Originally Posted by
rjque
Totally disagree - American cheese has one purpose and one purpose only: cheeseburgers. It melts perfectly and mixes well with the patty and most of the standard burger spreads. I'm a big fan of fancy cheeses, but I always order American cheese when it is offered with a burger.
There are very different grades of American cheese/"cheese"; the cheap, sweet stuff most places use is generally labelled "processed cheese food" or worse yet "processed cheese product" and both are (to my mind) only useful for a basic grilled cheese sandwich, and not good on burgers.
Better American (less sweet, higher cheese-to-not-cheese content, and actually labelled "processed cheese" without sales modifiers) is a bit more versatile, and I wouldn't turn it down on a burger if I knew that was what was being offered, although I'd rather have something better.