This is the biggest mistake you make when it comes to mac and cheese

Tip: It all depends on your choice of ingredients.

Mac and cheese can be the ultimate comfort food. There’s never a bad time to enjoy a golden helping of creamy, gooey goodness. But you might make a mistake when making macaroni and cheese or any dish that uses a lot of cheese.

Cheese comes in all shapes and sizes: blocks, wheels, triangles, crumbles and, of course, grated. If there’s a reason we buy grated cheese over others, it’s for convenience. Grating your cheese can be time-consuming and tiring, and if we can eliminate this step, it makes cooking even easier (we all love shortcuts). That said, there are times when cutting corners just isn’t worth it.

When you grate block cheese, you’ll probably notice that it tends to clump together and form a large pile. The pre-shredded version you buy at the store, on the other hand, falls effortlessly out of the bag to be sprinkled over taco salads or chili bowls. But why?

A package of shredded cheese often includes an ingredient that prevents the cheese from clumping. This ingredient can affect the outcome of your recipes, like mac and cheese. The taste and texture may change accordingly. So what is this secret ingredient that changes our favorite cheesy foods?

The ingredient in grated cheese that prevents sticking and clumping

The short answer: cellulose. A form of starch, cellulose is often added in powder form to bags of grated cheese and as a texturizer or thickener in manufactured foods. This ingredient is also called “anti-caking agent” or “anti-caking blend” on the packaging. The additive dehydrates the cheese, removing moisture that would otherwise cause the cheese strands to clump together.

What does an anti-caking agent contain?

The anticaking agent used is usually a mixture of several starches, such as potato starch and cornstarch, as well as preservatives such as natamycin and calcium sulfate, a natural calcium salt used as a drying agent .

How Prepackaged Shredded Cheese Changes Your Recipes

First, cellulose gives a powdery component to grated cheese. And this powdery component will end up in your food. This anti-caking mixture cannot help the cheese fuse and melt if the purpose of the mixture is to keep the cheese separate.

Not only does cellulose make it harder to incorporate cheese, but this additive can make it grainy.

“Here’s a ‘tip to avoid ‘grainy’ sauces,” says cook JenCooks of this cheese sauce recipe. “You have to go old school and grate the cheese in blocks. Packaged shredded cheese is covered in (cellulose) to prevent the shreds from sticking together, which will make the sauce slightly grainy.””

The FDA says the appropriate amount of cellulose in cheese is 2 to 4 percent, but some brands, like those from Walmart and Jewel-Osco, may contain more than 4 percent cellulose, according to a test by Bloomberg.

Whether you’re concerned about cellulose as an additive or as an ingredient that degrades your recipes, it’s important to know what’s going into your food. If cheese is one of the key elements of a recipe, there’s nothing like grating your own block.

Ultimately, if you have the time and elbow grease, we recommend grating your own cheese. We will definitely always use grated cheese; Packaged products are a great option for topping items, like baked potatoes, nachos and party dips.

Read the original article on All Recipes.