FR2597710A1 - Cheesemaking method employing a ladle and coagulation container enabling the said method to be employed - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a cheesemaking method employing a ladle and a coagulation container for the preparation of cheeses, enabling the said method to be employed. The chief application of the invention will be to the food industry. The milk is ripened by the addition of cultures followed by renneting, and is placed in a container 3, in which, at the end of a coagulation phase, it becomes curd 4. According to the chief characteristic of the present invention, the curd 4 is sliced from below by means of a ladle in which the removed material 7 is collected and passed to a mould 6. The dimensions of the ladle substantially correspond to those of the coagulation container 3. The invention relates to the cheese industry.

Description

 The invention relates to a method of making ladle cheeses as well as a coagulation container authorizing the implementation of said method. The invention will particularly find its application in the food industry.

 The process was developed more particularly for the manufacture of soft cheeses such as camembert. brie or others and fresh cheese such as faisselle. whipped cream cheese or others. however, it can be applied to other products without departing from the scope of the present invention.

 There are currently two processes for manufacturing cheeses which are essentially distinguished by the rate of production and the quality of the product obtained. In particular. an industrial process with very high productivity is known which unfortunately does not make it possible to obtain a final product that is rich in taste.

 The traditional manufacture of cheeses known as "ladle manufacturing" makes it possible to develop a product of great value, thanks to a respect for the balance in constituents, however the production rates are very low and do not allow to economically compete with the industrial process.

 In the manufacture of cheese, we start by causing the maturation of the milk. whose fat content has been previously adjusted.

This maturation is obtained by adding ferments to a storage tank.
At 1 after this operation. the milk is pressed, which is directed into a container in which it coagulates to present a gelled consistency.

 The progress of the milk processing is followed closely to determine the precise moment when the cheese has reached its degree of completion. At this precise moment, it is advisable to stop 1 evolution of the transformation of milk to try to preserve the cheese in its highest degree of realization.

 It is at this stage that the industrial process differs from the traditional process. To stabilize the cheese, in the industrial process, we work the coagulum, that is to say the treated milk in order to stabilize its development. This is how we break the coagulum mass to divide it into pieces. The mass transformation reaction is thus broken up and sets of pieces are combined in a mold to form a cheese.

The advantage of the process is that it can easily be automated and be implemented using high productivity installations.

 On the other hand. the disadvantages of this solution are numerous. In particular. it is very difficult to determine precisely when dealing with large masses of coagulum.

the precise moment when biological evolution must be stopped.

Furthermore, the geometric shape of the broken coagulum particles is not controlled, but the quality of a cheese depends on compliance with the contents of some of its constituents. The slicing of the coagulum has the consequence of causing an exudation phase for the particles, that is to say that they remove part of the water which they contain. It is important at this level to limit the losses because not only the water is evacuated but also the proteins essential to obtain the particular taste of the cheese.

 The sliced pieces have no well-defined geometric shape and therefore the ratio of their external surface to their variable volume does not allow to control protein losses detrimental to the quality and flavor of the final product.

 It is precisely for the purpose of preserving the proteins of the coagulum, that in the traditional method, a ladle is used to slice the coagulum and direct the material removed into a cheese-making mold.

 The hemispherical ladle makes it possible to determine a certain geometric relationship between the volume of material removed and the surface cut out in the coagulum. This geometric ratio makes it possible to limit the loss of protein from the coagulum. hence obtaining a high quality taste product.

 In France, by respecting the imperatives of traditional manufacturing, the cheese benefits from a label of controlled designation of origin.

 Initially, only a specialized operator was able to take material samples from the coagulum using a ladle. Currently, attempts are being made to replace the human operator with a mechanical device.

 Among these devices, we know the robot for example of the five-axis type capable of reproducing human gestures. The advantages are a regularity of the molding on the other hand it is an expensive machine, delicate of maintenance and which presents a mediocre output.

 More elaborate is the process which implements an installation known under the name of "Isigny". In the Isigny process, the molding is carried out by penetration of open ladles into the coagulum or curd, contained in a basin. The ladles close and the entire mobile device is then translated over a mold block in which the curd is deposited.

 The sampling in the basin is carried out according to a frame of coordinates in order to improve the yield in layers inside the basin.

