Sharp Cheddar vs. Mild Cheddar

Key Differences



Comparison Chart
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Age Time
Taste
Texture
Peptides Content

Nutritional Importance
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.