When people eat cheese, they should think about what may be going on inside the cheese at the molecular level. The process by which all the action happens involves a protein called casein.
In general, the dissolution of that network—the melting of the cheese—plays out in stages as the cheese is heated. First, beginning as cool as around room temperature, the cheese's assorted fats will begin to melt.
As the cheese reaches the temperature of water from a hot tap, the proteins within it start losing water, shrinking and softening. By around 160 degrees Fahrenheit, about the temperature of thoroughly cooked meat, the melting process is complete.
But thoroughly melted cheese doesn't act like typical melted substances. In contrast, mozzarella oozes and stretches, making it the poster cheese for good melting.
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