Our Taste Test of Supermarket Parmesan Cheese
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- Jack and Julia discuss the best Parmesan cheese to buy at the supermarket.
Click here to read the full taste test of Supermarket Parmesan: cooks.io/2FFLZU8
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My favorite is one at Trader Joe's called Parmesano Reggiano Stravecchio which is aged 36 months and is amazing!
Even Trader Joe's "Unexpected Cheddar" is an amazing, cheap substitute for parmesan. It's incredible and has the crystalized crunchy bits, color, and texture of parmesan. It's my second favorite cheese behind real Parmesan.
The makers of Sarvechio are a great story. They also make a great line of brined asiago, Merlot for example,based cheeses. They are a family of Italian immigrants that took over a former Kraft factory after they abandoned their employees and moved operations to Mexico as I understand. They make excellent cheeses.
Wow, I buy Sarvechio in Mexico as they are the cheaper option of parmegiano. and I prefer their sweet and deeper flavor than the real deal.
Years ago they had a lot of Italian Grocery Stores in the area that I lived in. Loved getting my Parm from those stores. Now those stores are few and far between. Being married to an Italian man, I sure do miss those stores! Thanks for the tip!
America's Test Kitchen is so awesome. I love every video.
Her face when she took a bite of that cheese- you can tell she loved it 😂
I love expensive gourmet cheeses. But when I’m feeding a bunch of kids spaghetti, I’ll serve shredded Kraft Parmesan every time.
I lived in northern Italy when I was younger and would always get cheese and prosciutto at the market down the street. They both were very different than what I find locally. The parmesan raggiano was not as aged may just over a year 16-18 months. The consistency of mozzarella with the salty flavor of parmesan. Excellent!
As it ages the parmesan raggiano flavor strengthens and the consistency hardens to a grating cheese but I still miss the mozzarella stage. It is so good.
There is no mozzarella stage in parmesan, as mozzarella is heated and parmesan is raw...
My local grocer brings in the real deal and I'll never go back - and it isn't shrink wrapped - they cut it for you out of the wheel as you watch. It is lovely.
Love your show and all the tidbits!!!! Thank you.
When you find out your home Parmesan is the worst they could find. 😂😂😂
Guilty 😩😔
Same. "Worst choice you can get at the supermarket" is quite the burn.
Remember, they're stocking their pantry using other people's money. Sometimes the inexpensive hunk from the supermarket is the right choice for what you are making.
Aldi, baby!
This test made me chuckle because I buy the Bel Giosso and I don’t think it’s horrible haha. Now that I know it ranked worst I’ll be interested in seeing how much better some of the other options taste.
I don't think it's horrible, either. I've bought it several times. However, I have a Trader Joe's and a Kroger near me, and they both have a good selection of cheeses, including several dry textured parmesean cheeses. (I buy parmesean at TJs more often, and I don't remember the exact price, but all of their Parmigiano Reggiano options are less than $18/lb). If you buy a small wedge and tend to use it as a garnish on soups, stews, and pastas, it lasts a while. 🙂 And I do think they have a better flavor.
ATK,
This was one of the cheesiest reviews I have ever seen! ;-)
Love the content and product testing and reviews!
Keep up the good work!
Sartori Cheese Company is located in Antigo and Plymouth Wisconsin, USA. Their Black Peppercorn won first place last year. You should try it!
Love the black peppercorn
Their Tennessee whiskey is the best
We toured a farm in Parma that made their cheese from their own cows. We ended up in the building where they aged the Parmesan. The owner told us about how it had to be tested and approved by the authorities before it could be sold as Parmesan. I asked him what they did with the cheese that didn’t pass. He gave me a sour look and said “Kraft”.
LOL! I have a friend who was born in Italy whose mother still lives in Italy who said she heard a rumour that the green cans were filled with 'failed' Parmesan when she was a child. Sounds like my friend's childhood rumour was true!
Fun Fact: Sargento is named by the combinations of the Sartori and Gentine family names (Sar-gent-o). The two families were originally partners that choose two follow different market directions (large scale Artisan cheese vs Large scale mid to high tier general consumer cheese)
Its funny to me, when you consider Sartori (SarVecchio) and Sargento are neighbors, and BelGioioso us an hour north of those two.
