Does Parmesan cheese melt?

If you’re a pasta connoisseur, you’re probably pretty familiar with Parmesan cheese. It is a classic dressing for many different pasta dishes and sauces.

In fact, Parmesan cheese is even often used as a crisp in fried appetizers for its spicy flavor and perfect texture.

This cheese is considered a hard cheese, and by nature it doesn’t work quite the same as many other types of cheese out there.

With cheeses like American and Cheddar, we’re very used to using a bit of heat to get it to melt, but that’s not always the case with Parmesan cheese.

Does Parmesan cheese melt?

Yes, Parmesan cheese can melt, but it depends on the type of Parmesan you use and how fresh it is. It also melts better freshly grated than whole. If the Parmesan has been processed, like most packaged Parmesan, it will be more difficult to melt. 

In this guide, we will talk about how to melt Parmesan cheese in all its forms. We’ll provide instructions on how to melt Parmesan cheese and different factors that can affect your melting efforts.

The Ultimate Guide to Melting Parmesan Cheese

Parmesan cheese is actually a copy of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It is a hard, grainy Italian cheese. It comes from cow’s milk and is aged for a minimum of 12 months.

The packages of Parmesan cheese that we see or buy at the supermarket are often not even really Parmesan cheese in the traditional sense.

Make no mistake. You’re still getting Parmesan cheese, but by the time it’s been grated or packaged or put into a tub for use as a sprinkle, it’s been processed in many different ways.

Processing of Parmesan cheese also affects the meltability of the cheese.

Parmesan cheese is certainly a special cheese and one that is difficult to recreate. There are main uses for which it works best.

Ultimately, what cheese can and can’t do really comes down to whether you’re using fresh Parmesan cheese or perhaps aged processed Parmesan cheese.

If you’re having trouble melting Parmesan cheese, it’s because it’s not fresh -or young- Parmesan. Some of its properties will have changed and it simply won’t melt as easily, but will brown, burn, crumble, or separate.

The older and more processed the cheese, the more likely it is to do this rather than melt.

Types of parmesan

We’ve talked a lot about Parmesan here. You’ve seen us use some official terms and you’ve seen us say grated, ground, fresh, etc. Let’s differentiate these terms a bit so that you understand why they are important.

Parmigiano Reggiano

It is the real and authentic Italian Parmesan cheese. You buy it fresh, and to be labeled as such, it has to meet strict qualifications and quality guidelines from Italy. It also has to be produced in specific locations in Italy.

If you see this name, it is the real Parmesan cheese, which will melt into a creamy product thanks to its rennet production.

Freshly grated Parmesan

If we come across freshly grated Parmesan, we are specifically referring to hand-grated fresh Parmesan.

This is not a store-bought bag of grated Parmesan, but grated gratings that you make yourself from a fresh block.

Pre-grated Parmesan

Pre-grated Parmesan is already grated when you buy it. We are referring to those bags or tubs of Parmesan that were grated and processed before arriving at the store.

Note that these grates are not fresh Parmesan and will likely be stringy or lumpy when you try to melt them.

Ground parmesan

Ground Parmesan refers specifically to finely ground Parmesan in the form of small crumbs, almost like powder.

Often, the companies that sell this product add different ingredients, such as powdered cellulose -or even different cheeses, such as romano- to give it volume, as well as preservatives to prolong its shelf life.

It is often sprinkled as a dressing or mixed into recipes.

It is not likely to melt as it has been heavily processed and may have any number of additives that affect its meltability.

What kind of Parmesan is melted?

Remember that Parmesan originates from Parmigiano-Reggiano. This particular blend is actually a specialty of Italy, and in fact, the law dictates that it cannot be referred to as such unless it is actually produced in Italy.

We tell you this so that if you see Parmigiano-Reggiano, it really is the authentic version. If you see the label of another Parmesan cheese, it really isn’t.

Much of the Parmesan cheese we know and love today isn’t authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be delicious Parmesan.

Even some of the inauthentic Parmesan is fine for melting, as long as it’s fresh.

This is the key factor. If you want the Parmesan you use to be able to melt, it has to be fresh Parmesan. You can tell if your Parmesan is fresh by its hardness. Older cheese will be harder and may also have white spots.

If you use pre-grated Parmesan or that grated Parmesan that comes in a tub, it probably won’t do you much good when trying to melt it. In fact, you may have already tried this and ended up with a tough, burnt Parmesan .

Parmesan is unique. Although it is often mixed into various pastas and cooked with other ingredients in recipes such as eggplant parmigiana, it is also often served cold.

It can be cooked into some dishes, but it makes an even better topping for dishes like lasagna.

The finely grated Parmesan that you sprinkle on pizza and already cooked pasta is not designed to melt . It is heavily processed and almost all blending features are lost.

On the other hand, some grated Parmesans melt, while others only melt slightly. It depends on the freshness of the Parmesan and whether or not it is heavily processed.

If you’re having trouble melting your Parmesan, we’ll talk a bit more about why that might be a problem.

