How to Rate Food

Appearance
 Color and color combinations
 Sizes and shapes of ingredients
 Visual attractiveness
 Eye appeal
 Signs of freshness

Aroma
 The smell or aroma such as tangy, herby, earthy, etc.

Taste
 The basic sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami tastes

Texture and Consistency

 The qualities felt with the finger, tongue, palate, or teeth

Temperature
 Knowing the right temperature to serve dishes such as hot, cold, and room
temperature

Method of Evaluating Dishes

 For appearance, taste, and texture evaluations, place samples in clean,
uncontaminated containers and assign codes when evaluating more than
one sample.
 Use separate food samples for each evaluator.
 When evaluating aroma, place the sample at least 1 inch from the nose.
 When evaluating taste, bite off a small portion of the sample and chew
slowly.
 When evaluating more than one dish, spit out the sample after tasting
and rinse the mouth with tap water.
 For comparison and ranking purposes, 10 seconds is acceptable for easy
recall of the tastes.
 For a single panelist who has to taste several samples, allocate 2 minutes
of rest in between to prevent fatigue.
 To evaluate liquids, take a small sip of the sample and swirl it around
the tongue before spitting it out.
 When evaluating more than one sample of liquids, rest for 1 minute
between samples.