Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – Of milk or milk product
Patent
1993-11-22
1995-09-05
Golian, Joseph
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
Of milk or milk product
426 40, A23C 1905
Patent
active
054477310
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of cheese on the basis of milk or milk products where after pasteurizing and partially cooling the material, said material is subjected to membrane filtration, further cooling, dosing of rennet and starter and optionally other additives, mixing and casting, again followed by after-treatment and curing, as well as an apparatus to be used when carrying out the process.
The invention relates to an improved process of preparing so-called "cast" cheese, where milk or a milk product is firstly concentrated by membrane filtration, whereupon the actual cheese making process is carried out by adding rennet and starter.
BACKGROUND ART
The preparation of cast cheese has been known since 1969, cf. for instance U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,090 (Maubois et al.). In principle, this process is characterized by separating the milk product in to a filtrate (permeate) and a liquid retentate by membrane filtration, such as ultrafiltration (UF). Apart from casein, the retentate also retains water-soluble proteins, i.e. the so-called whey proteins comprising globulin and albumin, while lactose and non-protein nitrogen compounds (NPN) remain in the permeate. The retentate has substantially the same dry matter content as the finished cheese. To make cheese the retentate is processed by adding cheese rennet and starter, whereupon the resulting product is cast into cheese molds, brine salted and cured.
Examples of developments of the above process of preparing cast cheese include the technique disclosed in GB patent application no. 2.105.167 (Qvist et al.), and SE published accepted application no. 390.787 (Maubois et al.). None of the processes disclosed in the above specifications uses a filtration retentate having a dry matter concentration in the range of approx. 38% by weight or above. The retentates according to the examples of the above specifications have a dry matter content of approx. 30% by weight and 20% by weight, respectively.
GB patent specification no. 2.101.866 (Rubin et al.) discloses a process for preparing a so-called cheese-base by ultrafiltration combined with diafiltration (DF) of milk followed by evaporation. The retentate is inoculated with a starter prior to and subsequent to evaporation. The process is used to prepare a raw material suitable for the preparation of processed cheese. However, the process is unsuitable for the preparation of classical,semi-hard cheese.
The known process according to the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,090 (Maubois et al.) is widely used for the preparation of cheese having a comparatively low dry matter content. The process has, for instance, been commercially successful when preparing feta-cheese. The process has, however, been useless for the preparation of so-called semi-hard yellow cheese. By semi-hard yellow cheese is meant a semi-hard cheese having a dry matter content of at least 38% by weight in the case of a 20+ cheese (i.e. a cheese where the fat makes up 20% by weight of the total dry matter content) or at least 41.3, 46.3 or 48% by weight, respectively in the case of 30+, 45+ or 50+ cheese. A reason why the known method has not previously been usable for the preparation of a semi-hard yellow cheese is that a retentate of membrane filtration having a higher dry matter content becomes very viscous when cooled to temperatures below 40.degree. C. As a result, the subsequent addition of starter and rennet is difficult to carry out satisfactorily. The admixing is often insufficient resulting in unacceptable products, as coagulation is not uniform. As a result, areas of excess coagulation are formed and thereby a risk that so-called onion rings are formed. This means that the cheese does not cohere and tends to split. Furthermore, this results in undesired whey separation, thus wasting valuable proteins in the whey. The high viscosity further results in an increased load on the plant used and causes great pressure losses.
It is known that to avoid unwanted growth of microorganisms it is desirable to car
REFERENCES:
patent: 4205090 (1980-05-01), Maubois et al.
patent: 4243684 (1981-01-01), Pruss et al.
patent: 4355048 (1982-10-01), Schaap et al.
patent: 4401679 (1983-08-01), Rubin et al.
patent: 4766003 (1988-08-01), Skovhauge et al.
patent: 4965078 (1990-10-01), Van Leeuwen et al.
"Low-Fat Semi-Hard Cheese From Ultrafiltrated Milk", Nordeuropaeisk Mejeri Tidsskrift No. Mar. 1980, pp. 52-61.
"Experiments on Making Saint-Paulin by Full Concentration of Milk with Ultrafiltration", Milchwissenschaft 42(4) 1987, pp. 222-225.
"Utilization of the New Mineral UF-Membranes for Making Semi-Hard Cheeses", Desalination, 35 (1980), pp. 243-258.
"Elements De Fabricaton De Fromages A Pate Demi-Dure Et A Ouverture Propionique Selon Le Procede MMV", P. Ducruet et al., La Technique Laitiere No. 967-Sep. 1981, pp. 13-16.
Osterland Niels
Ottosen Niels K.
Pedersen Erik E.
Pedersen Poul J.
APV Pasilac A/S
Golian Joseph
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