Sorry....sounds disgusting to me...I would sooner just serve them huge blocks of real cheese and set up enough cheese knives...
I don't much like chocolate fountains...but to put that awful orange nacho canned stuff into one makes my skin crawl.
But then I'm not 15....

Nah, LindaC, I'd go ahead and serve it. I don't care for the canned cheese stuff myself but I'm not a huge fan of cheese anyway.

The kids will love it, and if you're making nachos the chunks of cheese with a knife isn't going to cut it with teenagers, they want melty cheese on the chips and I sure as heck wouldn't melt real cheese on tortilla chips for 50 teenagers.

I don't have a fountain, so I can't help on what might work there, and I'd rather just have a bowl of salsa for those chips, but I could see Ashley covering those potato wedges with a drizzle of melty cheese sauce.

Annie

I'd go to the restaurant supply house and get some of those paper boats used for fries. Set up the cheese fountain with tortilla chips and/or fritos, potato wedges, and lots of toppings - jalapenos, salsa, chopped red or green onion, bacon bits, sliced black olives, canned fried onions, sour cream, etc. I'd add some pigs in blankets and sliders too. Have some cake, maybe have some assorted ice cream treats, or better yet, the dessert made with ice cream sandwiches and some extra chocolate sauce and skip the cake. I'll bet there won't be too much left over!

I won't offer a personal opinion, except to say to try it first and see how it really works. I think the kids would like it and think it was novel. They'll certainly remember your party if it turns out well!

Cheese in chocolate fountain! That's an interesting thought! Well, I don't know anything about that and we don't use melted cheese too often. The odd times I melt cheese for cauliflower I use the microwave. I have seen some very expensive cheese melters, completely out of my price range. So if it works using the chocolate fountain, I would say go for it.

Al

Can you control the temperature? Melting cheese can be tricky because it can break down and become stretchy curds in oil. That's probably the reason for the Velveta or nacho sauce recommendation. You could probably use a thin fondue recipe if you could control the temperature, but going through the fountain, heating and cooling, might make it separate anyway.

But...Where are you serving this? And how sober (both intoxicants and high spirited roughhousing) are these kids? I see a lot of hot dripped goo getting on the floor, in the girls' hair, etc. But it definitely sounds like something the kids would enjoy if they're fairly well behaved.

Well....that's the reason Iw ent EWW! It won't be "real cheese" that you have to melt...it will be that stuff in a can...even cold it's the consistancy of...catsup...cream of whatever soup...it's not real cheese just "nacho cheese"....as in Not Yo Cheese! LOL! Just as long as it's warm enough to warm the cheese so you don't get a blob of cold goop on your plate.
We...well not me but someone...buys those cans of nacho cheese to put on potatoes at a potato bar for the teens....and also for walking tacos.
And I have served real cheese nachos to a gang....not 50 or even 20 but 10?
you plate up the chips, add your jalapenos and dots of butter and slices of cheese....then pop into the micro for a few seconds.....very yummy!...but not for more than a few!!
Linda C

For a graduation party for 50 teens, the cheese fountain sounds like a great idea!

I think the wing sauce will be a giant mess because the sauce will slide off the wings if it's of the consistency to pump through the fountain.

I would definitely do a trial run with either idea before I'd add it to the menu.

Add me to the camp that finds Velveta in a fountain disgusting. OK, I find Velveta hard to swallow via any delivery system. And my teenagers, wouldn't mistake it for cheese either, even though they normally eat wayyyy too much junk food.

I think Teresa has great ideas!
Good luck with the party, Eileen...

This doesn't appeal to me. But I must confess that a chocolate fountain doesn't either. I'm not big on gimmicks when it comes to serving food. In most cases it is the "gimmick" that stands out not the food.

Ann

Teens would absolutely love the idea of nacho cheese in this thing. You are so sweet to host a party like this.

I was hoping we'd seen the end of food squirting out of fountains.

The problem you might (and I say "might" because I've never dealth with one of the things) is some restaurant dehydrated cheese mixes like Trio have bits of red pepper in them for color. Will that clog the fountain? If so, be sure to get the plain stuff.

I'd hate to be the one to have to clean it afterward.

Cleaning is what I'm thinking too. Not that I have any personal experience, but after you've run cheese through it or bbq sauce, will you ever want to run chocolate again?

Frankly, I think the kids will love it and if I'm not mistaken your oldest might be 14? Is this graduation from middle school? And I'd like to add that you'll probably be named the "coolest mom" for thinking up this idea!

I bet the kids will love it, although I have to admit I would hate it, and would especially hate having to clean it. But, I've never seen a chocolate fountain in person, and don't know how they work, or how they clean up. But, who is the party for? The kids, so go for it! I bet they'll have a blast.

