Cheese is one of the most favored foods all over the world. There are innumerable recipes where you have to add cheese to get extra taste or flavor. Not only that, cheese has a useful nutritious value. If you want to prepare sandwiches, snacks, curries, or any other food items cheese comes as an obvious choice. You need cheese in different shapes and sizes for different recipes. You may cut the cheese block into small cubes or pieces even slices as your preparation requires. Especially, the slicing needs different thickness. Sometimes you’re okay with thicker slices but most of the time thinly sliced cheese is highly in demand in your dishes that are served. Moreover garnishing is one of the essential factors that make your preparation to catch the eyeballs of onlookers.
Now the question is how to slice cheese thinly? Certainly, there are multiple ways and different tools for slicing them of your preferred thickness. But definitely, you are looking for some of the easy, comfortable ways to get all the slices of cheese and that also quite efficient.
How to Slice Cheese Thinly?
As we all know, cheeses are available in different varieties and each of them has different uses. So you need to cut them according to their use. For example, if you want to cut wedges to block cheese then you have to keep a few things at your kitchen for cutting the cheese.
A Perfect Knife or Slicer
Having a perfect knife as your kitchen tool means you are going to get the perfect shape and slices out of your cheese block. Though only the hard cheeses can provide you the perfect shape as you wish to have.
But to get the perfect thinly sliced cheeses from soft or semi-soft cheese, then a knife is not the right tool. For this purpose, you have to apply Cheese slicer, wire cheese cutter, or a peeler that may come handy for you.
A Clean Board
A board is essential when you’re going to do the cutting job with a knife. But before starting make sure your cutting board is cleaned enough. Otherwise, the dirt can easily stick to the cheese pieces and enough to spoil your preparation.
A Clean Tray
If you want to cut the slices using a cheese slicer then you have no use of a cutting board but a tray. Because here you have to collect the sliced pieces. Just make sure that the tray is clean and dry. Only this can keep your sliced pieces well for a longer run.
Now it is time to look the different techniques that you have to follow for slicing varieties of cheeses.
Hard Cheese
As the hard cheese is the easiest one to slice, but still you have to be careful while working on. Simply place the cheese block on the board and hold it with one hand.
Now, take one sharp knife in your other hand and start making slices slowly at your desired thickness.
Medium-Hard Cheese
Unlike the hard cheese this time you have to be little careful while cutting. And in this case, using a knife is probably is not the best idea.
So you can apply a wire cutter to get the better slices. All you need to slide the cutter through the cheese block gently and get the thickness as you need by adjusting this tool.
Also Read: How to Slice Meat Thinly Without a Slicer?
Soft Cheese
The soft cheese is not an easy task to cut. A regular knife is not an ideal tool for this job. You need a special kind of knife with longer blades and with a sharp and pointed tip.
Moreover, the knife must have some holes on its body which prevent cheese from sticking. But one thing you should remember that soft cheese is not for slicing thin pieces so better you consider it for blocks.
Blue Cheese Wedges
This type of cheese is easy to cut into smaller sizes as it comes in the shape of a pyramid. All you need to take a sharp knife and put the tip at the center of the piece and cut at the width of your need. Even you can cut the piece into two halves and continue making halves of each piece until you get your desired size.
Crumbly Cheese
To get the crumbly pieces you have to take a cabana knife which is shaped like a bell and designed to prevent soft cheese from sticking on it. Apart from that, this knife also useful for making big chunks.
Cube Cheese
Cube cheeses are mainly used in apple pie, juicy chicken, and also in a dessert. To make a cube from parmesan cheese you have to take a coring knife which has sharp edges and pointed tip to give the smaller and even pieces.
Thin Slices of Cheese
If you need to have thin slices of cheese to place them on your sandwiches and nachos top then you need to use a cheese plane. All you need to drag the tool slowly over the cheese block and you will get the fine thin pieces one after another.
Way of Serving
Finally, your cutting and slicing job is over, now it’s the time to plate your dishes in a decent and decorative manner so that it looks beautiful enough to earn praise from onlookers. At first, you have to arrange trays with different shapes that can match the shapes of your sliced cheese pieces. You can add some fruits, bacon, or bread at the plate and that makes your garnishing more beautiful. Even if you want to give a direct impact on your guest mind with cheese then you have to go with sandwiches, garlic toast, cheesecake, and so on.
Also Read: How to Slice Meat Thinly Without a Slicer?
Few Things to Keep in Mind
Before you’re going to cut or slice your cheese block here is a few things that you need to keep in mind.
- Do your cutting or slicing job just before you’re going to serve the dish.
- Always move your knife back and forth while cutting.
- Never use a saw for cutting cheese.
Conclusion
In a home kitchen or restaurant kitchen, a food processor is essential in creating several recipes. We have selected and reviewed some of the best models that are perfect for pureeing. Nonetheless, some of them can still serve a variety of functions. The most exciting thing about them is that they are not so expensive. We hope you found the information helpful.
John DiBella is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, a cooking enthuthiast and a writer. When he’s not writing blogs about home kitchenware, he enjoys hiking, camping, sailing and cooking.