years and yet I still come back to American cheese time and time again for that perfect comfort food...think tuna and noodles, big fat crusty grilled cheese, cheesy potatoes...mmmm. I will never get over American cheese...I totally agree it really does have its time and place!!

No thanks. But, as the parent of a toddler I do have to admit contemplating a purchase of this a few weeks ago during my weekly grocery rounds. But, I quickly reconsidered.

I'll stick to the real stuff, thanks.

I love it on grilled cheeses (with provolone) and cheese burgers. If I'm craving one of those two things, it has to have American cheese, nothing else will satisfy the craving (no matter how good my blue cheese burgers, haloumi-topped lamb burgers, or spicy jalapeno-jack-stuffed burgers are).

Also, as much as I love the gourmet mac n cheeses that abound these days, for comfort I want it made with a block of velveeta and a dash of milk and butter.

I've never had it on eggs. I like those with feta or haloumi because the cheese doesn't get quite as melty and holds its shape.

There is no excuse for American cheese.

Oh gawd I'm going to be sick - honestly!

Any type of cheese goes well on a burger. And for grilled cheese sandwiches you can also very effectively use any type of cheese you like if you grate it first - melts just as well as "American" cheese.

The only thing better on a Grilled Cheese is Velveeta.

It may be the fond memories we hold of American cheese but in my kitchen, it is gone for good!

I'm with the writer on this one! I never much gave American Cheese it any credit, and dismissed it as a rubbery joke excuse for cheese, until I bought it one day to make a grilled cheese for my husband when he was home with the flu...

I hadn't realized it had such mild and melty lovliness. I definitely can appreciate it now on a burger, or a-top a tuna melt (on a crispy bagel). Sometimes when using a cheddar or for those types of comfort foods, they can seem heavy, or even greasy! I highly recommend anyone who has completely dismissed American cheese, give the old gal one more chance to woo you! :-)

I keep it on hand just for making cheese toast (which I guess is kind of a variation on grilled cheese). Just a slice on a piece of bread and stick it in the toaster oven. I love the way it kind of puffs up and gets a bubble in it, and turns brown around the edges.

my mom goes through blocks of that crap. I can only stand it in my momma's grilled cheese sandwhiches. My mom makes the best grilled cheese ive ever had.

melting, I used to do the exact same thing with American cheese (though my mother usually only bought the deli kind, not the wrapped stuff). It tastes almost like a cheese cracker around the edges, but is soft and melty in the middle.

Though honestly, there are lots of better cheeses out there, some just as melty. I think the affection for AC is mostly due to nostalgia.

There's not much about American Cheese that I do not loathe. Everything from the texture, to the wasteful plastic on the individual slices, to its taste. I'll take a brick of locally produced sharp cheddar any day.

Oh, pisshah to all those foo-foo people who can't just...be real and eat American cheese. I think in the right circumstances it's the perfect cheese!

I put it on burgers, grilled cheese and also egg sandwiches. For the record, I have more than a healthy respect for the complex flavors and textures of quality cheese. I also use real cheese for all of those purposes, but the American cheese is just a different beast (I think we can all agree on that point) and sometimes it's just what I want.

Call me a peon, but I refuse to apologize. I think most of us have some food that we'd rather not admit to liking on websites such as this one.

I find the people who hate this stuff kind of amusing. I recently tried Cowgirl Creamery's Mt Tam (a bloody expensive cheese from a very reputable cheesemaker) and it tasted really familiar. I finally realized it tastes just like good old American cheese. Oh, the irony.

Man you all are a bunch of snobs, haha! I love american cheese on grilled cheeses and burgers. I don't eat it all the time, but there is a time and place for it.

There's no need to be so rude over cheese!

i have a friend whose sister worked for Kraft - she claimed that if they DIDN'T add whatever it is that they do, Kraft Singles would be CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Like Crystal Pepsi, but CHEESE!

I like plenty of junk foods, just not American cheese.

One of favorite snacks as a kid was a slice of individually-wrapped American cheese melted on top of a flour tortilla in the microwave. The unnatural way the cheese flows yet never sticks to anything—the way real cheese does—was definitely its allure. I say this as I'm eating real mozzarella. But I might have to pick up some fake cheese during my next trip to the store!

Nope.

When I was little, my mom let us kids have slices of American cheese and poke holes in it to make "swiss cheese". We would make patterns or turn it into cheese "lace" and then eat it! What was also fun was sucking the cheese dots out of the straw. We spent a lot of time working on our masterpieces (instead of tearing around the house!) and had a nice snack at the same time. We did not have a lot of money (military family), but my mom would always get this for us as our cheese.

American cheese is not for everyone or everything, but as you can see, it has a special place in some people's hearts.

It's in my fridge specifically for egg sandwiches. It grosses me out, too, when I think about it, but it just melts so nicely...

NO! Even my 11-year-old son wouldn't allow American cheese into our house.

I agree that American Cheese has it's place. Grilled cheese and tuna melts are two of them. And yes to cheesy scrambled eggs...mmmm... Nothing melts like it.

But I've moved beyond the individually wrapped slices and go with the fresh sliced from the deli instead. :)

Like several other commenters, I will admit that sometimes I do crave it. One of those childhood comfort foods I'm not sure I'll ever outgrow.

The classic grilled cheese sandwich with white bread (yes, that awfully tasty bleached stuff) and a nice cheese slice is as good as it gets! Chuck an egg in there, and it's on! No joke. Isn't it the same as being able to appreciate a good dive bar?

