18 September 2019

The Cheese Effect

Picking the right cheese for your burger is not as easy as it sounds. It’s a core ingredient determining the overall build of the burger – and each cheese adds both different texture and taste. Learn how to pick the right cheese for your burger here.

Someone once said “A burger without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze”. We couldn’t agree more. The right cheese will help you differentiate your burger from your competitors. It’s key element in the overall architechture of a burger, adding flavour, texture and visual appeal to your offering. Here’s few tips on how to make your burger cheese work for you.

Use cheese to enhance taste

Cheese works as an essential taste enhancer. It adds umami flavour with a touch of salt to your burgers, amplifying all tastes – especially of protein-rich ingredients. Some cheeses even combine nicely with each other, for instance blue cheese and cheddar (bitter + creamy + salty) or cheddar and Havarti (salty + creamy). Processed cheese, however, does not have these taste enhancing properties.

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Variety of burger cheeses

Create balance with cheese

With its creamy melty texture, cheese brings together the different textures in the burger – the softness of the bread, the crunch of the pickles and meaty sensation of the patty – to create a balanced experience and a delicious mouthfeel. Not all cheeses, however, are created equal, so always choose a cheese with good meltability (e.g. melts fast, does not ‘sweat’, does not burn easily).

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Cheeses with great meltability are ideal to balance textures in the burger

Boost profits with storytelling

Our research shows that by communicating the origin of cheeses and other ingredients, your customers will accept a higher price. All our cheeses come with a backstory that will help you claim a premium position, for instance the Esrom, which was first made in the 16th century in Esrom Abbey, Denmark.

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Cheese types with a great backstory can help raise the profit

Speed up the process with a cloche

Using a cloche to melt cheese offers a range of benefits. It reduces melting time by more than 50% and improves the end results. The melted cheese wraps perfectly around the patty, without air bubbles or translucency to ruin the visual appeal. If you have a steam oven instead, this will also do the trick.

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A cloche is great way to achieve better meltability for the cheese

To-go burgers need to-go cheese

Take-out is on the rise in Western Europe, but many cheeses, such as regular processed cheese, do not perform well in a hotbox. Our range of burger cheeses are tested for their ability to maintain their creaminess, without splitting or turning chewy, even after 20+ minutes in a hotbox.

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Choose the right cheese type for to-go burgers

Cheese types to elevate any burger

Sometimes you need the right kind of inspiration to make the best choice. That’s why we have listed some of our favourite cheeses here below, so you can pick the right cheese for your burger.