Sensory Evaluation...what I have been waiting for!

This is the class that I have been looking forward to the most. We taste, smell, man-handle and evaluate cheese. This is hard work, friends! I will admit that by the end of the day I felt a little ill but it was fun to test my senses, especially as a chef. This is final day of cheese school and I am an official Artisan Cheesemaker and proud alum of the Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese.

The next day my mom met me and we toured Ben and Jerrys as well as a stop at Dancing Cow Farm. They were super friendly and gave us a private tour of the farm. The next day while at Murray's Cheese Shop in Manhattan we saw their cheese being highlighted for the month.

Back In Class

After a week at home I returned for my second week of classes in Vermont. Because of all the knowledge I received from the first week I knew my attempts at cheddar and another round of Valencay were made incorrectly so i decided to bring them with me to Vermont and let my instructors evaluate them. It was awesome. My first cheddar was tough and the second one, with fresh peppers, was dry and crumbly. My Valencays were too hard and dry but the response on flavor was positive. At least I had the opportunity for feedback. We tested the moisture and salt content as well in class...cool!