Cheddar cheese should have a neat, clean, attractive appearance; when cut it should show a close, solid, uniformly colored interior. It should have a clear, pleasant, mild aroma and a nutty flavor. It should possess a mellow, silky, meaty texture and when rubbed between the thumb and fore-finger should be smooth and free from hard particles.
264. Causes of variations in score.—It is very seldom, if ever, that a cheese is given a perfect score, for it usually has one or more defects which may be hardly noticeable or very pronounced. The seriousness of the defect is determined by the individual tastes of the judges and the market requirements. It is customary for the judge to pick out several samples and score them in order to fix the standard and if there are several judges this serves to unify their standard. Ordinarily judges will vary because of their individual tastes, unless they begin with a uniform standard.
Certain markets require cheese with given qualities which on other markets would be considered defects. For example, the Boston market requires a very soft, pasty cheese which other markets would consider undesirable.
The cheese is constantly undergoing changes due to the ripening agents so that it may not always be scored the same. For example, a cheese may have little or no flavor and after several weeks a very considerable flavor may have developed. This is probably due to the action of the ripening agents, and therefore the second time it would be scored differently.
265. The score-card.—When judging several samples of cheese, the type of score-card on the opposite page is used for each one.
This gives the date of judging and the sample number, the judge's name and reasons for cutting the score and recommendations to avoid these troubles.