I may or may not live in Wisconsin... lol. Cheese head from the day I was born!
Wow i just realized why Packers fans wear those cheese hats
Hell yeah Wisconsin is the best state for cheese and all dairy products. Cheesehead for life
Did not know. All three of those brands are in Wisconsin? Gotta look that up.
Where we live there is no Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, sadly. But our local Kroger does carry Sartori brand cheeses. Their cheddar is good. I will look for their Parmesan!!!
I found Sarvecchio a while after watching this video about a year ago at Costco. A healthy wedge was something like $18 but it lasted several months last winter. There is some sticker shock but this cheese is not only fantastic, $4 of salty, terrible Frigo every time you want to make some alfredo is virtually no cheaper. I finally made an alfredo from scratch, of which I was proud, using Sarvecchio.
Can we stop to appreciate this woman she has to taste all these cheeses remember that and listen to this guy and then respond to all that stuff he said. That's hard
Low-moisture, well-aged cheese often has flaky crystals of calcium lactate. I wonder if some of the over-salting in the domestic ones is not only to cover up the lack of flavor, but also to promote the development of crystals that look like the "real deal".
Drunk me: The obvious thing to try is to dump some tyrosene and calcium lactate crystals in with the curds into the press. These will act as seeding sites and promote crystal growth. This might allow a cheesemaker to cut down on aging, but I have no idea if this would actually work.
Sober me: If someone actually cares about cheese and they get a bland cheese from you, they won't buy it again.
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Yes. You can counterfeit features of a product. There are actually many articles on how to counterfeit a smoke ring in American barbeque. In the end, it has to taste good.
@@hypothalapotamus5293 meh, you might be right.
Something that kind of blows my mind. You know that stuff in the green can? The fluffy cheese thing that doesn't melt? To me, that tastes closer to Parm Reg than the cheap "Parmesan" offerings. Like, if I was deciding which one to sprinkle on top of a dish, to finish it, I'm kind of not hating the green can. It's never, ever, ever going to melt, but you don't need the finishing cheese to melt anyway.
It's scary. It's not an opinion I wanted to have.
I love how these taste tests prove
Sartori is the producer of the winning cheese; SarVecchio is the name of the cheese. SarVecchio is a combination of Sartori, the cheesemaker, and the Italian word 'Stravecchio', which is used to describe Parmigiano Reggiano aged for three years (considered the best quality). I would really expect America's Test Kitchen to get these very basic facts correct.
Oh look, someone knows a tidbit of useless irrelevant facts and used them to make a bullshit claim.
You expect them to get basic facts right?
And where exactly in the video did they tell us the etymology of those names incorrectly????
You can't claim they didn't get facts right when they didn't discuss them because they're irrelevant.
You might as well claim they didn't get basic facts right about general motors.
Are you Italian?
This is fantastic! I'm a Wisconsin native, so cheese is everywhere! I happen to have both the imported aged Parmesano Reggiano and the Sartori Sarvecchio in my fridge right now. I've gone back and forth between the two and while I love the imported stuff, I have to agree with Julia. I actually love the Sarvecchio more. If you're not familiar with the Sartori label, I think they're one of the best cheese makers in the US. If you haven't had any of their Bellavitano cheeses, you're seriously missing out!
I love yall 💓 Thank you for the information I often wondered about those shrink wrapped in grocery stores and wouldn't buy them now I know!
Thank you all for your amazing show🥰
Wonderful that there is an American winning parmesan. Thank you for testing, much appreciated.
Love Jack always learn so much
We love Sartori Sarvecchio. Actually, all their cheeses are delicious.
Yes! I ♥️ Sartori Rum Runner.
Great review! I’m so glad that I became acquainted with America’s Test Kitchen in one of your test kitchens aboard the Zuiderdam on a transatlantic cruise last year.
That's so funny. Never would have thought you could discover ATK while at sea!
I love ATK on HAL cruises.
That is pretty cool
As always, very educational. Please keep it up.
I love watching these guys...
Spot-on - and proud of our Wisconsin cheese!