Fresh, authentic Parmesan cheese melts beautifully and becomes a creamy part of the meal that completes it. It tends to thicken things up a bit, but it certainly melts.

If you buy grated Parmesan, it may or may not melt. This depends on the quality of the Parmesan and the degree of processing to which it has been subjected. And if you have finely ground Parmesan, it won’t melt at all.

How long does it take to melt Parmesan cheese?

This is another two-sided question. How long does the Parmesan take to melt? The thing is this: once again, we find that we want to say that it depends.

It depends on whether you use real, quality Parmesan, or highly processed Parmesan.

If you have real, fresh Parmesan, it will melt almost immediately. Authentic Parmesan just needs to touch the heat and it will puddle in a creamy Parmesan addition to your sauce.

If you think you have fresh Parmesan and you grate it over your sauce just so it doesn’t melt like that, that’s because it really isn’t fresh or real Parmesan.

However, it may also not be a high-quality Parmesan, which can make it stringy or lumpy instead of creamy and melty.

Sometimes you never really know if you’re working with a good Parmesan cheese until you discover that it doesn’t melt into your sauce the way you want it to.

If it’s real, good-quality Parmesan, it’ll melt right away. If it’s not good quality, you may have to work it hard for 8-10 minutes to get it to melt a bit and not be stringy and caked.

At what temperature does Parmesan cheese melt?

Things don’t have to be very hot to help melt Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. This true Parmesan delight is a hard, gratable cheese with a low melting point.

Interestingly, Parmesan has a higher melting point than soft cheeses like mozzarella, but it still doesn’t require extreme heat to melt.

Typically you can melt real Parmesan at around 180°F . Some of the softer cheeses only need about 130-150°F , so that’s a bit higher, but still easy to get. You can often reach this temperature simply by mixing it in a hot plate on the stove.

If you try to bake it, it could be another story, as this intense heat could cause a different reaction, even if you simply use the Parmesan as a topping on your baked dish.

It is more likely to slightly melt, brown, and harden. It’s still delicious, but it’s certainly not melty and creamy.

Parmesan cheese actually starts to melt at about 90°F . At this temperature, the milk fat in all types of cheese begins to liquefy and the cheese begins to soften.

So even Parmesan that doesn’t melt well at all melts a bit.

Parmesan cheese is low in moisture. Even when the Parmesan melts, it may not melt all the way. Some parts will melt until creamy, while others will clump together.

You will see it in the pizzas that use it in their cheese mixtures.

Processed Parmesan has a fairly high acid content, which is what sometimes causes it to become stringy or lumpy instead of melting creamy like you might expect.

How do you melt Parmesan cheese without it caking?

The only safeguard to perfectly melting Parmesan cheese is to use real, authentic or fresh Parmesan cheese. Don’t buy the bags of grated Parmesan for melting.

Go to the deli and buy fresh Parmesan, if possible. You can probably get another type of Parmesan cheese at the deli as well and trust its freshness to melt.

Unfortunately, you can’t always be sure that the Parmesan you buy is a true Parmesan that won’t cause melting problems.

As hard as you try, you may end up with a Parmesan that just wants to skewer and clump together and just won’t melt.

If you run into this problem, there isn’t much you can do. It’s too late to try another Parmesan and you’ve already started to melt it.

However, you can keep working on it to see if you can improve the melting process and get it to spread out and not be so lumpy.

Here are some specific things you can try to prevent clumping:

• Make sure your dish is hot enough before adding the cheese. Remember that Parmesan needs 180°F to melt.
• Add the Parmesan a little at a time, rather than all at once.
• Use a block of fresh Parmesan and grate it yourself.
• Avoid using finely ground Parmesan to melt it.
• Check that the container does not contain acid additions.
• Continuously stir your plate for 8-10 minutes after adding the cheese.

These aren’t perfect solutions, but they are tips that can help if you run into a clumping problem when trying to use Parmesan.

It’s not always your fault. You may think you have a nice block of Parmesan and realize otherwise when you try to melt it down.

Don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong. It’s really about the cheese and how it’s made. Just do what you can to work with it using these tips and get the most out of it.

It will still taste like delicious Parmesan cheese should.

How do you blend Parmesan cheese?

Parmesan cheese is a type of dry cheese that can make the blending process difficult. You won’t always be able to really blend it.

The sure way to be able to turn your Parmesan cheese into a liquid is to make sure that you use real, fresh Parmesan. You can be specific and look specifically for Parmigiano-Reggiano, if you really want to.

As we mentioned earlier, the melting point of Parmesan cheese is 180°F. The best way to try to melt Parmesan cheese is to add it to a hot sauce of some kind and stir continuously for several minutes.

Remember that how well it blends can very well depend on whether it is real Parmesan cheese or a processed Parmesan variety.

If you do it right, it will liquify just by touching the right amount of heat and become creamy and sticky instead of stringy and lumpy.

Don’t beat yourself up if your Parmesan doesn’t behave well. It’s not you, it’s the cheese.