FI58045C - FOERFARANDE FOER FRAMSTAELLNING AV PASTA FILATA-OST - Google Patents

Description

τ.,. .... ANNOUNCEMENT r λ nir [B] (11) UTLÄGGININCSSKRIFT 5 8045 c (45> ^. '' "V 1 (51) Kv.ik? /Int.a3 A 23 c 19/02 FINLAND —FINLAND (21 ) P «Mnttlh« k * mo »—P« t «ntMeeknJn | 3056/7 * + (22) Hakamitptlvi - Araftknlnpd» * 18.10. 7 * + ^ 0 (23) AI kupli rl - Glltl * h * t * d «* 18.10.7 * + (41) Tullut Julkhulul —Bllyltoff« ntll | 20.0 * +.

Patent · And the National Board of Registration N «hank, lp« is the date of issue

Patent · och regiaterstyrelsen An »5k» n utl »| d och utUkrIften publishedertd 29.08.80 (32) (33) (31) Privilege claimed —Begird prlorltet 19.10.73 USA (US) ί + 078θθ Toteennäetty-Styrkt (71) Leprino Cheese Manufacturing Company, 1830 West 38th Avenue,

Denver, Colorado, USA (72) Lester Otto Kielsmeier, Wheatridge, Colorado, USA (7 * 0 Leitzinger Oy (5! +) Method for making pasta filata cheese - Förfarande för framställning av pasta filata-ost

The invention relates to a process for the production of pasta filata cheese, comprising the steps of: (a) inoculating a batch of pasteurized cow's milk with a pasta pasta culture culture; (h) converting the milk input into a mixture of curd and whey; (c) boiling the curd-whey mixture at a temperature that promotes the growth of said starting culture; (d) separating the resulting warm granular curd from the whey; and (e) washing the separated granular curd with water.

In the present invention, the term "pasta filata" means Italian cheeses which are characterized by a stretchy structure and which are used in particular for the preparation of Italian dishes such as pizza, lasagna, etc. Pasta filata cheeses include Mozzarella, Scamorza and Provolone. All of these cheeses are characterized by pasta filata elongation with the main difference being the moisture content of the cheese. For example, U.S. standards (U.S. Department of Health, 2,58045

Education, and Welfare, Food and Drug Administration), Provolone contains 45-60% moisture.

The names "Mozzarella" and "Scamorza" are used in parallel. American standards include two types, namely "normal" and "high humidity" Mozzarella or Scamorza. Normal Mozzarella (scamorza) has a moisture content of 52 to 60%, while low-moisture cheese has a moisture content of more than 45% but not more than 52%.

Mozzarella and Scamorza cheeses made from whole milk must not contain less than 45% fat, calculated on the dry matter, which is also a requirement for Provolone cheese. Partially peeled Mozzarella or Scamorza must contain 30 to 45% fat. The term "pizza cheese" means, in particular, low-moisture Mozzarella or Scamorza and may be made from either whole milk or partly skimmed milk. However, most pizza cheese made commercially in America is low-moisture, mozzarella cheese made from partly skimmed milk.

The traditional Italian method of making Mozzarella or Scamorza cheese, still used in Italy and to some extent in the United States, used raw cow's milk (or buffalo's milk) as a raw material without pasteurizing or adding the stock culture. The cheese maker relied on the natural and variable amount of lactic acid-producing bacteria in the milk. When sufficient acidity was not achieved during a reasonable storage period in the cheese containers, the acidity of the milk batch was reduced by adding vinegar. After forming the curd and draining the whey, the curd was washed with cold water and collected in lumps for ripening. When it was held; At refrigeration temperatures, there was little, if any, maturation, and this allowed the curd to be removed from cold storage and kept warmer if desired to give a curd ready for hot water mixing and stretching. The curd could be made, for example, in a separate plant, kept refrigerated. and on request were sent to smaller mixing plants where it was kept warm until the internal pH of the curd was so low that mixing and stretching could be carried out efficiently. In the traditional method just described, the two-stage storage of the cheese mass, first at a lower storage temperature and then at a higher ripening temperature, usually took 2-6 days. The traditional method was thus 3,58045 disadvantageous to the continuous production method.