Just go to Whole Foods and they have the whole wheel of real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for $20 a pound!
Costco’s got it for $13 a pound
There are places in the US without a Whole Foods or other store that would carry genuine Parmesan cheese that would carry Boars Head. This video is for people who live in those areas.
I love the cheeses from Sarvechio! They are sold at the HEB chain here in Texas, and are my go to cheese for everything from kitchen crafting to the FAVORITE cheeses on the party boards. Don't hesitate to pick these up, especially if they are on sale!
I recently learned about ATK am very grateful that I have learned so much from you
The maker of the cheese she liked is Sartori not sarvecchio... which is a descriptor referring to aging of the cheese. Sartori also makes an excellent cheese called Bellavitano that I highly recommend.
Agree, I love their Merlot version...
@@Shelsight ME TOOOOOO!
@@Shelsight and Rum Runner 😋
You Gals are the greatest! Get hungry every time I watch! Mahalo.
Only one gal in this video.
Should have tested the one from Costco, which goes for $10.99 lbs.
I have bought the one from Costco. It’s ok but it’s too moist.
@Steve you mean Pecorino Romano?
Pamela Parsons its moist at first but i leave it in an open zip bag a couple days and 👌
845835ab The Costco cheese is sub-par. If you go to Costco then you are in the group that could go to Whole Foods-they have real PR cheese and it cost no more than the Costco cheese.
They've explained why they don't do CostCo or Trader Joe's products. It's because those stores aren't available to everyone in the country. They prefer to test products that are widely available to everyone. (Which makes sense and is actually a good decision IMO)
Hi I really enjoy watching all of you.
Haha!!! Wisconsin for the win!!
That brand is soo good, I’ve been all over it lately
And for the loss. Bel Gioioso is a Wisconsin cheesemaker as well. Sartori (the domestic winner) is absolutely fantastic.
4C has a version grated Parmesan and grated Romano with no cellulose powder.
Sam's Club Parm, aged 24 months, from Italy, $14.00 for 1.28 pounds. Try their Asiago also!
I love these two ladies!
We made a mistake one day using Asiago instead of Pamesan cheese on our pasta, what and incredible find!
Asiago is amazing! Kraft had the 3 mixture canister of Parm, Asiago & Romano cheese that I used and can't find it anymore at our stores. Now I just buy the 3 separate cheeses and mix in a container myself. Oddly enough the 3 that I bought to do this are the last brand she picked in this video because they were on sale.
Asiago to me is in-between pecorino Romano and parmesan
I have purchased a domestic parm cheese at Sams Club that is excellent. I know the package but not the name. Half the price of regg. Grano padano is also good.
Sarvechio, (aka Sartori brand), is very good. I use this stuff all the time.
I do have a small brick of Parmigiana Reggiano at hand however.
Everything Sartori makes (not Sarvecchio, thats the cheese name) is amazing. Enjoying some of their basil and olive oil asiago right now.
How about a video comparing Pecorino Romano and asiago to Parmesan, ideas on when to use which.
Romano
Anyone else takes screenshots so you know what to buy?😁👍
Always.
Always
Pen and paper folks
That is a great idea. I am so new to smart technology that I'll take all the smart tips I can get. Thank you.
Nah... When buying Parmesan or aged gouda, I look for the most textured and crystallized cheese in the store.
The cheese is actually made by Sartori, it is called Sarvecchio parmesan.
What cheese are you talking about exactly?
Caro Wells Sartori Sarvecchio Parmesan.
Caro Wells The one she liked best the Wisconsin cheese.
Very pleased to check the brand in my fridge...Boarshead.
Love these taste test Videos. thanks
Nah. Everyone knows that the best Parm is from those clear tubes with the green top.
OMG I am laughing aloud at that! Thanks...
thecaneater my mother-in-law buys that crap whenever she comes to visit, even though we always buy the good stuff. She says she prefers it. Worst part is, she’s Italian. Doesn’t make any sense.
ugh, cheese-flavored sand
@@debo98433 Whoa...
