Dairy
Halloumi
A very short cook, and the only cheese in the catalogue that does not melt into a mess.
What it does in fast-moving hot air
Halloumi is made by heating the curd before it is pressed, which denatures the proteins into a structure that softens rather than flowing when it is heated again. That is what makes it grillable and it is also its limit: hold it too long and the structure finally gives, the fat separates and it goes from squeaky to greasy. The surface browns fast because of the milk sugars and the salt from the brine, and the salt is also why it needs no seasoning and why it draws its own moisture to the surface if it sits cut for too long before cooking.
Why the cut matters
Halloumi is the reason a cheese page exists at all. The one published figure is two to four minutes for 3cm slices brushed with oil, on a row that names no state, which is the shortest cook of any substantial food here.
Cooking pages
- Halloumi slices — One manufacturer grills 3cm slices brushed with oil for two to four minutes, and names no state for the cheese.
This page gives no cooking answer of its own. A food does not have one — a cut, at a thickness, in a state, at a loading, in a particular appliance does. Any figure mentioned above is one manufacturer’s, and the page for the cut says which machine, quantity and state it was printed for, or that the manufacturer named no state.