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I have a lot of cottage cheese, and was thinking of using some to make a cheese sauce (possibley mixed with a blend of shredded cheeses as well).

For some reason all the recipes I find for cottage cheese sauce call for putting the cheese in the blender. This is making me confused, if I skip the blender, shouldn't the cottage cheese just melt, like other cheeses would?

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    Even if it does I would think using a blender would produce more consistent results. You've got a sauce in one easy step. You can't just melt cheese, at least not most real (non-processed) cheese, and get a sauce.
    – Ross Ridge
    Jun 21, 2017 at 17:34
  • @RossRidge I'm actually not necessarily looking for a creamy sauce in this particular case. I would prefer something to put on macaroni that will leave it covered in gooey, cheesey, goodness. but I want to avoid large clumps of cheese.
    – lzam
    Jun 21, 2017 at 17:42
  • A creamy sauce is probably what most of the recipes you're looking at are going for though. I don't know how well cottage cheese will work if you're going for "gooey cheesey", as it has a lot more water and a lot less fat then say cheddar cheese.
    – Ross Ridge
    Jun 21, 2017 at 17:56

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No. Cottage cheese is a type of acid coagulated cheese, much like ricotta, feta and farmers cheese. It will continue to have lumps when heated, which will never be smooth.

The other type of cheese to avoid for melting is long aged hard cheeses like Parmesan or sharp cheddars. These tend to "break" and separate into an oily mess. Adding butter or cream usually helps, but can dilute the flavor. Using starch such as a bechamel sauce as a binder has a similar effect, but using a blend of short aged cheeses like gruyere or jack and stronger flavored cheeses like cheddar is a good option.

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  • Bah, nothing wrong with cheddar as long as you do it correctly and pick the right one
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 22, 2017 at 13:49
  • Yes - many cheddars will melt nicely, and it has an excellent flavor. If you find that your favorite cheddar doesn't melt, mixing it with other cheese can help
    – Jon Takagi
    Jun 22, 2017 at 14:56
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Cottage cheese is a low fat product and does not melt like a cheddar-type cheese. It make a decent sauce if heated slowly with butter, but it doesn't taste like the usual 'cheese' sauce and you need to mash it a bit to get rid of the lumps.

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  • Mozzarella is low fat and generally melts ok.
    – Catija ♦
    Jun 22, 2017 at 13:49

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