In addition, because it was desirable and even necessary to use pasteurized milk, it was necessary to add harmless lactic acid-forming bacteria to the milk. Such bacteria were typically lactic acid group Streptococcus bacteria, namely S. lactis and / or S. cremoris. When such stock cultures were added and the curd was stored, even at cold temperatures, the internal pH of the curd tended to fall below the pH range desired for mixing and stretching. The Department of Dairy Industry, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, studied this problem in 1950. The results of these studies are reported in Kosikowsky's article "The Manufacture of Mozzarella Cheese from Pasteurized Milk", J. Dairy Sci. j) 4, 641-648 (1951). The experimental results reported by Kosikowsky confirmed the unsuitability of lactic acid-forming stock cultures in the preparation of Mozzarella cheese from pasteurized milk, where it was desirable to preserve the curd before mixing in a refrigerated warehouse. More specifically, the results showed that the pH of such a curd kept in refrigerated storage fell between 4.8 and 5.1, which is below the optimum pH required for mixing. Based on the comparative experiments, Kosikowsky proposed a stock culture characterized by the S. faecalis bacteria it contained. Using this stock culture, the pH of the cheese-stored curd remained well above the optimum pH of the mixture, i.e. at a pH of about 6, 0 to 6.1. This allowed the traditional procedure to be followed: Keep the curd in a refrigerated warehouse and, if desired, remove part of the curd for a second stage of warm ripening to lower the pH to the mixing range (pH 5.3 to 5.5).

Therefore, some Italian cheese producers used the starting culture of S. faecalis proposed by Kosikowsky to produce Mozzarella cheese, at least for a short time, but the practice did not become permanent. To the best of our knowledge, the initial culture of S. faecalis has not been satisfactory in the production of continuous pizza cheese. Instead, it has been the practice to use combined heat-resistant lactic acid bacteria such as L. bulgaricus or L. helveticus and also S. thermophilus growing at high temperatures. Some cheese makers have also used lactic acid group streptococci (S. lactis and S. cremoris) (see Reinhold, Italian Cheese Varieties, p. 18, Pfizer Monograph, vol.

I, 1963).

k 58045

U.S. Patent 3,531,297 to Kielsmeier and Leprino describes a continuous process for making pasta filata cheese, such as pizza cheese, using a mixed source culture of S. lactis, S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus. According to the description of this patent, after cooking, the internal mass of the cheese mass is about 6.0 to 6.2. The curd is then kept in large water irrigation tanks at a temperature of 38 to 1 * 9 ° C until the internal pH of the curd has dropped to the desired pH for mixing. This method has been found to be applicable to very continuous plant use, especially using continuous mixing equipment, as described in U.S. Patent 3,713,220 to Kielsmeier and Leproino. cheese-making method, involves some processing disadvantages. Prior to the present invention, little or no progress has been made in improving the continuous production of pasta filata cheese.

In the Kielsmeier-Leprino method, large curd wetting tanks increase equipment and plant costs, and the method uses wetting water containing lactose, lactic acid and other substances, which greatly increases the waste disposal problem of a functioning plant. Another practical limitation of the Kielsmeier-Leprino method is that the entire operation from the cheese container to the blender must be carefully timed, divided into groups and performed substantially continuously. In practice, this means that plant users must carry out the mixing of the curd almost immediately after the curd has been irrigated. Therefore, the aim has been to bring about methodological improvements that make it possible to better separate the stages of curd production and mixing. Another goal has been to reduce changes in the curd product from input to input, i.e. to achieve a more cohesive and consistent relationship. One of the important advantages of the present invention is therefore that it not only makes it possible to substantially separate the steps of making and mixing the curd, but also helps to produce a uniform product.

The improvements of the present invention are achieved by a new order of steps.