Sally

Yes this party is for my 14 year old Johnny who is Graduating St Marys Catholic School and the 50 kids are the 8th grade graduation class of 2010! Absolutely will have no issue with alcohol...trust me on that one. The issue of if the cheese thing is gross....hmmmm....probably...but Ive have seen the damage these teens do on the Nacho Cheese thing and I know it will more than likely be a big hit. I like the suggestion of the cardboard frie holders. Im nixing the wing sauce as I do think it will be a sloppy mess. This will be served in the yard in the kitchen area and someone will sit in the area to so call supervise the kids and the machine. My restaurant supply hoouse where I shop has a pretty nice Nacho Sauce which is smooth. I am a cheese freak and hate to admit but I enjoy a 40.00lb cheese and Nacho cheese from Taco Bell...yes Taco Bell LOL!

Sounds totally gross to me, but I can guarantee you that it would be a hit a our middle school dances. Those kids would love it. I might have to try it next year for something different.

Why not just do fondue?? Same idea, also "cool" and unusual, and a whole lot easier for clean up! I have been to fondue parties and enjoyed them. Not when I was 14 though, but I've always been more interested in taste then presentation!
I'm not saying don't do the fountain, but at some point you may want to ask, "at what price cooleness?" :)

Fondue.. nah.. I think this is great. For sure it will be a hit! Theresa has the right idea, potatos as well as chips and such. I too like that nacho cheese stuff, as a matter of fact to get me to go to sporting events I'd always ask if that venue has nachos.. lol. I'm sure cleaning chocolate out of the fountain isn't that much fun either so the cheese sounds fine, especially since they tell you to cut it with water. If it starts to thicken you could always add some more water, but I suspect it will go pretty fast. I'd get an extra #10 can of the stuff more than you think you'll use. Something new I like to try ahead of time just to see how it goes, so that does sound like a good idea.

I think the idea is a fun one; not for me, but kids would love it. But, my concern is how to use it. If it falls in a sheet of cheese, how would you get a fries container under it without having half the container dripping to the ground? Chocolate fountains work because everything can be skewered. Can't skewer things like nachos.
Oh, perhaps you can include chunks of soft pretzels. Yum.

Jo

Jo - Exactly what I've been wondering! Maybe for the mini taquitos, perhaps the tacos, but for nacho plates, etc.?

Eileen, I will be at ST Mary's on June 26. My cousin who taught at ST Mary's for years is retiring and there will be a Mass and then a dinner in Stony Brook.

The kids will love the cheese, and your menu, and if it is outside, if the cheese goes on the grass, who cares?

Hope you have a wonderful day, and a great party!

My two go to St Marys....6 & 8th grade what teachers are you speaking of?????

I am sure the kids will love it.

I have a question about those fountains, how do you clean them? Are they difficult to clean? Every Christmas I see them on sale and I wonder if it's worth the money. I probably will use the chocolate fountain once a year, for Christmas. But if I can put something else in it and be able to clean it for chocolate again, I can justify buying one.

Al

I agree with coconut -- I am no cheese snob -- bring on the nachos at the old ball park (or Taco Bell) -- yum!

Please post if your cheese fountain was a success.

The machine breaks down into a bunch of section and I personally dont find it hard to clean. I bought the cheese yesterday at my restaurant supplier and will certainly update when I do use it.

I got to thinking about this last night -
are you supposed to take a chip and hold it in the fountain of cheese when using this as I have seen the chocolate fountain used? This could be a problem if you have a paper container of chips and want to put the flowing cheese on them, then add toppings. Would you use a dipper to put the cheese from the fountain onto a container of chips. With 50 kids dipping a single chip into the fountain one by one, it could take all night and the young people would have to dip in shifts! Might need to think about this again!

(I always picture these things in my head first - like...which way do people move in a buffet line to where they are going to sit at tables or shouldn't the rice go before the beef tips to serve as a bed for the tips and gravy.)

Eileen you are blazing the way here! Yes, do report back. It does sound like it could be the hit of the party.

I'm hoping you'll post pictures of the fountain in action with the kids helping themselves. Sounds like a lot of fun for that age group!

The fountain will be placed out and flow for at least an hour seperate from the buffet that will follow so this is a teen appetizer table LOL!

Can't wait to hear your report. And... pictures, pictures, and pictures, please!

Al

My very scientific google search of "cheese fountain" produced this picture. Looks like they suggest things that can be skewered.
Not bad.

Here is a link that might be useful: cheese fountain pictures

Teresa I think about how the serving will go too. Since I liked your paper tray idea, in my mind I figured sticking the tray under the fountain then sitting the tray on a regular paper plate. Seems like it would work pretty easily. A dipper also sounds like it might work. I have a bunch of these little dippers that would probably work sitting in the well at the bottom of the fountain.