That's my husband's favorite too!! I always keep it on hand for weeknight dinners. 🤷♀️
Belgioioso do now make a readily available 'Extra-Aged' parmesan. the appearance, flavor, and texture of it is much closer to authentic parmesan than their normal version. while i didn't do a side by side comparison with boars head, i can definitely say the belgioioso extra aged parm was incredibly delicious (nutty, creamy, slight funk) when making italian style fettucini alfredo, where 90% of the flavor of the dish depends on the quality of the parmesan.
i did try boars head pamesan in the fettucini, and while good, i actually prefer belgioso extra-aged parmesan which had a stronger and more complex flavor. atk really had two misses with these boars head parm and pecorino endorsements.
ok i was finally able to find sartori sarvecchio parmesan. i made fettucini alfredo with it and while it was good, and slightly better than the boars head. it still wasnt as good as the Belgioioso 'extra-aged' parm.
my rating goes like.
Belgioioso 'extra-aged' parm - 9/10
sartori sarvecchio parmesan - 8.0
boars head parmesan - 7.5
It's quite surprising how much better real Italian parmigiano reggiano is compared to, well, everything else you buy. Was a real eye-opener to me.
Yes there's no contest as far as I'm concerned. I am willing to try some of the better rated domestic versions though.
Sometimes it's what you want to do with the cheese. I generally prefer the center of an imported wheel, which is a bit more moist, for strand grating directly on pasta. I prefer to move out more to the edge (which is dryer ) for post dinner cheese course because it's more crumbly and takes longer to melt in the mouth.
Shakey cheese wasn’t even in the running. 😂😃😀. Of course, my childhood favorite
Please captioned next time, for deaf can understand better
David Bardell I stand by this make it happen !!!
All of their videos are captioned but it can take up to a day for them to show up depending on how fast the captioning company works.
I thought all RUclips videos were available with auto captioning. Not the case?
Go to your settings
@@jameshobbs Auto-captioning is not good enough at this point to be appropriate for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Yes good choice
I feel like I've been lied to my whole life. I grew up with the last choice and thought it was good 😦
"And now u know"😉
Belgioso Parmesan cheese is delicious. I use it instead of mozzarella because it has just enough moisture to give you some string on my homemade pizza and spaghettis & meatballs and it is much more nutty and flavorful. These chefs are snobs
If you like it, you like it. But when I tried it way before seeing this video, I didn't find it near authentic to Parmigiano Reggiano. However, Bel Giosioso makes an American Grana Padano that's good, that I found for the same price as their Parmesan.
Ugh, I just had to buy the Belgioioso because it was the only kind available at Giant Eagle which normally has the real thing. Maybe I can grate it really fine and use it for salt. lol
It is not too salty and Belgiosa is my favorite and I come from a long line of french chefs.
Glad no audience shots. Nice review.I have bought Boars Head and it is very good. BTW bought their Kosher Dill Pickle halfs and were by far the best I have ever had. And I'm not a youngster.
Cook's Country sometimes has an audience, America's Test Kitchen does not. This video was from the latter.
@@seikibrian8641
It's hard to do audience shots when there is no audience😁
@@carowells1607 Exactly. Something tells me MASH 4077 hasn't watched the shows on PBS, and doesn't know the difference.
Because of high cost, I don’t buy the “real” kind anymore.
But, I’ve found a couple of alternatives that are as good to me.
Harris Teeter Traders brand in a bag (refrigerated section) Aged Parmesan (grated) or Parmesan, Romano & Asiago (shaved)
Both are quite good and have convincing Italian flavors.
I've used both the Sarvecchio and the Boar's Head. It's no contest. The latter has real crunch.
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO IS SOMETHING Nobody can copy because of the milk and the lands where cows feed on and the weather of course... 100% proud of our lovely italian products ❤
I am lucky to have a certified cheese monger at my local supermarket. I have to limit myself to a couple of questions when she is working, but she doesn't just sell the stuff but educates you, too. 😎
THere is ONE THING I have always wanted to see as a standard part of all your reviews. THAT is a true price/taste/Feature comparison - Answer the Question - Is the first place item that much better than the second prize winner to make it worth the difference in price. For example - this New Jersey Tomato grower would want to know that - once you make it into sauce - is there enough of a difference in the Tomatoes to warrant spending a lot more money for them? It is rare I use canned tomatoes straight from a can - that is what Fresh Tomatoes are for (Jersey Vine Ripened Tomatoes are the best) - but once I cook them into a sauce - there is not a lot of difference between the top two or three canned Tomatoes in the Winter.
