ATK's review of artisanal cheddars

[awakephd]

Many of you may already have seen this, but here is a review of artisanal cheddars from America's Test Kitchen: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/taste_tests/564-artisanal-cheddar?tag=atkntk-20&extcode=LN15C2QAA&sourcekey=CL15032AA#. (I hope the link will work -- not sure if a person needs to be logged in.)

A couple of interesting points: their "winner" was a 9-12 month aged, plastic wrapped cheese (!), which uses thermo as well as meso cultures. (Not that the review said it in quite that way, but that is my interpretation of their description.)

[MAK]

Thanks for sharing.  I have wrapped my cheese in both clothbound and vacuumed sealed plastic.  My wife likes the plastic wrapped vs clothbound.  She likes the softer and creamer texture, compared to the firm texture of a clothbound.  I like the clothbound.  I think the clothbound has more complex flavors.

[qdog1955]

Andy----lots of interesting stuff-----thanks for posting the link-----sure would like to know what cultures are being used-------willing to bet that very few use that darn P/H milk
  I always find it curious, when people try to describe the taste of cheese ( any food, actually ). Wine tasters come immediately to mind. A cheddar that tastes like pineapple wouldn't be my idea of a great cheddar. I know it's not easy to describe flavors and I suspect that no two people have the same receptors----for example ----one thinks to much salt ----another thinks not enough salt.
  The texture aspect came as a surprise------that a plastic wrapped cheese could win praise, WOW-----I personally prefer the creamier texture and always thought I was the "LONER"----maybe not. It would be interesting to see survey results on that topic from the Cheese Forum members.
Qdog
 

[MAK]

I'm not sure how to describe this.  I think that clothbound cheddar has better mouth feel.  I can only compare it to cake icing.  Store bought cakes use shortening to make there icing (frosting).  Hi end pastry shops use 100% butter and egg whites (Swiss buttercream).  The swiss buttercream will melt faster on your tongue giving you better mouth feel.  I feel clothbound cheddar even though drier in texture dissolves quicker in your mouth leaving lots of complex flavors on your tongue.  The same thing occurs with good chocolate to cheap chocolate. 

I think Americans are just use to eating softer style cheese.  I aged a clothbound cheddar for a year and it had so much flavors.  Now that I tasted the results of my hard work.  I'm making a cheese a week.   But this time I'm going to sample every 3 months to see the texture changes.

Just my 2 cents

Dave

[qdog1955]

Dave---worth much more then two cents-----your description of texture is much better then I could come up with-----but once again, describing a flavor, seems more difficult. 
  I often try to describe the flavor of a cheese by comparing it to a commercial cheese that most people are familiar with----such as "It tastes like Jarlsberg or Colby or Jack"---but if that person never had those, where the heck do you start?
  Your description is good---makes me want to go make a real cake with "real icing" Maybe with good chocolate
Qdog 

[Al Lewis]

Words to describe cheese tastes......earthy, mushroomy, tangy, creamy, nutty, buttery, salty, smoky.  Miss any?

[qdog1955]

Al----you missed the pineapple description of the cheddar in the original link---it must have been a Hawaiian cheddar 
Qdog

[Al Lewis]

NOT a word I would use to describe cheese.  Having written 15 books in my day I'm pretty well up on adjectives.  Here are some....

Taste/Touch Adjectives

bitter
delicious
fresh
greasy
juicy
hot
icy
loose
melted
nutritious
prickly
rainy
rotten
salty
sticky
strong
sweet
tart
tasteless
uneven
weak
wet
wooden
yummy

Nope, not a pineapple in the bunch!!  LOL

[Stinky]

Another I've read is used for tasting cheddars is

"catty"