[lejohnq]

Using real cheese is surprisingly difficult because it doesn’t melt in the nice creamy way without additions.

Sodium citrate for example helps your cheese melt creamily.

The powder likely contains the right balance of additions that give you a great creamy mac & cheese.

A good reference: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/11/sodium-citrate-b...

[tomjakubowski]

You can also "steam and cream" to make any cheese "melty" like processed American cheese.

Another Serious Eats reference. https://aht.seriouseats.com/2011/07/the-burger-lab-how-to-ma...

[GordonS]

> Using real cheese is surprisingly difficult because it doesn’t melt in the nice creamy way

Eh, is this a US thing? Here in the UK, I just use cheddar - any brand, any maturity you fancy, and it melts just fine.

I spent several months in the US around 2005, and I do recall the cheese was pretty terrible - bland, with an odd, plasticy texture.

[knodi123]

> and I do recall the cheese was pretty terrible - bland, with an odd, plasticy texture.

Aw, dude, you're supposed to remove the individual plastic wrap from the cheese before serving!

[Symbiote]

It's not legal to call that stuff "cheese" in the EU (and I assume the UK hasn't changed that just yet).

In Britain they label it "singles" or "slices" or something equally meaningless.

They do seem able to use "cheese" when English isn't a national language, though they then can't use the local word for cheese.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/274219518

[nrp]

The FDA in the US has regulations on naming these products as well: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR...

They are called "pasteurized process cheese food" or "pasteurized prepared cheese product" depending on their ingredients. There are pretty specific FDA regulations on cheese naming that are presumably similar to the equivalents in the EU: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFR...

[samcheng]

If you really want to get offended, they call those processed cheese slices "cheddar" in east Asia...

[vsef]

No, it's not a US thing. Cheddar melts fine, but the harder and more mature the cheese, the more the solids and oils will tend to separate and not be as super smoothly emulsified if you melt it onto noodles on its own. The point of a roux (traditional, French cheese sauces), sodium citrate (modern), or using processed cheese (American boxes, what Americans are thinking of texture-wise when they think of mac & cheese) is all to get the cheese to be very creamily emulsified. Processed cheese is just curd dregs + emulsifiers. Just melting cheese is fine but its not the same effect.

[UncleOxidant]

Baking is usually best when making mac&cheese with actual cheese.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

Baked mac & cheese is just plain better. There, I said it.

[archagon]

In lieu of sodium citrate, I think you can just put a bit of a Kraft single in your sauce to emulsify it.