The method according to the invention is characterized in that (i) the starting culture in step a) is a culture consisting of an effective amount of S. thermophilus and at least one high-temperature lactic acid bacterium, (ii) the temperature in step c) is between 38 and 52 ° C, (iii) the mass pH obtained in step d) is 5.5 ~ 6.2,: i "i '5 58045 (iv) in step e) the water temperature is lower than the mass and lowers the temperature of the mass below 2J ° C, (f) stored washed and chilled granular curd at a non-freezing temperature below 18 ° C until the internal pH of the curd has dropped to a pH below 5 x 5.

The resulting curd can be stored at a cold temperature without lowering the pH of the curd below the optimum pH of the mixture, although the pH of the curd rapidly drops to the desired mixing pH. This finding was surprising in two respects. Firstly, because the pH dropped rapidly during cold storage, and secondly, because even with longer storage, the pH did not drop to a low pH unfavorable for mixing. The reason for these results is not yet fully known, but it apparently involves the selection of a stock culture that generates bacteria that grow abundantly in the cheese vessel before and during cooking and the subsequent washing of the cheese with water, which extracts compounds that can act to buffer the pH of the cheese. .

It seems probable that although the cold storage of the curd substantially stops the growth of lactic acid-forming bacteria, the bacteria continuously form lactic acid through their normal metabolic processes. In addition, since the low temperature inhibits the growth of bacteria and because the bacteria of the cheese have a certain nature here, a pH of 5.1 ~ 5> 5 can be easily reached. In preferred embodiments of the method, the pH drops rapidly (2h per hour) to the optimum pH of the mixture during cold storage. value, substantially 5.2 to 5.1 * and remains constant in this range, allowing the curd to be altered, making it easier and more appropriate to separate the curd production schedules from the curd mixing schedules. However, no long-term storage, such as a week or more, is required. Other objectives and benefits are discussed in the following detailed explanation.

The accompanying drawing according to the invention is a schematic flow diagram illustrating the way in which the new sequence of process steps according to the present invention can be applied to the production of pizza cheese or some other pasta filata type cheese.

The attached method can be used to make pasta filata cheese with typical pasta filata elongation. The process thus involves mixing the curd (at a suitable mixing pH) in order to obtain the characteristic elongation of 6 58045 finished cheeses. The typical stretch of Pasta filata cheese is especially evident when the cheese is melted. The process of this invention is applied to the continuous production of Mozzarella cheese, such as low moisture Mozzarella, commonly referred to as "pizza cheese". As used herein, the name "Mozzarella" covers both Mozzarella and Scamorza cheese. In a preferred embodiment, the method is applied to the production of partially dehydrated, low-moisture Mozzarella cheese.

The starting material for the process is pasteurized cow's milk, which can be either whole milk or a mixture of whole milk and skimmed milk or standardized defatted milk. The fat content, calculated on the dry matter, can be from 30% * 4 to 5% or more, depending on the standard used. In previous methods, pasteurized milk with a standardized fat content is transferred to one or more cheese-making vessels. The milk is inoculated with a selected high temperature growing stock culture. For the purposes of the present invention, the stock culture should contain an effective amount of S. thermophilus and at least one high temperature lactic acid bacterium such as L. bulgaricus and L. helveticus. In this context, the term "high temperature growing" is used to mean bacteria that grow best at temperatures up to 43-49 ° C. Other lactic acid-forming bacteria may also be present, such as lactic acid group streptococci, such as S. lactis and S. cremoris. However, such bacteria are not essential and, if present, are best used less than bacteria growing at high temperatures. The most suitable choice appears to be a stock culture consisting essentially of S. thermophilus in admixture with L. bulgaricus and / or L. helveticus. The relative amounts of S. themrophilus and high-temperature lactic acid bacteria, calculated from living cells, can be 85% S. thermophilus and 15% lactic acid bacteria - 35% S. thermophilus and 65% lactic acid bacteria. However, the recommended ratios are 80-45% S. thermophilus and 20-55% lactic acid bacteria such as L. bulgaricus, L. helveticus or mixtures thereof.

