Do you *shred* cheese or *grate* cheese?

[Ellie]

I think of "shredding" as what you do with chicken, or pork, you know, where the meat is cooked and tender and you use forks (or your fingers) to *shred* it into little pieces for salad or pulled-pork sandwiches or whatever. I think of *grating* as what you do with the cheese (or onions), where you use a grater of some kind.

 

Which one do you do--grate or shred?

[catz]

I shred cheddar and grate Parmesan.  :)

[LucyStoner]

Either. Sometimes it's the same thing. Sometimes it's a different technique or size.

 

It also depends on the cheese. "Shredded Parmesan" is something distinct from "grated Parmesan".

 

I have a fine microplane grater- anything I use that on is grated. Those big box graters though? I might use grated or shredded interchangeably for whatever I put through that.

 

Lots of things are termed shredded even if they aren't ripped. Shredded cabbage for instance is really just thinly cut.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Depends on the type of cheese.  I shred a softer cheese (it is in bigger shreds).  I grate hard cheeses (it is in more of a powder form).  Most people shred meat into bigger shreds.  I suppose that you could grate a frozen block of meat but I'm not sure what the point would be.

[creekland]

I do both.  It depends upon whether I want small slices (shredded) or more of a powder (grated).

 

Though now in my "older" age I tend to just buy what I'm looking for pre shredded or grated if I'm honest.

[Cinder]

I will grate a block of cheese. But if I buy the kind in the package then I'm buying shredded cheese. I dunno why, it just is.

[Gil]

Uhm....I shred cheese with a grater?

[horsellian]

I've never heard of shredding cheese before today - I definitely grate it.

 

(I do shred paper with personal information on it, and I'd also shred cooked chicken, or crispy fried duck, using a fork, but not cheese!)

[Word Nerd]

Neither. Someone else grates or shreds it for me. ;)

[Ellie]

Either. Sometimes it's the same thing. Sometimes it's a different technique or size.

 

It also depends on the cheese. "Shredded Parmesan" is something distinct from "grated Parmesan".

 

I have a fine microplane grater- anything I use that on is grated. Those big box graters though? I might use grated or shredded interchangeably for whatever I put through that.

 

Lots of things are termed shredded even if they aren't ripped. Shredded cabbage for instance is really just thinly cut.

 

But I have never seen "shredded Parmesan." :confused1:  

[Ellie]

I've never heard of shredding cheese before today - I definitely grate it.

 

(I do shred paper with personal information on it, and I'd also shred cooked chicken, or crispy fried duck, using a fork, but not cheese!)

 

(((soul sister)))

[Slartibartfast]

I call it grating cheese but pulling or shredding meat. Paper is shredded.

[Jean in Newcastle]

But I have never seen "shredded Parmesan." :confused1:  

Because Parmesan is a hard cheese.

[Aiden]

Both, depending on what I need. My "grater" has two sides--one with larger holes that result in a long, thin "shred," and one with smaller holes that results in small, roundish grated particles. I use whichever side I need for the dish I want to prepare.

[zoobie]

But I have never seen "shredded Parmesan." :confused1:

Sargento makes a widely available one, and WF and TJs carries one in tubs.

 

http://www.sargento.com/products/34/sargento-artisan-blends-shredded-parmesan-cheese/

[LucyStoner]

But I have never seen "shredded Parmesan." :confused1:

Shredded:

 

 

Vs.

 

Freshly Grated:

 

 

Another form of grated Parmesan is the shelf stable plastic tub we call "sprinkle cheese" in my home. That is finely grated with stuff added to make it shelf stable until opened.

 

Shredded parmesan is sold in little plastic tubs in most regular grocery stores by the deli counter. Mostly we buy our hard Italian cheeses in blocks at Costco and grate/shred ourselves.

[Ellie]

Sargento makes a widely available one, and WF and TJs carries one in tubs.

 

http://www.sargento.com/products/34/sargento-artisan-blends-shredded-parmesan-cheese/

 

Ah. I probably never noticed because I don't buy pre-shredded/grated cheese. Ever. I always buy the cheese and grate it myself. And even if I saw the "shredded" cheese, in my head I would still think of it as "grated," even if the label said "shredded," because I'd be using one of my graters in my kitchen to prepare it. :-)

 

Also, this might be a case of business changing vocabulary. Maybe the company thought it was better to say "shredded" instead of "coarsely grated," lol.

