Everything you need to know about mozzarella cheese
According to mozzarella lore, this type of cheese was actually discovered by mistake, when someone accidentally dropped cheese curds into a vat of hot water. The result: a delightfully smooth ball of fresh, milky cheese.
Different types of mozzarella cheese have emerged over time. The most popular cheese types include stretched Pizza Mozzarella, pressed Pizza Mozzarella and mozzarella style fresh cheese.
Saputo has over 65 years of mozzarella-making history and expertise. Over time, the Company has developed expert technology and know-how to continuously improve the quality and performance of its mozzarella, resulting in a line of Pizza Mozzarella cheeses that are very well suited to foodservice applications.
What is the best Pizza Mozzarella cheese for your pizza?
Different people will be attracted to different types of blistering – there’s no one way to serve a “good-looking” pizza. The higher a mozzarella cheese’s fat content, the lighter the blisters will be. Pizzaiolo typically aim for blisters measuring 1/8” to 3/8”, covering less than 50% of a pizza cooked in a deck oven or 70% of one baked on a conveyor.
No two Pizza Mozzarella cheeses are entirely the same: depending on their age, fat and moisture levels, the texture and stretch of the cheese will vary. Some brown more deeply than others, and the amount of blistering will vary from one type to the next.
Key elements to consider
- The age of a Pizza Mozzarella cheese will determine how it performs on a pizza. Between 21 to 35 days, many of its qualities reach their peak: it’s the perfect window for an even oil release, good stretch, balanced flavour, and a nice tender texture.
- Fat content influences the way Pizza Mozzarella cheese reacts to heat. Lower-fat varieties produce slightly darker blisters, provide stretch and have a creamy dairy flavour. Higher-fat varieties, such as Pressed Pizza Mozzarella, form lighter blisters, have a greasier appearance with less stretch and a distinctly buttery flavour profile. Both are great choices in different contexts. If you want a stretchy cheese with buttery notes, blend higher-fat and lower-fat varieties together.
It’s important to find the sweet spot that offers the perfect melt, texture, and flavour combo you are looking for! Below is the full suite of Saputo’s stretched Pizza Mozzarellas, and what each one can bring to a pizza menu. Good to know: these products are available pre-shredded to reduce preparation time in the kitchen.
There’s a Pizza Mozzarella cheese for every recipe
20% Pizza Mozzarella cheese is a perfect choice for takeout and delivery menus: it better maintains its melt and flow over time, and it won’t dry out if it is reheated upon delivery. This milk fat ratio creates evenly dispersed blisters and a clean dairy taste.
In addition to all of the foodservice formats available for 20% Pizza Mozzarella cheese, we’ve innovated and expanded our product line to include even more varieties of high-performance 20% M.F. cheese:
- GOLD Pizza Mozzarella cheese: True to its name, its unparalleled performance and rich flavour/texture profile make this cheese the undisputed gold standard. It has a silky texture and a full, clean, buttery taste. It turns golden when it’s popped in the oven, creating excellent stretch and a few evenly dispersed blisters.
- IQF Pizza Mozzarella cheese: Saputo is the only producer of individually quick-frozen (IQF) Pizza Mozzarella cheese in Canada. The IQF process results in a stretchy, silky, clean and buttery cheese that can be kept for a year. Since this cheese is frozen in individual pieces instead of a single block, we can offer you a range of “ready to use” formats, including sticks – perfect to stuff pizza crusts.
- Pizza Mozzarella cheese with smoke flavour: This semi-soft ivory coloured cheese with a milky, slightly salty flavour has a moisture-rich, rindless body with a springy firmness. Its smoke flavour is perfect to add a unique touch to your pizza.
Slightly lowering the milk fat content to 17% creates a smooth Pizza Mozzarella cheese. Easily shredded, this type of cheese takes on a light brown texture in the oven and is slightly chewier.
Pressed Pizza Mozzarella Cheese
This Pizza Mozzarella cheese contains 27% milk fat, which gives it less elasticity. On the other hand, it has a more pronounced buttery flavour.
Did you know? Mozzarella style fresh cheeses are also great on pizza
High-moisture cheeses are perfect for wood oven cooking. In fact, Fior di Latte was formulated specifically for pizza recipes, with a creamy, fresh, milky taste that’s great for high-temperature ovens. The cheese’s high moisture content holds up well when exposed to heat, which decreases its risk of burning. It also tends to melt faster.
This fresh cheese is best known for its mild, milky flavour and stretchy texture. When added to a pizza and placed in the oven, Bocconcini cheese performs well: its high moisture content makes it resistant to burning and creates a satisfying melt. Cooked or uncooked, it will provide the same creamy, milky flavour diners love.
Our Mozzarina di Bufala cheese is made with 100% buffalo milk sourced from Quebec. This variety is perfect for pizza, pasta, panini sandwiches, salads, and vegetarian entrées.
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