268 Milk and Its Products 



clean ; that is, free from any flavors due to the 

 influence of undesirable fermentations or to foreign 

 matters that may have gained access to the milk 

 through the food or otherwise. The texture should 

 be solid, smooth and firm. When bored with the 

 trier, the plug should come out solid, or nearly so, 

 and smooth. There should be no moisture visible 

 in any part, and no appearance of any separation 

 of the fat from the casein. When crushed, the cheese 

 should readily break down into a smooth, unctuous 

 mass, without indication of the presence of undue 

 moisture, and should emit a pleasant, nutty flavor. 

 When broken across, the flaky texture should be 

 manifest, the so-called "flinty break." The color 

 should be uniform, not mottled, and with more or 

 less of a tendency to translucence, especially in new 

 uncolored cheese. The rind should be smooth, with- 

 out cracks, hard and transparent. The bandage 

 should extend evenly over the ends of the cheese for 

 about two inches and should be straight and smooth. 

 The ends of the cheese should be parallel and the 

 sides straight. These various qualities are usually 

 ranked according to the following scale : 



Per cent. 



Flavor 45 



Texture 35 



Color : 15 



Finish 5 



100 