[Ellie]

I call it grating cheese but pulling or shredding meat. Paper is shredded.

 

Exactly.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I couldn't vote because you didn't have an "other."  Soft cheeses like cheddar are shredded.  Hard cheeses like Parmesan are grated. 

[SoCalLynn]

I buy cheese at Sprouts market here in so.California. They shred all their cheese on site and sell it containers. I just looked at my latest container and it is labeled "shredded" Parmesan and it looks like the top photo posted above. If I buy the one they label "grated" it looks like much larger peels of parmesan, as if someone used a veggie peeler to peel a block of cheese. Maybe that's just their way of labeling?

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Huh. My immediate response was, "Grated, of course." I agree with your definition of shredding. Then I thought more about it and realized that I refer to any cheese that I processed on a grater as grated cheese, no matter what shape it takes afterward. But if someone else has done the work and it's in the longer strips and not in a powder-like form, I consider it shredded. I never thought about the difference. I might not be able to live with myself now. 

[Lady Florida.]

Where's the obligatory "Other"? :)

 

Shredding and grating are not the same thing. I shred some cheese and grate other types of cheese.

[Ellie]

I couldn't vote because you didn't have an "other."  Soft cheeses like cheddar are shredded.  Hard cheeses like Parmesan are grated. 

 

But I use my *grater* to grate my cheddar cheese, or my mozzarella cheese, or my Parmesan cheese.

[LucyStoner]

Maybe "shredded cheese" originates from machine processing? My food processor doesn't really "grate" anything. My food processor does most of the cheese "shredding/ripping/grating" 'round here.

[umsami]

If I'm doing it myself, I'm grating cheese (like on a box grater.)

 

If I buy it pre-done, I'm buying shredded cheese.

[shukriyya]

I couldn't vote because you didn't have an "other."  Soft cheeses like cheddar are shredded.  Hard cheeses like Parmesan are grated. 

 

:iagree:  This was where I went with it, too.

[mysticmomma]

I shred cheese on a cheese grater.

[LucyStoner]

But I use my *grater* to grate my cheddar cheese, or my mozzarella cheese, or my Parmesan cheese.

And the English language is known for its perfect consistency.

 

Oh, wait.

 

:)

[stripe]

I grate, and my husband shreds.

[Kathryn]

I couldn't vote because you didn't have an "other." Soft cheeses like cheddar are shredded. Hard cheeses like Parmesan are grated.

This is my exact answer.

[Ewe Mama]

I grate cheese with a cheese grater.

 

I purchased shredded cheese from the store.

[freesia]

I shred cheese by grating it.

[Desert Strawberry]

:confused1:

Nm.

[horsellian]

DH has just pointed out that we also shred herbs sometimes - shred with fingers this time!

[wintermom]

I use a grater and all my cheese (hard or softer) are then grated. I have two different sizes of holes in the grater, but the finished product is still grated cheese. The pre-packaged "shredded" cheeses use a different term than I ever do.

 

The only thing I can think of that I shred is paper. I can't think of a meat I would find "shredded" either. It could be ground, or flaked (fish), or cubed, or diced, or minced, or pulled.

 

I have no concrete idea what the exercise term "shredding" in a work-out actually is. The muscle doesn't shred. Perhaps there is supposed to be some mental image of the muscle growing or something. I don't know. It's just confusing to me - and I have a Master's degree in Kinesiology.

[Mrs Mungo]

You know, the US (which is where most of us here are from) is pretty huge. The distance between NYC and LA is much more than the distance between Paris and Moscow. Think of how many languages and cultures exist within that second example. It isn't surprising that there is variation in the US. We've lived so many different places that my kids don't all pronounce everything the same way, and they use different terms for the same thing. I understand being curious. But, I don't really understand when people are adamant that one way is "wrong." Just speaking generally. :)

 

edited due to lack of caffeination.

[wintermom]

You know, the US (which is where most of us here are from) is pretty huge. The distance between NYC and LA is much more than the distance between Paris and Moscow. Think of how many languages and cultures exist within that second example. It isn't surprising that there is variation in the US. We've lived so many different places that my kids don't all pronounce everything the same way, and they use different terms for the same thing. I understand being curious. But, I don't really understand when people are adamant that one way is "wrong." Just speaking generally. :)

 

edited due to lack of caffeination.

