The effect of aging on low-fat, reduced-fat, and full-fat Cheddar cheese texture

Changes in firmness and first-bite sensory terms of a) mouth (first-bite) firmness, b) hand firmness, and c) first-bite fracturability. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Changes in hand measured sensory terms of a) hand springiness and b) hand rate of recovery. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Changes in breakdown terms of a) degree of breakdown, b) cohesiveness, c) adhesiveness, d) smoothness of mass, and e) residual smoothness of mouth coating. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Critical a) strain and b) stress values for stress sweeps conducted at 10Hz. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Maximum compliance (J_max) from creep/recovery tests conducted at 150Pa. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Stress-strain curves for a) Cheddar cheeses of varying fat contents at 6 mo of age; curves show every fifth data point improve clarity. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used. b) Actual data and Blatz, Sharda, and Tschoegl (BST) equation fit for full-fat standard Cheddar cheese at 6 mo of age.

Torsional fracture a) stress, b) strain, and c) modulus for Cheddar cheese determined at a strain rate of 0.41 1/s. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Effect of strain rate on torsional fracture a) stress and b) strain of Cheddar cheese at 9 mo. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Total adhesive force for Cheddar cheese. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean. Cheeses included 2 full-fat cheeses (FF1 and FF2) that differed only in inclusion of a curd washing while making FF2, 1 reduced-fat (RF) cheese, and 2 low-fat cheeses (LF1 and LF2) that differed only in the starter culture used.

Strain representation on a logarithmic scale of the rheological testing compared with sensory texture test methods.