What is the difference between mozzarella and scamorza

Facebook Logo. Link Icon. Cheese of the Month: Scamorza, the mozzarella cousin that hangs around. Published Jan. Turn your back on marshmallows forever and usher in a glorious era of burrata. Stracciatella is also a popular flavor of gelato, though the texture in question is created by frozen chocolate drizzles instead of stretchy mozzarella shreds. String cheese is a member of the part-skim mozzarella family whose lower fat content allows for more even, less oily melting and whose protein structure is manipulated for a uniform texture.

While shredding cheese may seem like an easy task, once your fresh ball of whole-milk mozzarella warms from refrigerator to room temperature, it will turn to mush before it heads dutifully through your grater. Preshredded mozzarella is also typically a member of the part-skim family that benefits from the uniformity of a lower fat content, holding its shape better and grating more evenly. The shreds are given a dusting of potato starch, cellulose or cornstarch before packaging to absorb any extra moisture and prevent sticking or clumping, and as far as uniform meltability goes, shredded mozzarella is king.

This variation on mozzarella is constructed the same way, by heating, stretching and forming curd until taut and shiny. There, the curd cures slightly, resulting in a more pronounced fermented cheese flavor. Return the cheese to the refrigerator and, when cool enough, the morsels will peel easily off of the cheesecloth.

The cover of the cheese is edible and does not need to be discarded when sliced. The dairy fat will start to melt, causing the cheese to sweat. Eventually, the fat will oxidize and turn rancid, spoiling the taste of an otherwise perfectly good ball of cheese.

Scamorza cheese can be frozen for prolonged storage of up to 12 months. Though you could freeze it whole, you could also cut it into smaller chunks or grate it and put it in a freezer bag for easy thawing. Thaw frozen scamorza cheese by transferring it to the fridge for hours the night before you plan to eat it or until the cheese is fully defrosted.

Use within 6 days of defrosting. It has a white color, soft and elastic texture, and a plain creamy flavor that very much resembles mozzarella. It has a straw-yellow color, dry and chewy texture, and a complex flavor that stands in-between mozzarella and mature cheddar cheese. After two weeks of ripening, the cheese is sold as it is scamorza bianca or smoked scamorza affumicata for 15 minutes over flaming straw. However, it melts lusciously onto baked goods, which is why many Italians also choose to bake with it.

Dry, smoky, and a great melter, scamorza is a great cheese for topping your pizza with. With scamorza, however, the curds are smaller so as to retain less moisture. Furthermore, the finished product is pear-shaped and hung by a string for two weeks of aging. Whereas fresh mozzarella is packaged as balls in liquid for near-term consumption, traditional mozzarella also known as aged, block or processed mozzarella is packaged dry in blocks—or in cubes, chunks, sticks, slices or shreds that have been cut from blocks—for less immediate consumption.