Three accelerated ripening methods were used to prepare cheddar cheese samples. Sample 1 was a non-accelerated-ripened control cheddar. Samples 2, 3, and 4 were prepared by addition of a ripened cheese slurry; using a mixture of ripened cheese slurry and encapsulated enzyme; and with encapsulated enzyme alone. A rheometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to study the qualities of the samples. The frequency sweep test results indicated that with increasing frequency, the complex viscosity η* values of the four samples decreased significantly while the storage modulus G′and loss modulus G″values increased significantly (P ＜ 0.01). At the same scanning frequency, the rank order of the complex viscosity values of the samples was as follows: sample 1 > sample 3 > sample 2 > sample 4. The temperature sweep test showed that the G′and G″values of all of the samples decreased significantly with increasing temperature (P ＜ 0.01). The damping factor (tanδ) values of all samples decreased after the initial rise, indicating that the temperature change had a significant effect on the G′and G″values of all of the accelerated-ripened cheese samples during the dynamic scanning. The transition temperatures of sample 1, sample 2, sample 3, and sample 4 were 37.5 ℃, 32.5 ℃, 35 ℃, and 32.5 ℃, respectively. The SEM images showed a large amount of large mechanical openness in samples 1 and sample 3, with less mechanical openness in sample 2. There was almost no mechanical openness in sample 4, indicating that sample 4 had a better texture after accelerated ripening.