Another example - I have NO All Clad. I live in an area where there is NO gas available so I must use an Older Electric Stove with the round elements. . ANd I find that most of the Clad pots all are less even in heat - than with a gas stove - and that All Clad is simply not worth the extra Money (I also have large hands and their handles are too thin for me).
the cows here in rural Pa ,,, graze all day in beautiful grass fields that are every bit as good as Italian fields.
As said in Indiana Jones “you chose wisely,” and thankfully I did too, and can’t stop grating this on everything lately!
This Wisconsin girl is always interested by the cheese evaluations.
At whole foods you can get Parmesan up to 48 months aged. That's where I go but I'm not a big Parmigiano-Reggiano fan and I lived in Italy! Most Italians use granapadano at home and pecorino as well. Much of the parmigiano reggiano made in Italy is exported. I like dry and crunchy.
Growing up in Italian New England I never needed to worry about finding good parm, grocery stores have shrink wrapped bits of the wheel 😂
How ever you store your cheeses put some sugar cubes in with them . Mold will attack/eat the sugar first , keeps mold away from cheese .
Now I know
TJ's shredded parm.. fabulous
The cheese isn’t made my Sarvecchio, that’s the type. It’s made by Sartori
I’m a cheesemonger in a cheese shop and I’ve always stood by Sartori’s Sarvecchio Parm. I like the sweeter notes to the cheese and recommend it as a nice change to a familiar cheese. I’m glad it got the attention it deserves here. Also, the Bella Vitano line of cheese that Sartori makes are also delicious. I’m partial to the Bourbon Bellavitano !
Arent you tempted to eat too much cheese? I would be fired in a cheese shop.
Interesting comparison, and in a pinch I'd try that WI knock-off. Thanks! But I'll stick with the real deal Costco Reggiano Parmigiano at its bargain price of $11 or $12 / pound. They even regularly have 36-month aged, but I prefer the 24 month.
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is famous the world over - it’s a staple traditional Italian food. But do you know how it’s made? Cheese lovers and food culture aficionados unite! It’s time to find out what goes into creating this delicious Italian cheese > ruclips.net/video/oj2wrNnhMpc/видео.html
lmao @ 1:30 haven't finished yet but I'm betting that's the real parmesean
Hilarious. I happen to like the Belgiosa Parmesan; I use it all the time instead of mozzarella. It may have a higher moisture content than most aged parmesan cheese; however, it has a lot more flavor than mozzarella. Moreover, I don't necessarily like stinky aged cheese to dominate my dishes
I only had the real stuff for the first time a couple years ago. It's so good. I usually get Boar's Head.
All I know is if you go to an.authentic Italian market and ask for Italian table cheese you will get what my Nonni had on the table every day and it was phenomenal.
The real Parmigiano Reggiano has a fire imprinted stamp on the rim (visible at the beginning of this video). Every piece will have remnants of this stamp no matter how the big wheal was cut. If you don't see the stamp know that you are buying a knockoff. You are free to like the knockoff better (which is inconceivable to me, but to each their own), just don't be fooled.
And will have a European union certification region stamp on the packaging
Whoa, this is entirely inaccurate. Those wheels are 85lbs or more. They are 9"high and 18" across. The mark from the fire brand is about 2" by 3". I cut those wheels into about 120 pieces. About 4 of the pieces will have the mark on them. That brand is not meant to help the consumer identify the cheese. However, the stencil is! When they first form the cheese, pressing the curds into the wheel, the form they use is lined with a stencil that says PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO over and over again. That pattern on the rind is what you look for as a consumer. Unfortunately, it's not a legally binding principle, so while the cheese shop I work in always puts that rind on each piece, many cheese shops, including whole foods, will just put them out with the flat, unstenciled rind. Anyway, mislabeled parm regg is not a huge problem nowadays. If you're in a reputable store, it will be what it says it is besides minor mistakes and little mix-ups by the employees.