After inoculation, the method of making the curd takes place in the usual way, including the normal stages of ripening, coagulation and cutting. The combined result of such vessel processing steps is the conversion of the milk into a ready-to-mix mixture of curd and whey. For vessel methods such as ripening, freezing and cutting, reference should be made to the existing literature. See, e.g., Reinhold, Italian Cheese Varieties, pp. 18-19 Pfizer Monograph, vol. I, 1963).

After cutting the curd, the mixture of granular curd and whey is boiled. Cooking temperatures are above 38 ° C and below 52 ° C. The temperature is selected to promote the growth of lactic acid-forming bacteria growing at the high temperature of the stock culture, for example temperatures between about 41-49 ° C. Cooking temperatures between about 43 and 45 ° C appear to be almost optimal and can therefore be used to maximize the benefits of the present invention. Cooking times can range from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Usually the preferred cooking time is 20 to 30 minutes. If it is desired to further lower the pH of the curd, the cooking time can be extended by still using temperatures that promote the growth of S. thermophilus and lactic acid bacteria. At the end of cooking, separate the curd and whey. The granular curd is not subjected to a cheddar treatment using steps such as dipping, stacking, rolling, etc. The curd remains granular and is further processed without a cheddar treatment, as in the Kielsmeier-Leprino method described in U.S. Patent 3,531,297. after the end, the pH of the curd inside is usually lower than in previous practice. Although the pH of the curd may vary between 5.6 and 6.2 here, pH values between 5.6 and 5.9 are particularly preferred, which can also be easily obtained. Depending on the cooking length and temperature used, the pH can be lowered to below 6.0, to a pH of 5.8 to 5.9.

The separated granular and boiled curd is then washed with water at a lower temperature than the curd to lower the temperature of the curd. For example, the temperature of the wash water may be 2 to 27 ° C and is preferably below 13 ° C so that the temperature of the curd decreases substantially during washing. The temperature of the curd at this point in the process is not absolutely critical. It is generally recommended that the curd be cooled to at least 16 ° C during its washing.

Washing the granular curd apparently removes buffer salts and other compounds that may have a buffering effect on pH changes caused by lactic acid formed by bacteria during metabolism. Washing thus apparently has a dual function. It cools 8 58045 curds and allows the pH of the cheese to be lowered even further in subsequent cold storage. However, the washing itself does not immediately substantially reduce the internal pH of the curd. In fact, some lactic acid can be extracted with lactose and buffer salts. The internal pH of the washed curd is thus over 5.5 and can be as high as 6.0 to 6.2, although the washed curd is not ready for mixing. The internal pH of the curd is best between 5.6 and 5.9 at this point.

The washed granular cheese is transferred to storage, which is typically a cold storage room. The temperature of the curd can be further reduced to the temperature of the storage room at the beginning of cold storage. When storing the curd, it is not desirable to freeze the curd and therefore the air temperature in the storage room or zone should be above the freezing temperature of the curd. Although temperatures between 1 and 30 ° C can be used, the temperature of the air in the storage room is usually kept below 18 ° C and preferably below 16 ° C, corresponding to the temperature of the curd. Air and curd temperatures between 2 and 13 ° C appear to be particularly advantageous. In one embodiment, the temperatures of the curd and air are maintained substantially between 2 and 6 ° C. During storage, the curd remains in a loose granular form.

One of the advantages of the method is that the storage time can vary, in which case the cold storage room actually forms a center, the length of which can be changed, between the first stage of the process in which the curd is made and the second stage in which the curd is mixed. The curd is kept under cold storage conditions until the internal pH of the curd has dropped to a pH of less than 5.5, which is suitable for mixing and stretching the curd so as to provide a paste filata elongation. This decrease in pH also indicates that the bacteria consume additional lactose, which is advantageous in the preparation of low-lactose pizza cheese. The minimum shelf life depends on the rate at which the pH decreases during storage, but when the processing steps are as described above, it appears that storage times as short as 8-12 hours can be used. Because when using the process steps of the present invention, the pH of the curd tends to stabilize at the desired pH for blending, cold storage can be extended to t + 8 to 72 hours or more, although usually the storage time is between 12 and 30 hours. This allows for overnight and / or one day storage, which can be efficient for connecting the first and second manufacturing steps without requiring too much cold storage space. The curd made as described above can, if desired, be shipped for cold storage, such as in refrigerated train carriages, to another plant where the final cheese product is made.

