What Makes String Cheese Stringy?

When it comes to eating string cheese, opinions are divided on the best way to. You can take your time with it, savoring it as you pull off one string at a time, or chomp it down in a few big bites to get that deliciousness in your stomach as soon as possible.

Not one for commitment? You can pull off strings and nibble and when you lose interest, chomp the rest.

Regardless of how you like to eat it, string cheese is a delicious snack. But what is string cheese, anyway? How is it stringy? Let’s take a deep dive into America’s beloved cheese snack.

Is String Cheese Real Cheese?

It sure is! Organic Valley® wouldn’t have it any other way with our Stringles® string cheese!

String cheese is not “fake cheese.” While string cheese looks different from other cheeses, it’s made of mozzarella! What makes string cheese stringy comes down to how the cheese is processed and shaped. Mozzarella is the best cheese to use because it has the perfect moisture content and protein structure

It’s Stringy Because of Science

So why is string cheese stringy? In short: science.

Devin Thorson, Organic Valley product development manager for cheese and eggs, has insight into this stringy wonder. String cheese is formed by a process called “pasta filata,” in which cheesemakers take fresh mozzarella curd, place it into hot water to make it soft and semi-molten, and then push it out using a mechanical device called a screw auger system. This stretches the cheese and aligns the casein proteins within the cheese into small strands.

“It’s those proteins that are actually aligned that are creating that stringy strand experience,” Thorson said.

Finally, the auger pushes the strands out through a small hole, after which they are cut into the string cheese shape and cooled.

Who Invented String Cheese?

While the true origins of string cheese are largely anecdotal and lost to time, many people attribute the invention of string cheese to cheesemaker Frank Baker in 1976. According to an interview with his grandson Brian in The Atlantic, Frank began experimenting with shaping mozzarella into strips after mozzarella’s popularity surged following World War II.

Frank’s business, Baker Cheese, started by making 6-pound loaves of mozzarella to cut and slice to put on pizza, but people loved the cheese so much that they started requesting smaller versions of the cheese to snack on.

By this time, mozzarella was already available in shredded and cubed forms, but Frank wanted to try something new. After a little experimenting, he ended up with string cheese as we know it today!

String Cheese Can Be a Nutritious Snack

String cheese is a good source of calcium and protein. If you’re looking for a conveniently packaged, ready-to-go, nutritious, portion-controlled snack, Stringles® string cheese is a great choice. Throw Stringles in the kiddos’ lunchboxes, bring a handful on a road trip or grab a few before a bike ride or trip to the beach.

Our Stringles are simple. We make them with only three ingredients: organic cultured pasteurized part skim milk, salt and vegetarian enzyme (yes, they are vegetarian!). One stick of Stringles contains 7 grams of protein, 200 mg of calcium and only 80 calories.

The organic milk we use to make our Organic Valley cheeses comes from pasture-raised cows and is an excellent source of easily absorbed calcium. On top of that, it’s completely organic. Consuming organic cheese minimizes your risk of exposure to antibiotics, toxic pesticides, synthetic hormones and GMOs.

String Cheese Is More than a Snack

While Organic Valley’s Stringles are a great on-the-go snack, string cheese is capable of being much more than that. Because it’s made with a mozzarella base, it melts well, just like it would in other forms, Thorson said.

Stringles can elevate many meals! Try these simple string cheese hacks:

• Wrap in the crust of your homemade stuffed-crust pizza.
• Bread and deep fry to make yummy mozzarella sticks.
• Use in cheese-stuffed burger patties.
• Stuff in cooked manicotti noodles, add marinara and bake for an easy, no-fuss supper.
• Pull off big chunks and layer on nachos or quesadillas.

Eat It How You Want, Where You Want

So, what’s the best way to eat string cheese? It’s really up to you. It’s a delicious snack, whether you chomp it down in a few bites or savor the strings.

As for Thorson, he prefers stringing. “I think it has a little more fun to it, and it’s playing off the properties of how it was made.”

As for people who eat it the chomping way, Thorson doesn’t judge them … at least not that much.

“It does come off a little aggressive,” he said. “But the most important thing in my mind is that they’re eating cheese. So, I mean, no judgment.”

“Good Housekeeping” recently named Stringles string cheese the 2024 Best Snack Awards winner in the Protein-Packed Favorites category. Check out our Store Locator to see where to buy Stringles near you.