Furthermore, the "stamp" you see on the piece of parm regg at the beginning of this video is part of the stencil. While the mark from the fire brand is only given later than 18 months and indicates a successfully aged cheese, the mark you see indicates which diary the cheese is from, and it was part of the stencil in the form that that dairy used to originally form the wheel.
@@JosiahMcCarthy that's what I'm talking about, the parmigiano-reggiano stamping, you clearly see it at the beginning of the video. The entire crust is covered with it. I always thought it was a fire imprint, but if it's put there some other way ok. Bottom line is, it's there on any wheal of real parmigiano. I will simply not buy "parmigian" cheese unless I see the stamp. And, if the store doesn't know how to cut their wheal and somehow manages to produce pieces without the outer rim so be it, it's their problem.
I have tried the losing parmesan they presented -- I don't know much about cheeses and parmesan, but I thought that tasted awful.
Thanks folks. Now, I think I’ll purchase the winner and her favorites! 🙂
I had a cheese grater I never used and just threw out 2 days ago. Now I have to buy another one for the Sarvecchio
Costco Parmigiano Reggiano imported from Italy....$12.99 / pound....why should I pay $18+ /pound for domestic? Would someone please explain?
Not everyone can go to Costco.
Disciple of Shaun And not all stores sell Sar
Disciple of Shaun and not all stores sell Sarvecchio......
Sal Patalano Good call. That’s where I buy it. Grate some, freeze some and nibble on the rest.
I don't think they ever include Costco stuff.
Ughgh. I knew watching these on an empty stomach would be a bad idea. ... Nah, worth it.
their selection of brands to consider for review is often subjective. It may have to do with maybe if they are being paid to allow certain brands in. Maybe not. I just know there have been some known and verified great brands that have been omitted from their reviews in many diff categories.
@America'sTestKitchen: I really enjoyed your video. I'm curious to know how you store the parmesan cheese after opening? I've had the worse luck with this. Thank you for sharing.
I just put it in cling wrap. And it’s such a hard cheese that if it does start growing any mold, you can cut off the affected areas without harming the integrity of the cheese.
I heard, wrap it in butcher paper.
They actually have an article on this on their website. They determined that it's best to just put it in a plastic bag (like a little 2¢ sandwich bag) with a sealing top (zip top or snap top or whatever). It's the easiest way and works as well as almost every other way they tested. They say use an easy plastic bag but try not to buy so much as once that it will take you a very long time to finish it. I never buy more than I can finish in the next month. Usually that just means buying one more piece when I've finished most of my last piece, unless I have some meals in mind that will be using extra cheese (caesar salad, pesto, fettuccine alfredo, etc.) I stick it in a little ziploc sandwich bag or equivalent, put it in the fridge cheese area, and that's it.
@@tony_25or6to4 I wrap it in butcher paper and put it inside a cheese bag.
How about ATK/CC putting together a list of winning products for us?
I think you should have tested the shredded versions as well. I like boar’s head products and have tried their parm-reg cheese and found it to be very good. I must admit I also buy what’s cheapest at my local food store. To put it in salads and melted on friend eggs works great for me. 🥰
Looking nice...Thank you...
Harris Teeter sourced Parm is also amazing
In Canada, if it does not have the rind with the words stenciled into the rind Parmigiano Reggiano, then it's not real Parmesan cheese. If you do not see the outer rind, you do not have the real stuff. Only available at the deli counter sold in 100 gram wedges or 400 gram blocks off the cheese wheel
During the taste test she said the boar's Head was "not something she'd throw out" and then upon discovering it was real imported she went "Oh yeah this is the real deal"
Y'all
I noticed that.
Great video!
Thanks for making my choices easier.
After watching quite a few of these taste tests, I am finding some of them suspect. (The rent in the expensive Boston district where they are located is high, real high. And 15,000 sq ft!)
now I want cheeeeeese! 💖
Caveat ! I've had people like this say this is the best parm in the world and invariable it's $19 per pound buy the second or third cheapest at the grocery store and you'll be fine !!!!!!!!!!
good gouge. gonna go with SarVecchio