Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Main Difference

The main difference between the Sharp Cheddar and Mild Cheddar is that Sharp Cheddar is tangy, aged for about 12 to 24 months, and acquire the classical taste, whereas Mild Cheddar is somewhat sweet followed by sharp flavor aged for about 2 to 3 months.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Sharp Cheddar and Mild Cheddar

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar is aged for a long time to enhance the taste bitterness for about 12 to 24 months, while mild cheddar is aged for about 2 to 3 months for the dairy taste.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar is bitter, tangy and sharp in taste; on the flip side of the coin, mild cheddar is somewhat sweet, dairy, less sharp and bitter.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has less moisture content; on the other hand, mild cheddar has high moisture content.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has a dry and crumbly texture because of less moisture content and, whereas mild cheddar has moist, soft, and smooth texture because of high moisture content.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has the high peptide content due to the breakdown of the proteins by the enzymes; on the other side, mild cheddar has low peptide content due to less aged time provided.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has a low melting capacity, while mild cheddar has a high melting capacity, can easily melt on the mouth palate.

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Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has high nutritional importance as contains about 110 calories of energy; on the flip side, mild cheddar has less nutritional value as contains 70 calories of energy.

Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar has high fat and protein content of about 9g and 7g, respectively; on the other hand, mild cheddar has less fat and protein content of about 6g and 4g, respectively.

Comparison Chart

Sharp Cheddar Mild Cheddar
Sharp cheddar is long-aged, tangy and sharp in flavor with dry and crumbles texture. Mild cheddar is less aged, sweet followed by sharpness, with high moisture content and soft texture.
Age Time
12 to 24 months 2 to 3 months
Taste
Sharp, tangy and bitter Less sharp or sweet
Texture
Dry, Crumbles Smooth, Moist, Soft
Melting Capacity
Difficult to melt Easy to melt, even on the palate
Peptides Content
High due to enzymes breaking proteins Less content due to less age
Nutritional Importance
110 calories energy, 9g fat, 7g protein 70 calories, 6g fat, 4g protein
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Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Sharp cheddar is considered to attain the classical cheese taste, throughout the world, while mild cheese is one of the somewhat less tangy and sharp in taste, also liked by some sweet lovers.

Sharp cheddar has found its name from the time it is aged for about 12 to 24 months gets sharp classical taste; on the other hand, mild cheddar has found its name due to mild sharp taste with the slightly sweet flavor and from the time it is aged for about 2 to 3 months. Sharp cheddar is tasted by the bitterness of peptides of protein in the cheese as their level is increased with age by the enzymes breaking down proteins; on the flip side of the coin, mild cheese is less sharp and tangy because of less age time.

Sharp cheddar has low moisture content with crumbly texture; on the other side, mild cheddar has high moisture content with a smooth texture. Sharp cheddar is difficult to melt because of dry nature, whereas mild cheddar is easy to melt because of high moisture content. The nutritional content of the sharp cheddar cheese is about 110 calories with 9g fat content and 7g protein content, whereas the nutritional content of the mild cheddar cheese is about 70 calories with 6g fat content and 4g protein content.

What is Sharp Cheddar?

Sharp cheddar is the kind of cheddar cheese that is classically acquired throughout the world in taste. It is aged for more than 12 months to about 24 months yielding the sharpness in the flavor. Sharp cheddar, when aged for a time, then enzymes breakdown the proteins and fats present in the cheddar cheese. Proteins are converted to peptides as they are linkage of peptides and thus increasing the bitterness level with time due to an increase in peptide content.

Sharp cheddar is dry with low moisture content in it, thus dry and difficult to melt. It cannot melt on the mouth palate. Sharp cheddar has the texture which is dry and crumbly, is also the factor that makes it difficult to melt. Sharp cheddar has a sharp and bitter taste with tangy flavor, which also gives it a nutty flavor. Sharp cheddar with the aging time converted to calcium lactate, which are the hard and salt-like crystals giving the deeper and acidic taste to it.

Ingredients

Pasteurized milk, a mesophilic starter culture of cheese, rennet, which is an enzyme produced from the stomach of baby calves, salt, annatto (a vegetable color), powdered cellulose.

Nutritional Importance

It has 110 calories of energy with 9g fat content, 7g protein content, 0g carbohydrates, 25mg cholesterol, and 200mg calcium content.

What is Mild Cheddar?

Mild cheddar is less aged cheese for about 2 to 3 months, a buttery in flavor than the sharp cheddar. It has milky and slightly acidic flavor. Mild cheddar has low demand in its market than the sharp cheddar. Mild cheddar because of less age duration does not involve high peptide content because of less time acquired to enzymes for protein breakdown.

Mild cheese has high moisture content, which makes it easy to melt than the sharp cheddar as even it can melt on the mouth palate easily. Mild cheddar is smooth and soft in its texture because of its moist nature. Mild cheddar is less sharp and sweet somewhat but followed by sharp taste with less bitterness in the flavor.

Mild cheddar has less tangy flavor because of low peptides breakdown from the protein with dairy taste.

Ingredients

Pasteurized milk, rennet, sea-salt, mesophilic starter culture, non-chlorinated water, raw milk.

Nutritional Importance

It has 70 calories of energy with 6g of fat content, 4g of protein content, 1g carbohydrates, 15mg cholesterol, and 121mg calcium content.

Conclusion

Sharp cheddar is aged for about 12 to 24 months giving its tangy, sharp taste with dry texture, whereas mild cheddar is aged for 2 to 3 months giving it dairy and less bitter taste with a moist texture.