In the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, Adrian Grenier's character makes Andy a grilled cheese every night, given he's a chef, he put Jarlsburg in it (the goof). Why would you go to a dive bar and order a martini? On top of that, does a Jarlsburg grilled cheese sandwich dip well in ketchup? Negative.

American Cheese, please.

i definitely agree it has a time and a place (seconded on the 'diner-style burgers' count and the breakfast sandwiches), though limited.

when i was a kid, my family only ever had the individually wrapped in plastic sort of american cheese (most often low fat or non fat - which have none of the redeeming qualities mentioned above), and it was a positive revelation when, at a friend's house, we got the full-fat kind that came in a long brick with the slices separated by squares of paper. i thought i had gone to cheese heaven. then, after my father had a mid-life crisis and wanted to make the house kosher, we always had these really awful individually wrapped slices of vegan cheese around, for putting on meat sandwiches or something, which really couldn't have been made of anything other than plastic.

back in my meat and cheese eating days, american cheese rolled up in a slice of lunch meat with a little mayo or mustard= amazingness. plus there were the american cheese grilled sandwiches that we would stuff with cheetos when i was little. true, i don't eat any of it anymore, but i am SOOOO not above admitting the sick pleasure of Kraft American Singles:)

Sorry, that stuff is gross. As a child I refused to even touch it. The texture and plasticity of it is off-putting.

No way. I've read the ingredient list, and I'm not even sure it counts as a food product.

A bunch of snobs? Perhaps...but I'd think with the discussions around here about eating naturally, locally, and healthfully, it wouldn't be a surprise that a majority of respondents (including myself) won't touch the stuff. The commenter who said it would be CLEAR if they didn't add coloring proved the point for me: That stuff isn't food.

a-ha! now I finally get that American cheese is what Kraft sells in Italy as 'sottilette' in Italy. It was really a fad in the '70s, it was on tv all the time... mom never bought them and, when I finally tasted it, it was quite a letdown! I think kraft still sells it but the fad is gone.

Oh god, I'll eat this stuff straight out of the package. On a white-bread grilled cheese, it can't be beat! However, yes it is a completely processed product and kind of like plastic. There's a reason I no longer keep any in the house save the random kraft single's cravings that might come around...

Wow what a heated conversation! Growing up, we weren't allowed to eat Kraft cheese (nor were we allowed Wonderbread in the house - but that's another story). My best friend who lived next door always had it and it took all the control my eight-year-old self could muster not to eat the whole package at once whenever I was over. Now as an adult, we buy it every now and then specifically for the purposes listed above - nostalgia, comfort food, and that awesome melty factor that transcends!

How come people who don't like American "Cheese" are labelled as snobs? We don't hurl similar insults at those who *do* like it...

It's like the recent debate on AT about IKEA -- people who try to avoid it, or don't love it, were labelled as "elitists".

It's no way to have a meaningful discussion...

Ugh. Never ever liked this stuff, even as a kid. Skipped many a lunch at bday parties and camps where American cheese was on the menu.

Okay, sure, for grilled cheeses, you can't beat the discrete, single-serving nature of the product. And it does perfectly fit many brands of sliced bread.

But, um, no. I'll take a grilled "real cheese" sandwich any day. And I'm fine with being called a snob; I've come to terms with it. ;)

By the way, does the package read "cheese food" or "cheese product"? Because to me, anything that needs to be specifically labeled as "food", isn't.

http://www.abreadaday.com

Wow, this became quite the debate. I used the word "snob" as a joke, that's just how some of you were talking. I understand this is a place to have a discussion about eating well, etc. But even air and water can kill you, a piece of american cheese here and there isn't going to hurt.

Like I said, there's a time and a place for it. I definitely don't eat it every day, not even once a month. But it makes dang good grilled cheeses.

We grew up with Land o Lakes sliced American cheese from the deli, and I agree, it's great on burgers, grilled cheese, breakfast sandwiches, and scrambled eggs. But I've never liked Kraft American singles (even as a kid).

Hmm... I wonder if this is mostly a nostalgia issue. I think that junk food or treats in moderation are fine, but American cheese isn't something I grew up with, so it doesn't do it for me. My mom served cheese and crackers as a snack, but she always use cracker barrel extra sharp cheddar. Sliced apples and brie were a favorite too.

That being said, I have a soft spot in my heart for Pepperidge Farm Brussels cookies. They're one of those things I'd rather not know what's in them, but they are the only processed food that I'll eat now.

I grew up incredibly poor - on food stamps and welfare. American and Kraft pre-grated parmesan were the best cheeses my family could afford. I may have more money now, but it's still a nostalgic treat every now and then.

I once took the audacious, non-foodie step of ordering American cheese for a burger just after my husband had ordered Cheddar for his. When they brought the plates, we each unknowingly got the wrong one, and ever since then he has been ordering the American!

I too grew up on American cheese (and the Kraft mac and cheese with the orange powder!) and then stopped eating it when I found out what was in it.... But I have to say, in the last year or so, I've been having a slice every now and then for a treat. I agree about the grilled cheese (nothing summons up memories of summer like a grilled cheese with american by the pool) and burgers. I think what turned me around was a cheeseburger at JG Melons in NYC, there's just nothing like it!

I've lived in Lima, Peru for the last 5 years, and it's very difficult to find a decent cheese of any sort here. I find that a lot of expats here would kill for some processed cheese food product! It's not something I ate much at home, but I'd love to have some Velveeta mac n cheese.

All the umami and salt of an aged blue cheese, without all the foot odor, and it melts without separating. None of these properties call for it to be eaten straight up, but it can add impact to a lot of recipes.