Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Basic ingredient lacteal derived other than butter...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-06
2002-09-24
Cano, Milton I. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Basic ingredient lacteal derived other than butter...
C426S036000, C426S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06455092
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a process for manufacturing novel cheese products by treating a starting material consisting of a cheese and to the products obtained by this process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cheeses obtained by treating cheese products resulting from the treatment of milk are already known; as the most representative family of this category of products mention may be made of the family of processed cheeses; these are obtained by grinding any category of cheese resulting from milk, more specifically pressed cheeses, mixing them with other dairy raw materials (whole milk powder, partially or totally skimmed, butter, anhydrous dairy fat, buttermilk, protein concentrates, etc.) in an amount which varies depending on the type of end products which it is desired to obtain, incorporating into the said mixture emulsifying salts selected from the family of the polyphosphates, ortho-phosphates or citrates of sodium, potassium and calcium, then heat-treating the mixture at temperatures of between 80 and 140° C. for a period ranging from a number of seconds to several minutes, depending on the temperature. For the implementation of this process the emulsifying salts are used for their calcium-complexing properties, which brings about solubilization of the proteins, which makes emulsification easier by a stabilizing effect on the pH.
However, the prime disadvantage of such a process is that it leads to a type of cheese which, despite a nutritional value equivalent to that of the products employed, and a possibility for varied presentations (portions, slices, blocks, etc.) and excellent preservation, greater than that of the initial product, differs totally from the original product both in its texture and in its flavour.
Thus, analysis of the degree of peptization, which expresses a structural change of the proteins in the course of the process and is measured by the proportion of non-sedimentable soluble nitrogen, which is associated with the liberation of the soluble peptides during the manufacturing treatment, indicates a value of between 40 and 50 for cheeses obtained by heat treatment at greater than 100° C. as against values close to 0 for cheeses which have not undergone treatment.
The melting process involved has the further effect of greatly destructuring the raw material employed, which explains the difference in textural and organoleptic properties between the original product and the end product.
In order to obtain end products whose textural and flavour characteristics come closer to the original product, while offering varied presentations and improved preservation, certain authors have proposed processes involving less destructuring. Mention may thus be made of Patent Application WO 95/19699, which describes a process for reconstituting cooked pressed cheeses, downgraded or in lump form, the process described consisting in dividing the raw material into regularly shaped lumps, in subjecting the divided cheese, without adding water or any other ingredient, to controlled operations of blending and shearing, and to cooking at a temperature of between 70 and 80° C., preferably in a cooker/extruder-type apparatus. According to the authors of the invention, the process does not result in any degradation of the proteins during the treatment, and the end product exhibits biochemical, physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics comparable with those of the raw material. However, the authors of the preceding invention have established that, in contradistinction to the indications in the document, the temperatures utilized are not without consequence for the condition of the proteins and the aromatic loss. Furthermore, tests carried out by the applicant employing the said process have shown that the products obtained exhibit fat exudation, resulting in product appearances which are not very attractive for the consumer. This exudation is explained by poor emulsification and, consequently, poor bonding of the fat to the protein network.
Furthermore, the process employed is applied solely to cooked pressed cheese, i.e. products having a high dry-matter content, and for its implementation requires the division of the original cheese into regularly shaped lumps, and also the use of a suitable cooking/extruding apparatus.
Patent EP 0 260 194 proposes solving the difficulties of poor stability of an emulsion of this type by incorporating an emulsifier and describes a process comprising a first step of adding proteins to the cheese and a second step of mechanical shaping treatment, the starting cheese being selected from ripened cheeses containing at least 50% dry matter and, more specifically, from cooked or uncooked pressed cheeses to which are added, in a proportion of from 5 to 10%, proteins selected from proteins having an emulsifying function at a temperature lower than their coagulation temperature, these two raw materials being mixed so as to allow subsequent mechanical shaping treatment of the cheese and the production of a cheese which has a texture, flavour and colour substantially identical to those of the starting cheese and also a specific shape resulting from the mechanical treatment employed.
In this process, the proteins are added to the cheese to be treated when the latter is at a temperature of between 40 and 80° C., preferably 80° C., and the mixture is treated mechanically at a temperature of between 40 and 50° C. The emulsifier utilized is preferably selected from the family of the seroproteins, the latter being selected for their emulsifying properties to the exclusion of all other properties. The process described in Patent EP 0 260 194 therefore makes it possible to obtain a higher-quality emulsion than that of Patent WO 95/19 699 but has the disadvantage of being limited to cheeses having a dry-matter content of greater than 50%. Furthermore, the addition of seroproteins to the cheese to be treated, in a proportion of between 5 and 10% by weight, is not without effect on the presence of off-flavours. Moreover, the spectrum of action of the seroproteins is not sufficient for the realization of a complete emulsion which eliminates any subsequent exudation of fat at the surface of the product. This defect is manifested in the flavour of the resulting products (a product greasy in the mouth and very pasty), which may be acceptable for composite products obtained by extruding the curd and a cheese or other filling, but becomes unacceptable for an essentially cheese-based product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the invention is to provide a novel process for manufacturing cheese products obtained by treating cheeses resulting from the treatment of milk which do not have the defects of the products manufactured in accordance with the described technologies and have organoleptic and textural characteristics which are close to the original products.
The process will at the same time have to limit to the maximum the modifications of the proteins and will have to allow effective re-emulsification of the fat and of the protein network in order to avoid any exudation of fat from the end product, such that, in the end product, the textural and flavour characteristics encountered are as close as possible to the original product.
For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a process for manufacturing a cheese product by treating a starting material consisting of a cheese, comprising the following steps:
a) heat treatment and mechanical treatment, of the kneading type, of the starting cheese, after fractionation into pieces, at a temperature less than 60° C., in order to obtain limited destructuring of the protein network of the starting cheese,
b) cooling of the mixture from step a) to a temperature less than 50° C. in order to initiate the restructuring of the protein network and the constitution of a stable emulsion of the fats with the other constituents of the starting cheese;
c) if necessary, mechanical treatment of the curd obtained in b) in an endless-screw apparatus, in order to complete the restructuring of the protein net
Cano Milton I.
Fromageries Bel
Madsen Robert
Young & Thompson
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