How to Grade Milk

Students

You will score ten different milk samples based on taste and odor. You will have 36 minutes to complete the scoring.

Use only whole numbers to score the milk, even if there is more than one flavor defect in the sample you are scoring.

The defects in flavor include: acid, bitter, feed, flat/watery, foreign particles, garlic/onion, malty, oxidized, rancid, salty and unclean milk. See Scoring Milk for more details.

Coaches

Follow the directions below to set up the each of the milk categories your
students will have to score.

Milk Sample Preparation*

No Defect Flavor of freshly pasteurized 2% milk.
Acid Add lactic acid to 0.1 to 1%.
Bitter Add a few drops of a 1% solution (or .02 g/qt) of quinine sulfate.
Feed Bubble-steam volatile extract of silage or chopped forages through milk.
Flat/Watery Add 10-20% water.
Foreign Add enough hypochlorite sanitizer or laundry bleach so that the flavor is perceptible (flavor dissipates with time).
Garlic/Onion Add garlic powder or onion juice; or soak macerated sections of onion in water. Add enough flavored water or juice until flavor is perceptible.
Malty Add malt extract. Or soak 2 tsp of Grapenuts cereal in 1 pt. milk for 2 hours, then filter and add enough filtrate to slightly flavor the milk.
Oxidized Add 2 drops of 1% cupric sulfate to 1 pt milk and store at 5 deg C for 48 hours.
Rancid Add 5% raw milk and let sit overnight in the refrigerator. Expectorate after tasting.
Salty Add .5 g table salt/pt.
Unclean Select from several samples of milk stored at 5-7 deg C for several days. Typical samples will have somewhat putrid odor and slightly astringent to bitter flavor. Dilute as necessary.


Scoring Milk

Milk scores range from 1 to 10 based on the quality of the milk. A score of 10 would be excellent quality, while a score of 1 would be unacceptable quality. Scores between 8 and 9 would be good quality milk. Scores between 5 and 7 would be fair quality milk. Scores between 2 and 4 would be poor quality milk.

Milk Score Card

Defect in Flavor
Slight Defect Score
Definite Defect Score
Pronounced Defect Score
No Defect
10
0
0
Acid
3
2
1
Bitter
5
3
1
Feed
9
8
5
Flat/Watery
9
8
7
Foreign
5
3
1
Garlic/Onion
5
3
1
Malty
5
3
1
Oxidized
6
4
1
Rancid
4
2
1
Salty
8
6
4
Unclean
3
2
1

Intermediate numbers may also be used. For example, a bitter sample of milk may have a score of 4.

Coaches
National FFA
Wisconsin FFA

®

Preparation for FFA Dairy Foods Competition
Home
Students

Students - This part of the competition requires you to identify different categories of milk based on taste. Here are some helpful hints to help you distinguish between these categories.

Coaches - Your students will need to identify different categories of milk based on taste. Here's some instructions on how to prepare milk for each category.

Scoring Milk - This is the breakdown on milk scoring.