CH626234A5 - Method for manufacturing cheeses - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a process for the production of cheeses, according to which a starting product is prepared, the composition of which is that of the cheese which it is desired to manufacture, this product is subjected to a heat treatment of pasteurization or sterilization, hot condition the pasteurized or sterilized product in airtight packaging while adding a fermentation agent to it, and finally the conditioned product is incubated until its complete fermentation. Such a process is described in French patent application No. 2360258.

To prepare fresh cheeses according to this process, it is necessary to intervene on the pH of the product itself, before • being able to continue the treatment.

Indeed, when the pH is not brought back to values of the order of 5.9 / 6.2, the final product will not have the homogeneity required to be pleasant to the taste. Correcting the pH of the solution requires the use of chemical agents, which, on the one hand, are not allowed in some countries and, on the other hand, degrade the product in the eyes of the consumer.

We have found that it is possible, if necessary, to avoid this intervention by means of a mechanical treatment on the starting materials, which makes it possible to obtain a mixture in which the different components come into intimate contact with each other, so to make possible the successive phases of the process until the whole cheese is obtained.

The manufacture of the cheese involves the following phases: 1) preparation of an essentially protein milk extract having the composition of the desired product,

2) mixing this extract with cream, milk or other ingredients in order to obtain the desired chemical composition and characteristics,

3) thermal stabilization,

4) inoculation with lactic ferments during packaging,

5) fermentation in the final packaging.

The present process takes place during the first processing phase, namely during the preparation of the first milk extract.

It is characterized in that by preparing the starting product, the mixture is stabilized at high temperatures by microdispersion of the coagulated proteins in a stable dispersion phase.

In addition to what has been indicated in French patent application No. 2360258, the preparation of the first milk extract can be carried out as follows: fresh milk (pH = 6.6-6.7), complete or lean, or having any percentage of fat is heated to 90 ° C, maintained at this temperature until the caseins join with the albumins (15-20 '), then coagulated either directly by light acidification (pH = 5.9- 6), either by prior cooling to 40 ° C, and added rennet. Finally, the product is drained, using a cloth or a centrifugal force, at a temperature between 60 and 90 ° C.

The preparation of the first milk extract can also be carried out as follows: pure whey or mixed with variable doses of milk or cream is used, so as to obtain a milk extract which consists exclusively or mainly protein whey (albumins, globulins). The curd is obtained by acidification (pH = 5.9-6) at 90 ° C and the draining is done by cloth or centrifugal force until the dry product is obtained. The product based on whey falls into the white cheese category.

We then enter the preparation phase of the starting mixture.

To prepare the starting mixture, you must add to one of the lactic extracts mentioned above all the components of the cheese you want to make, except only the additives containing micro-organisms (for example lactic ferments) and enzymes ( for example rennet). This mixture roughly reproduces the chemical composition of the cheese we want to make, and its physicochemical characteristics must be such that they withstand without damage the temperatures expected to destroy enzymes and bacteria.

It is known that cheeses are essentially made up of coagulated proteins (caseins), fats (butter) and whey (lactose, acid, salts, soluble or solubilized proteins and water). The mixture is composed, among other things, of products which have milk extract as a base: to these must be added the components which are not present and which must appear in the final chemical composition of the product to be manufactured. In most cases, this involves adding milk, cream, water, milk powder, caseins or caseinates, salts and other additives: in some cases, the milk extract can be prepared in such a way that it does not it is not necessary to add other ingredients.

It is very important that the mixture is capable of withstanding considerable heating without its structure and the quality of the cheese being altered: proteins, for example, must be protected against coagulation and syneresis, fats must be well emulsified and protected against separation, the electrolytes must guarantee the stability of the system.

For fats and fresh cheeses, to which the present invention refers in particular, there are no problems with regard to emulsification, since the fat is still present in the globular form characteristic of milk.

For proteins and electrolytes, the problem is posed in a different way and means for solving it are indicated in French patent application No. 2360258. According to the invention, it is intended to add to these systems the microdispersion of coagulated proteins in a stable dispersing phase.

The physical microdispersion at the colloidal level of insolubilized and insoluble proteins, in a stable liquid phase, is a process which can be carried out by colloid mills or by homogenizers, or by both means at the same time, depending on the physical characteristics of the products to be convert into a colloidal phase and depending on whether they are products containing water or powdered and dry products. Microdispersion can be used in the case of extracts either deeply decalcified or rich in coagulated proteins. In such a case, the electrolytes must be adjusted so as to avoid agglomeration between particles, in particular in the heating phase.

The treatment carried out with the colloid mill or the homogenizer, or with the two systems jointly, allows the product obtained to withstand the heat treatment without structural alterations.

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626234

The following example illustrates an application of the method according to the invention.

Parts and percentages are expressed in weight values.

An acid type milk extract is prepared from lean milk.

The milk is heated at 85 ° C for 15 ", then it is cooled and fermented at 18-20 ° C. After adding 4% of a mixture of lactic ferments composed of: Str. Lactis, Str. Cremoris, Str. Diacetylactis and Leuc. Citrovorum, as well as a small dose of rennet (2-3 cc of liquid rennet 1: 10000/1001 milk), wait for coagulation, then heat the mass to 60 ° C and proceed with canvas draining. The first extract thus obtained is dispersed in three parts of water and, after 15-20 ', drained a second time, so as to obtain a washed extract which contains approximately 16% of total dry residue. , whose proteins represent 80-85% and lactose 7-8%.

The milk extract is mixed with the other ingredients which can be the following:

Milk extract 16% R.S. 65.3

Milk cream 40% gr. 29.1

Lean milk powder 5.2

Cooking salt 0.4

5 Total 100.0

This mixture contains 10-11% protein, 11.5-12% fat and 3.5-4% lactose for a total dry extract of approximately 29%.

The mixture is then passed through a colloid mill until the particles of the milk extract are reduced to colloidal dimensions and then the mixture is pasteurized at 85 ° C for 2-5 '; finally, the mixture is introduced into a homogenizer at 50 atm, so as to make the particles imperceptible to taste.

The process then ends according to what is indicated in French patent application No. 2360258.

It is found that the products obtained according to the process indicated contain a fresh cheese having a low cohesion and a fresh flavor.

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Claims (5)

626234 2 1. Process for the production of cheeses, according to which a starting product is prepared, the composition of which is that of the cheese which it is desired to manufacture, this product is subjected to a thermal pasteurization or sterilization treatment, the product is packaged hot pasteurized or sterilized in airtight packaging while adding a fermentation agent to it, and finally the product conditioned in this way is incubated until its complete fermentation, characterized in that, by preparing the starting mixture, the product is stabilized at high temperatures by microdispersion of the coagulated proteins in a stable dispersion phase. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the physical microdispersion is pushed to the colloidal levels of insolubilized and insoluble proteins in a stable liquid phase. 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the physical microdispersion is done by means of a colloid mill. 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, for microdispersion, it is possible to use, as an auxiliary means, a pressurized homogenizer. 5. Cheese produced according to the method of one of claims 1 to 4.