Although the curd can be mixed at pH values between 5.1 and 5.5, the recommended mixing pH values are substantially 5.2 to 5.4. A very favorable feature of the method is thus that in cold storage the pH tends to fall to the optimum pH, i. to a pH of about 5.3 _ + 0.1 pH units.

At the end of the cold storage, as indicated by a suitable decrease in pH to the mixing pH, the granular curd is ready for further processing. To prepare the curd for mixing, it is desirable to raise the temperature of the curd by contacting it with warm water and then transferring the curd to a mixing unit, which may be of the type described, for example, in Kielsmeier-Leprino's U.S. Patent 3,713,220. This operation is facilitated by the granular shape of the curd. Other details of the second step of the method are described in connection with the following flow chart example.

Example of a flow chart

The flow chart of the accompanying drawing is discussed below. It shows a storage container 10 into which milk is to be treated, which may be raw whole milk or a mixture of whole milk and skimmed milk. The raw cow's milk is passed to a pasteurization tank 11. If necessary, the fat content of the milk can be adjusted, for example, by using a centrifugal separator to remove part of the cream or by adding more skimmed milk to reduce the fat content. The milk is fed into several cheese-making containers. The figure shows a group of five cheese-making vessels (12a-12e). The milk can be fed at once into two or more containers, but usually the cheese is processed in the containers in succession. The timing is such that at least two or three containers are usually prepared to have clear side of the curd and whey mixture - within a period of 2 hours, whereby it is possible to treat the curd from more than one vessel in a single, as described below.

10 58045

The selected stock culture is added to the cheese containers as described above. It is important for the object of the present invention that the starting culture contains an effective amount of S. thermophilus and high temperature lactic acid bacteria. The milk is then passed through the usual stages of ripening, coagulation and cutting. The mixture of sliced curd (curd granules) and whey in the dishes is boiled. It is to be understood that the containers 12a-12e are provided with devices for heating their contents and devices for mixing the milk and / or curd-whey mixture in the containers. To achieve the objects of the present invention, cooking temperatures are used which favor the growth of bacteria growing at high temperatures. Generally speaking, the length and temperature of the cooking step are the same as already described above.

When the cooking is complete, the curd-whey mixture is transferred (pumped) to a curd separator comprising a rotating screen 1 * 4 mounted on top of an open container 13. The whey flows through a sieve 1 * 4 into the tank 13, and the curd is transferred to the feed end of the cooling and mixing tank. This tank is equipped with a shaft mixer with several separate mixing arms. Cold water is fed to the tank 15, which keeps the granular curd as a suspension, cools the curd and at the same time extracts the buffer compounds from the curd. The container 15 is preferably so large that it can contain at least two, preferably three batches of curd at a time, i.e. at least two or three curds of curd. With this arrangement, when the curd is cooled and extracted in the tank 15, it is also mixed and a curd mixture consisting of a multi-batch curd is obtained.

After sufficiently cooled, extracted and mixed, the curd is removed from the outlet end of the tank 15 and transferred (pumped) to a curd separator comprising a rotating screen 18 and a water recovery tank 17 below it. Washing water flows through the screen 18 and is removed from the tank 17, when the cooled and drained curd is transferred to group 19 of storage tanks. Containers 19 filled with a loose, granular curd mixture are transferred to a cold storage room 20. In room 20, the curd in the containers is kept for the times described above at said temperatures. After the pH of the stored curd has dropped to the pH desired for mixing, the containers 19 can be removed from the cold storage room 58045 and poured into the feed end of the heating and mixing container 21. Warm water is supplied to the tank 21 and, if necessary, steam is also sprayed there in order to maintain the desired temperature. The water suspends the granular curd in a tank 21 equipped with a rotary shaft mixer 22. The tank 21 is preferably so large that it can be fed and mixed at one time with a curd from several different batches or different batch mixers. This blending thus further promotes blending and increases the uniformity of the cheese blend. After heating, the curd-water mixture is transferred (pumped) to a water separator comprising a rotating screen 24 and a water recovery tank 23 below it. The water flows through the screen 24 and is removed from the tank 23. The drained warm granular curd is transferred to a continuous mixing-stretching device 25 a tapered portion 26 and a smaller cross-sectional portion 27. Along the bottom of the mixing-stretching device is a rotating screw conveyor 28. The mixer holds heated water and steam can be introduced into the mixer to maintain the best temperature for mixing and stretching the curd.

