The Perfect Cheese For Pizza, According To Science

One of the hardest decisions we have to make (when the option is presented) is which cheese we’d like on our pizzas.

Being men, and constantly hungry, we often tend to want them all – it is cheese after all – but some researchers decided to use scientific methods to determine which cheese is most ideal for a pizza topping… which basically sounds like an excuse for researchers to eat pizza.

According to the paper in the Journal of Food Science titled Quantification of Pizza Baking Properties of Different Cheeses, and Their Correlation with Cheese Functionality, mozzarella came out on top as the best cheese for those giant doughy discs we’ve come to love so much, but how exactly was mozzarella crowned the cheese king?

The browning and blistering patterns of cheese were analyzed when pizzas with different cheese toppings were placed in the oven, then the researchers took photos and used special computer software to quantify the color uniformity of the cheeses, stretchiness, moisture content, oil content and release during melting.

Cheddar, colby, and edam failed because they’re not very elastic. Gruyere and provolone were too oily, so good browning couldn’t happen. Emmental wasn’t moist enough.  Dr. James and her team found that mozzarella alone combines these elements in the most pleasing way to human eyes (and palates).

Can’t argue with science, but I think I’ll do my own investigation just to be sure.