=Qualities of American Cheese.=--The quality of cheeses is judged by (1) flavor, (2) body, (3) texture, (4) color, and (5) general appearance. In regard to flavor it is impossible to describe what is meant. Only the connoisseur can determine properly whether a cheese has a flavor which is sound, healthy, and indicative of the highest quality. The cheese flavor should be free from any admixture of other flavors. Cheese resembles butter in this respect, that it absorbs and then gives off foreign flavors with great facility. Therefore in the whole process of cheese making care must be exercised to exclude every odor or flavor of an undesirable character from the cheese house. _Flavor._--Under flavor also may be described taste, which should be of that biting, incisive character due to proper development of ripening and its attendant bacterial and enzymic products. The various foreign flavors in cheese may be due to the odor of cows or the stable or may suggest “rotten eggs,” or it may be the flavor of rancid butter due to the decomposition of butter fat in the cheese. _Body._--This is also a term which it is difficult to define. An American cheese is said to have a perfect body when it is solid, firm, and smooth in substance. This quality is ascertained by pressing the cheese between the fingers. When it does not press down evenly between the finger and thumb it is said technically to be “corky.” It is smooth when it feels velvety-like and is not harsh or gritty. _Texture._--The term texture applied to American cheese refers mainly to its compactness. It is nearly related to body. The texture may be fine and close or porous. The texture is perfect when a cut surface of the inside of the cheese presents to the eye a solid, compact, continuous appearance, free from breaks, holes, or lumps. Cheese should not show any visible or separated moisture or fat. The texture of American cheese should be smooth, free from breaks, and fairly hard. The bandage should be smooth and neat, extending over the edge on each end of the cheese about two inches. _Color._--A true and unadulterated cheese should have only the color of the milk from which it is made, and any other color incident to ripening which is usually green. Unfortunately cheeses of American origin are often artificially colored. An over-deep yellowish or reddish tint, therefore, should be regarded as a mark of inferiority. Artificially colored cheese should not rank as high on the market as that of a natural tint, which is much more pleasing to the eye and much less objectionable to the æsthetic taste. Color is often added to conceal inferiority in the milk used. The sides of the cheese should be straight and of uniform height all around. The following scale of points is used in judging cheese, according to the above qualities: Flavor, 45 to 50; texture, 30 to 35; color, 10 to 15; general appearance, 5 to 15.