As described in U.S. Patent 3,713-220 to Kielsmeier-Leprino, the conveyor 28 conveys the curd toward the outlet end of the mixer while allowing some rotation within the tapered portion 26. A back pressure plate 29 is provided at the outlet end of the narrower part 27, which regulates the pressure in the mixing part of the unit. The mixed curd flows past the outer side of the counter-pressure plate 29 into the casting-pressing tube 31. Further details of the operation of the mixing-stretching device can be found in said prior patent 3,713,220.

The blended and stretched curd can be formed into cheese blocks in different ways. In the figure shown, the curd is pressed from the end of the casting tube 31 and the pieces are cut with a cutter 32. The cut cheese blocks are placed on a conveyor belt 33 or passed directly into cold brine. To solidify and salt the cheese blocks, they can be removed from the outlet end of the conveyor 33 and placed in transverse rows across a tank 34 filled with cold brine (water saturated with sodium chloride). The blocks float on the surface of the brine and move along the top of the brine tank, allowing them to cool and salt at the same time. The brine tank can be long enough to combine salting and cooling, allowing the cheese blocks to be removed from the brine tank outlet ready for storage, which may include wrapping, slicing and packaging, and 12 S8045 other operations.

Certain types of pasta filata cheeses, such as Provolone, can be further processed by curing and / or smoking. However, Pizza cheese, such as Mozzarella made from low-moisture, semi-skimmed milk, is not usually hardened.

Example of method conditions

A typical milk input can be 4540 kg and consist of a mixture of whole milk and skim milk that has been pasteurized and standardized. Descriptive conditions when fed into a cheese container are: temperature 32 ° C, pH 6.56, titratable acidity 0.16% and 1.7% milk fat.

In a cheese container, 1-2% (e.g. 1.5%) (based on the weight of the milk) of a mixed stock culture containing 50-80% of S. thennophilus and 50-20% of L. bulgaricus is added to the milk. It is usually most preferred that most of it is S. thentophilus and a smaller part of L *. bulgaricus, for example the mixtures contain 3-4 parts of S. thermophi- * for each part of L. bulgaricus. The milk is allowed to ripen for about 30 minutes and then the curd is coagulated by the addition of a coagulant such as a rennet, a microbial coagulant or a mixture of rennet and pepsin. For example, a mixture of rennet and pepsin can be added to 121 g / 1000 kg of milk.

The curd is then cut into pieces of about 1.6 cm to obtain a granular curd. The cutting time is typically about 15 minutes. The mixture of curd and whey is then boiled. Cooking begins about 25 minutes after the curd is coagulated and is continued for about 15 minutes at 45.6-46.1 ° C. About 1 hour after coagulation, 50% of the free whey is pumped out of the vessel and the remaining curd-whey mixture is removed about 1 to 1/4 to 1-1 / 2 hours after coagulation. The internal pH of the cooked curd is typically about 5.7 to 5.9.

The granular curd is separated from the whey and cooled to about 13 ° C by sieving it into chilled water. Since the curd is mixed in water, it is possible to add curd from different batches here so that a curd mixture is obtained. After the curd has been cooled and the acid and buffer salts have been extracted, the curd or curd mixture is screened into containers, the wash water is removed and the 13,58045 drained granular curd is transferred to the containers for cold storage. At this point in the method, the internal pH of the curd is about 5.7 to 5.8, i.e. it has substantially the same pH as when fed to the wash tank.

