Michael Murtaugh/Hadas Smirnoff/NYT Wirecutter

By Rachel Wharton

I’m a food snob. I am not ashamed to admit it. I have a master’s degree in food studies from NYU, a certificate in sensory analysis from Rutgers University, and I have helped write a dozen cookbooks that took me into kitchens all over the world. These days, the only wine I drink is natural, I grow most of my own herbs, and I haven’t bought a chicken that wasn’t locally raised in more than a decade.

But no matter how pretentious I get, I never, ever stop loving gaudy, floppy, fluorescent-orange squares of American cheese.

Some people believe American cheese is plasticky and gross and overly processed. I think it is delicious. I nearly always have a stack in my fridge for snacking, sandwich-making, or various emergency cheese needs.

This may or may not be surprising, but delicious American cheese is made mostly of real cheese—usually cheddar and/or Colby. It is essentially chopped up and reheated with a touch of milk, butter, or cream, eventually yielding smooth, supple slices that are rich, creamy, and mildly cheesy (and when heated, wonderfully ooey-gooey).

Luckily, my (equally expert and fancy-pants) editors on Wirecutter’s kitchen team shared in this love. So when it came time to choose a fromage for our first-ever cheese taste test, we unanimously decided on American. I tasted well over a hundred slices of cheese—alone, in cold ham sandwiches, in molten grilled cheeses, melted atop burgers—all to find the silkiest, most delicious options.

READ THE GUIDE

The best American cheese→

No doubt, we did find that there are some very bad versions made with fillers and other faux ingredients that taste and feel terrible. But at the other end of the spectrum, there are some truly great-tasting squares. All of our favorites are especially creamy and alluring, with flavors that range from perfectly processed to very cheddary, or a distinctive mild, savory Swiss. All melt well, are great in a ham-and-cheese sandwich or draped over a burger, and taste pretty good cold, straight from the package.

One more thing: Sarah Masoni, a cheese expert at the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center in Portland, recently reminded me that American cheeses were originally produced not to make something cheap and filling, but as a way to preserve high-quality, mass-produced cheeses when supply outpaced demand. American cheese—beyond melting like a champ and staying fridge-fresh for weeks for on-demand snacking—has a sophisticated history? That makes this fancy-pants food snob very, very happy.

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Connie Park/NYT Wirecutter

For ooey-gooey cheese pulls: Our experts recommend this small-yet-mighty toaster oven for people who want to make toast, prepare a few frozen snacks, or reheat a couple slices of pizza. We’re smitten with its adorable retro 90s design, and after years of long-term testing, we’re still impressed with its power and compact size.

Why we love this (currently on-sale!) powerhouse→

Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter

Pictured: Wirecutter’s kitchen experts nibbling away in the name of testing American cheese. For the finalists that came in both white and yellow varieties, we tasted the two blindfolded to determine whether they had any differences. (They did!)

May we suggest using the American cheese to whip up a tangy, buttery, crispy tuna melt? Or you can always eat it by the slice in front of the open fridge door. Can’t go wrong.

You can reach the Wirecutter Newsletters team at newsletters@wirecutter.com. We can’t always respond, but we do love to hear from you.

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