 

I'm not even from the US, so differences found on this board go beyond borders. ;)

 

[Tap]

I grate cheese.

I put shredded cheese on food. 

 

 

[Mrs Mungo]

so differences found on this board go beyond borders. ;)

I agree. But, the majority of posters are from the US. My point was only that there are a wide variety of regional quirks that exist within the US (I currently live in Hawaii, where there are some pretty extreme differences from my home state of Oklahoma, lol). I have a hard time understanding why some people (not just talking about this thread) believe there is only ONE right way of thinking *in the US*. I'm pretty sure that even most of them allow for differences outside of the US.

[wintermom]

I agree. But, the majority of posters are from the US. My point was only that there are a wide variety of regional quirks that exist within the US (I currently live in Hawaii, where there are some pretty extreme differences from my home state of Oklahoma, lol). I have a hard time understanding why some people (not just talking about this thread) believe there is only ONE right way of thinking *in the US*. I'm pretty sure that even most of them allow for differences outside of the US.

 

I didn't know that's what we were polling for. Was the majority vote going to make the rest of us say "shedded" or "grated" depending on who "won"?

 

If you REALLY want to get scared about language police, then you have to move to Quebec and try to open a business with an English name. EEEEEEK!

 

[Slojo]

I grate the cheese, but it's final state is "shredded??" Meaning, I am more likely to use "grate" to refer to the action and "shredded" to describe its end state. But in actuality, I often buy it pre-shredded/grated (I know, so not economical) - so whatever is on the container  :confused1: . Grated sounds fancier than shredded so also maybe if I was trying to impress someone with my "froo froo shee shee" (not sure how to spell that, so went phonetic) dish I'd use grated (and probably "artisanal" for good measure) to describe the cheese ;-) - and as the distinctions people put forth suggest, there apparently is a difference. But in my everyday language, I'm just not being that nuanced about it. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-shredded-and-grated/

 

What is a technical term in a commercial kitchen or food processing plant is a more loosely interchangeable term in the home kitchen.  

[Seasider]

I classify it like you do, Ellie.

 

But I might also be able to be described as thinking of the non-block cheese I buy, shredded, but if I do it myself, grated. I realize there's no logic to that.

[Ellie]

http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-shredded-and-grated/

 

What is a technical term in a commercial kitchen or food processing plant is a more loosely interchangeable term in the home kitchen.  

 

Well, there you go!

 

When I was growing up, we didn't do either one. Really. We didn't grate/shred cheese; in fact, we rarely ate cheese that didn't come individually wrapped in tidy little slices. True story. I probably started saying "grated" because, you know, I had a grater in my hand and applying cheese to it. But honestly, in my whole life, I don't think anyone has ever said "shredded cheese" in my hearing. I was reading some messages on a FB food group that talked about "shredded" cheese, and because that's what the topic was, that word was used repeated, and it just struck me funny. So I wondered what my WTM boardies mostly said, 'cuz y'all are my standard of comparison. No pressure. :D 

 

I have learned much about what people call things. I understand bubblers, buggies, and more 'cuz of my Internet discussions, lol.

[Reefgazer]

I grate cheese, but I do think there is a definite technical definition for the two.  I think grate means to make the cheese so finely ground (like pecorino romano) that it's almost "powdery", while shredding refers to larger fragments of cheese.

[Farrar]

I couldn't vote because you didn't have an "other."  Soft cheeses like cheddar are shredded.  Hard cheeses like Parmesan are grated. 

 

Cheddar is a soft cheese to you?  :huh: I mean, it's softer than Parmesan, but it's no Camembert.

[Farrar]

I guess I've vaguely heard that there is some culinary difference between shredded and grated, but colloquially speaking, I grate them all and they are all grated. I don't do anything to a soft cheese because you spread those. Except mozzarella, I guess. But that's annoying to grate, so I buy it pre-done.

 

[mamajag]

I don't. That's what kids are for.

[fraidycat]

I shred cheese with the grater. ;)

[Catwoman]

In my mind, if it's cheese, it's grated.

 

I don't know anyone IRL who says they shred cheese.

 

Maybe it's regional?