The curd is typically kept refrigerated for 24 hours at 4 ° C. In this case, the pH of the curd has dropped by about 5.3 to 5.4. then the curd is ready to be mixed. However, if desired, it can be stored for longer. The next day, the curd is removed from the tanks in a heating vessel and raised to a temperature of about 36-43 ° C. The mixture of granular curd and warm water can be separated or the warm curd transferred to a blender. In the mixer, the curd is kneaded and stretched to obtain a paste filata stretch. Satisfactory mixing can be achieved at temperatures as low as 57-60 ° C.

When the blended curd is pressed through the tube, the cross-sectional size of the tube can be almost the same as that desired for the finished cheese. This compression method tends to form a desirable "shell" on top of the block, which is then cut into pieces. If desired, the cheese can be squeezed directly into the brine tank and then cut into pieces after the cheese has cooled.

With this arrangement, the brine can initially be kept at about -12 ° C.

The coagulated cheese blocks can then be contacted with a higher temperature solution, for example O-grade brine.

Alternatively, the blended cheese can be pressed into standard molds and the molds taken in brine at -7 ° C for 5 minutes. The cheese can then be removed from the molds. When the molds are removed, the dimensions of the cheese blocks are settled and these blocks can later be introduced into brine at a temperature of about 0 ° C. Equilibrium temperature of the brine tank, i.e. the temperature after reaching equilibrium between the warm cheese blocks and the cold brine should be kept below 16 ° C and preferably below 13 ° C. Certain advantages of the pasta filata process of the present invention are believed to be achieved in the production of other types of cheeses, such as Jack, Muenster and Colby cheeses. In particular, in process steps using cooling and mixing tanks, such as tank 15, and / or heating and mixing tanks, such as tanks 21, it would be possible to obtain a more uniform product. Thus, as described above, a curd mass of 14,58045 from several batches can be mixed. In addition, for the production of other cheeses as well as pasta filata, it is believed that it is advantageous to keep the cheese stock in storage before further processing.

A further feature of the present invention is that when mixing tanks, such as tanks 15, 21, are used, salt (NaCl) or other additives can be fed into and mixed with the curd. In this way, the properties of the cheese can be better controlled, such as modifying the pH, the properties of the pulp, the amount of salt and the taste. When preparing pasta filata cheese, the salt can be added to the mixing tanks 15, 21 if desired, and in addition, the salt can also be added to the water in the mixer. Adding salt to the mixer reduces the time required to soak the molded cheese in brine to obtain sufficient amounts of salt.

Claims (6)

15 58045 A method of making pasta filata cheese comprising the steps of: (a) inoculating a batch of pasteurized cow's milk with a pasta pasta culture culture; (b) converting the milk input into a mixture of curd and whey; (c) boiling the curd-whey mixture at a temperature that promotes the growth of said starting culture; (d) separating the resulting warm granular curd from the whey; and (e) washing the separated granular curd with water, characterized in that (i) the starting culture in step a) is a culture consisting of an effective amount of S «thermophilus and at least one high temperature lactic acid bacterium, (ii) the temperature in step c) is between 38-52 ° C, (iii) the mass pH obtained in step d) is 5 »5 ~ 6.2, (iv) in step e) the water temperature is lower than the mass and lowers the temperature of the mass« ... O below 27 C, (f ) store the washed and chilled granular curd at a non-freezing temperature below 18 ° C until the internal pH of the curd has dropped to below 5 »5 · The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the starting culture contains S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus or L. helveticus. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal pH of the warm, separated curd is 5 * 6 - 5 »9 and the washed, cooled curd is kept at a temperature below 16 ° C but above the freezing point until the internal pH is 5.2 - 5» 1 * Process according to Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that in step e) the pulp is cooled to at least 21 ° C. Method according to one of Claims 1 to U, characterized in that the curd is kept at a temperature of 2 to 10 ° C until the internal pH of the curd has dropped to a pH of 5 »2 to 5» 1 *. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that steps a) to d) are carried out in several batches, in step e) the curd separated from the several batches is added to the container and washed, cooled and mixed so as to obtain a washed, cooled curd mixture, and step f) is carried out with the mass mixture. 16 58045