In such a fast-paced world, we are always in a hurry and like to have go-to ready food with tasty options. Pizza meets the needs of such emergencies. Thus, we are mostly obsessed with pizza and in love with its taste. And what is pizza without its most iconic element—the cheese?Why does pizza cheese burn? We want to understand why this happens and the science behind it.
Melted, stringy, and gooey cheese is an essential component of any great pizza. However, as delicious and satisfying as it may be, sometimes when we are baking pizza at home, like I also do, the cheese on our beloved pizza can burn, leaving us wondering and worried.
With the burnt cheese pizza, nothing can fix that, but with some precautions, we may avoid it in the future. In this blog, I would also like to share some tips to avoid burning pizza cheese.
Table of Contents
Why does pizza cheese burn?
Let’s dive into the details of why pizza cheese burns and how we can avoid it.
1. Composition of pizza cheese
The composition of pizza cheese and the type of cheese are the most important factors to consider in determining the burning factor of cheese. Exposure to high heat, will melt the cheese and make it gooey. We all love this melting and tasty flavor of cheese in pizza. But why does it burn fast and create a mess?
Cheese has fat and protein content, while crust has fibrous content. Fibrous content can bear more heat, while fat and protein start burning with exposure to heat. It is how cheese reacts to heat.
Moreover, processed cheese with a low fat content burns faster on pizzas. So it is important to choose high-quality cheese to avoid fast burning.
The most common type of cheese used in pizzas is mozzarella. Mozzarella cheese has excellent melting capability and taste. It is a blend of proteins and fat. Other cheese types, like cheddar, can also be used. The points of note are their melting points and fat/protein content. Like cheddar, it has high protein and a lower moisture content, making it more susceptible to burning.
2. The moisture content of the cheese
Apart from the composition of cheese, the moisture content of cheese also plays a role in burning. A moderate moisture content is needed for a balanced pizza. The higher the moisture content, the longer it will take to melt the cheese, making it easier to burn. On the other hand, with a low moisture content, the cheese will melt quickly and start changing color to brown before the crust is cooked.
Different pizza cheese types have different moisture contents. The ideal ingredient for pizza making with low intent of fast burning is low-moisture mozzarella cheese, which has around 45-52 % water. When the cheese heats up, the water begins to evaporate, leaving behind the protein and fat making the cheese melty and stretchy.
3. The heat of the oven
The heat of the oven is another factor that contributes to the burning of cheese. Home ovens have lower temperatures as compared to commercial ovens. The higher the heat, the faster the cheese will melt and be more likely to burn quickly.
For instance, a wood-fired oven has a temperature of up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit and has likely to make the cheese burn faster.
Pre-heating of the oven is also a factor to check, if the pizza stone or oven is not hot enough before placing the pizza, it will keep the pizza crust undercooked while resulting in burnt pizza cheese faster.
4. Effect of Pizza Crust
Crust plays the role of a fence between high heat and cheese. A fully cooked crust with crisp edges will protect the cheese from burning. But if the crust is not cooked enough, it will not be able to hold the cheese and toppings, resulting in the cheese sliding off the pizza and burning. It is also suggested to preheat the oven or pizza stone to have a crispy crust and well-cooked toppings.
5. Effect of pizza toppings
Pizza topping also affects cheese melting and burning. Toppings release moisture as they are cooked. The steam released from toppings affects the moisture content of cheese.
The quantity of toppings also affects. Too many toppings can trap the heat and cause burns before proper melting.
Thus, well balanced, low moisture-content toppings are recommended.
How can we prevent pizza cheese from burning?
We have collected some useful tips to avoid cheese burning in pizza, some of them are the following:
- Keep monitoring the heat in your oven and adjust accordingly. If you find that the cheese is burning too quickly, lower the oven temperature.
- Select cheese wisely with a low moisture content and a better fat portion. Low moisture mozzarella cheese is suitable.
- Make sure that the crust is fully cooked before adding the cheese and toppings to prevent it from becoming soggy.
- Overloading the pizza with toppings should be avoided, especially those with high moisture content.
Conclusion
Pizza cheese doesn’t burn just because of one factor, a combination of factors like heat, moisture, crust quality, toppings, and the type of cheese affect the burning of cheese. Monitoring all these elements and adjusting accordingly can result in a perfect pizza with melted, stretchy cheese. We hope you will enjoy the pizza now without worrying about burned cheese pizza!!