What’s the Best Cheese for Pizza? Science Says… Mozzarella

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You know how sometimes Science authorizes a study and we’re all like ‘ha ha good one Science, but we already know that men have penises. Why did you need to poll 3,650 men to see if they had penises?’

You know, stupid, obvious shit. They do it all the time. But this weekend, Science topped itself. With this doozy.

Titled “Quantification of Pizza Baking Properties of Different Cheeses, and Their Correlation with Cheese Functionality,” and published in the Journal of Food Science, researchers at the University of Auckland wanted to determine what cheese was best for pizza.

The answer?

Mozzarella. Not Cheddar, not Brie. No Pepper Jack and nuts to Manchego. Mozzarella. The Italian pizza cheese. But why? Why is pizza cheese so good on pizza? Science is here to science it up.

The unique browning patterns on mozzarella come from the way it bubbles, James says. Since it’s made by repeatedly stretching and molding fresh curds, “mozzarella has a lot of elasticity,” she explains. “If you look at it under a microscope, you see it has these channels of fat surrounded by protein.”

In the oven, the water in the cheese evaporates to create of steam, which causes it to bubble. Since mozzarella is so stretchy, the bubbles can expand and become fairly big. As the bubbles grow, the oil sitting on top slides off and the exposed mozzarella starts to brown. “Finally, the bubbles pop and recede back down,” James says.

Good to know. Glad nothing is changing. Move along.

[H/T Gizmodo]