How do I evaluate a cheese like a pro?

Sensory evaluation is basically when you evaluate a cheese by introducing it to your senses.
Why do we need sensory evaluation?

Well, it does not matter how right the chemical analysis or the appearance alone of a product is – we still need to taste it, because that is the ultimate criteria that the consumer of that food will be using, and no laboratory analysis is going to convince a consumer that something that tastes bad is actually good.
What are the senses involved?

• Sight
  
• Smell
  
• Taste
  
• Hearing
  
• Touch

Yes, we all are accustomed to seeing, smelling and tasting food, but we forget that something like crispness is judged by hearing and touch.   The hardness, texture, elasticity and mouthfeel of a cheese are judged by touch. 

How do I evaluate a cheese like a pro?

Sensory evaluation is basically when you evaluate a cheese by introducing it to your senses.

Why do we need sensory evaluation?

Well, it does not matter how right the chemical analysis or the appearance alone of a product is – we still need to taste it, because that is the ultimate criteria that the consumer of that food will be using, and no laboratory analysis is going to convince a consumer that something that tastes bad is actually good.
What are the senses involved?

• Sight
  
• Smell
  
• Taste
  
• Hearing
  
• Touch

Yes, we all are accustomed to seeing, smelling and tasting food, but we forget that something like crispness is judged by hearing and touch.   The hardness, texture, elasticity and mouthfeel of a cheese are judged by touch.  Thus it is important that we are aware of all the senses when we evaluate a cheese and that we write everything down, to get a complete mental picture of that cheese.   Of the food evaluation senses above, taste is still the most important.  Sometimes with complex flavours it is hard to distinguish different tastes clearly and therefore it helps a lot to know where the specific tastes are best sensed on the tongue.  For example mild rancidity can be picked up at the back of the tongue and the soft palate.   Mild rancidity like this wants to make you clear your throat, without any clear taste being evident, because the bitter, soapy taste is so weak.   By knowing where on the tongue bitter is tasted we get a clue as to the taste defect.

Tips for judging dairy products:

• No smoking, drinking of alcohol or eating close to judging
  
• Be familiar with the specifications of the product being judged
  
• Be objective
  
• Be willing to ignore your own taste preferences, and judge a type of cheese according to its specifications and accepted taste profile.
  
• Be decisive
  
• Judge dairy at room temperature unless product does not allow this (this brings out the flavour and does not dull senses with coldness.)
  
• Be sure to take samples representative of the entire product (inside and outside).

We will now have a short discussion on the most common dairy flavours and what causes them:

·         Oxidation/Cardboardy – Varied intensity gives taste from flat to metallic, oily, tallowy to

           cardboardy.  Could be caused by exposure to sunlight.

·         Rancidity/Soapy – Taste caused by hydrolyses of milk fat for the following reasons – Too  

          fast cooling of the milk, rough physical treatment of milk, like pumping, and freezing, thawing, or

          caused by certain bacteria.

[Hydrolysis is a process much the same as what happens in soap making, where the fat molecule splits up, releasing fatty acids. These free fatty acids quickly causes off-flavours.]

·         Fermented/Fruity/Yeasty – Usually from yeast infection and is usually characteristic of

          beer, pineapple or bread dough. The cheese also could be spongy.

·         Flat – Underdeveloped flavour, usually associated with dry, very firm cheese or the reason

          could be too little salt.

·         Chemical – Usually caused by contamination with detergents or other chemicals. Be sure to

          rinse your equipment well with clean water after washing.

·         Ammoniacal – Resembling ammonia from protein breakdown, like in an over-ripe

          Camembert.