anybody use Sorrento brand cheese

I am switching to Sorrento whole milk mozzarella diced
seems better than the Garden State cheese from CA that I was using
last week the Sorrent was around $2.90 here in AZ

what do you pay for yours?
please list what you are using, ie Grande skim diced…

thanks,
Otis

Re: anybody use Soreento brand cheese

Otis,

I’ll have to check but we are using a shredded Sorrento Whole Milk and Provolone Blend. I’m not sure what it cost us this week.

-Scott

Re: anybody use Soreento brand cheese

we used sorento for a while… it was okay… that bad thing about it is that is not consistent… every week the cheese was cooking different… one week was perfect, next batch was burning before the dough was cooked etc…

Re: anybody use Soreento brand cheese

I’ve always used sorrento whole milk from my first pizzeria to my current one.Never really had a problem with it.I’m paying about 2.25 a lb these days.
Derek

we stitched to roma / vistar here in houston, tx

we were not happy with sorrento, wasn’t fresh
now we use vistar brand cheese mozzarella heartland

its fresher, better

we used to buy the sorrento block and shread it, no longer
diced cheese is better.

i think its best to use cheese that is fresh and that makes a better pizza.

Vistar bids out their house labels like the other big shops. You may be able to find out who does the actual manufacturing and packaging if you find the right person to ask. I am finding out the contracts for USFoodslabels can vary by region (Southeast versus Northwest).

I agree, fresher the better…

how long has your cheese been packed befor getting it ?
last shipment, the packing date on the cheese was 7 + weeks.
is that too long
Otis

any supplier should get you fresher cheese than 7 plus weeks

I know ROMA / VISTAR would
7 years of their cheese and never a problem- never - diced fresh weekly and delivered to my pizzeria consistent as can be

buy shred/diced/blended or block cheese from ROMA VISTAR - they follow the cheese market to the T
best cheese supplier in the country

That is WAY old.

From Encyclopizza:
[size=5]
Aging Time and Rate[/size]

Mozzarella is usually shipped within seven days after produc­tion and, so, receives little or no curing in the cheese plant. Instead, aging occurs in the distribution channel and pizzeria. Aging time is often listed as 1 to 4 weeks, mean­ing that the cheese should not be used before 7 days or after 28 days from date of manufacture. How­ever some experts suggest that the optimum usage window is 14 to 28 days, with lower moisture mozzarella (45 to 47 percent moisture) lasting a little longer. This, of course, assumes that the cheese has been maintain­ed at 36 to 40 degrees F. Typically the distributor receives mozzarella that’s 6 to 13 days old. So most pizze­rias receive it at 13 to 20 days.

The rate of aging varies with the type of mozzarella. The higher the fat and moisture content, the faster it ages. So whole milk mozzarella ages the quickest and low-mois­ture, part-skim the slowest. This means that the window of usage for whole milk mozzarella is shorter than for part-skim, as whole milk mozzarella ripens (and over-ripens) sooner. Mozzarella with more than 50 percent moisture is considered over-aged after 30 days. A 45 to 47 percent moisture mozzarella is still good-tasting after 30 days, but becomes slightly more difficult to process. One advan­tage of whole milk mozzarella is that it develops stronger flavor during aging, thus producing a slightly more flavorful pizza.

Salt also affects the rate of aging. The higher the salt content, the slower the rate of aging.

[size=5]Impact on Flavor, Texture, and Baking Performance[/size]

The degree of aging of a cheese can be judged by its flavor and texture. Under-age mozzarella is white and bland-tasting and has a hard, rubbery consis­tency. It proces­ses easily but bakes up poorly, mean­ing it doesn’t melt well and browns with a dry appearance. In addi­tion it congeals very quickly after baking. As mozzarella ages, the color becomes slightly more yellowish, the flavor becomes sharper, and the texture becomes softer. In this state it melts, stretches, and browns better when baked. Over-age mozzarella is overly soft and pasty and nearly impossible to slice, shred, or chop. The loaf begins to round out, losing the sharp corners. When baked it may be overly runny, have less stretch, and tend to oil-off more. Although most people agree that oiling-off increases with age of cheese, a test conducted at the Univer­sity of Vermont showed oiling-off to be unchanged with variations in the age of the cheese.

To achieve an easy-to-process, good baking, nicely flavored cheese, mozzarella must be used at the opti­mum time. This requires two things. First, the cheese should be about 13 to 20 days old when it arrives at the pizzeria. Second, it must be stored at a temperature that will pro­duce the desired speed of aging within the pizzeria.