 On the other hand, the imprints left by the first samples of ladles in the curd, create what are called "steeples * which hinder the regularity in weight of the samples. The system is bulky and not very flexible, moreover, there is losses of materials at the bottom of basins which cannot be recovered for the manufacture of pie charts.

 Ultimately, the solutions proposed to try to improve the traditional type of manufacturing are hardly satisfactory and economically lead to significant additional costs which hamper the development of the product.

 The main object of the present invention is to present a process for the production of ladle cheeses which complies with the French rules of 1 designation of origin while benefiting from the advantages of automated manufacturing with high productivity.

 Regarding the flavor and taste properties of the final product, the process of the present invention fully respects the slicing of the coagulum with a ladle with minimal loss of protein. It is also necessary to emphasize on this subject an advantage of the present invention compared to automated installations in the sense that the vibrations transmitted to the coagulum are most limited since it uses small mechanical parts having a low inertia and that few translational movements are carried out.

 Another object of the present invention is to present a manufacturing process in which the losses of materials are zero. Unlike the conventional ladle method, in which the bottom of the coagulum in the basin cannot be recovered, according to the present invention, the entire coagulum can be transformed into cheeses, hence a better yield of the material consumed.

 Another object of the present invention is to present a coagulation container for the implementation of said method, the manufacture of which can easily be carried out industrially and which allows good control of the production of the product. In particular, according to a preferred embodiment of the container, the latter has a small volume, hence great homogeneity of the material contained and ease in determining the optimum movement for producing the curd.

 Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear during the description which follows which is however given only for information and which is not intended to limit it.

According to the invention, the method of making ladle cheese, which will find its application in particular in the food industry, in which the milk undergoes a maturation by adding ferments then a pressing and is placed in a container in which at the '' resulting from a coagulation phase, it turns into quail or coagulum is characterized in that
- We cut the curd from below using a ladle in which we collect the sampled material which is then directed to a mold.

 The coagulation container for cheese according to an implementation of the said method is characterized in that it has a retractable bottom.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description accompanied by attached drawings, among which:
- Figure 1 shows schematically the different phases of the process of making a ladle cheese,
FIG. 2 illustrates in section view the cutting of the curds according to the manufacturing process of the present invention,
FIGS. 3a, b, and c represent the different phases of the curd removal according to the manufacturing process of the present invention,
- Figure 5 shows schematically, in external view. the coagulation container according to a preferred embodiment thereof,
- Figure 5 shows schematically a molding battery for the manufacture of cheese according to the present invention.

 The present invention relates to a method for making cheese with a ladle as well as a coagulation container for making cheese according to an implementation of said method.

It will find its application in particular in the food industry.

 Although having been developed more specifically for the manufacture of soft cheeses such as camembert and brie or fresh cheeses such as cheese or whipped cream cheese, the present invention can be applied to other types of similar products.

 One can distinguish, in the manufacture of cheeses, the industrial method from the traditional method according to the mode of treatment of the curd or coagulum.

 Industrially, the biological transformation of the coagulum is stabilized by slicing it into fine particles. This reduction in material no longer allows it to benefit from the mass effect essential for the evolution of its transformation and the material is molded to form the cheeses.

 Unfortunately, the brutalized coagulum loses a significant part of its proteins which leads to a noticeable weakening of its taste properties. In the event of too great a loss, the cheese has an appearance of "plaster".

 According to the traditional so-called "ladle" manufacturing process which has an appellation of origin in France, the coagulum is cut into pieces in its mass, using ladle packs which are then directed into a mold.

 The advantages of using a ladle are respect for the coagulum and the geometric determination of a ratio between the volume withdrawn and the cut surface which allows, at the end of the exudation phase, to obtain retention within coagulum, proteins essential to the flavor of cheese.

 Different mechanical processes have been developed to perform the ladle sampling of the coagulum. However, so far these processes have hardly been completely satisfactory from a qualitative and economic standpoint.

 Figure 1 illustrates the different phases necessary for the development of a cheese, according to the essential criteria for "ladle production".

 First of all, the milk undergoes maturation in one or more stages, generally it is a primary maturation and a secondary maturation. Maturation is obtained by adding ferments to a storage tank.

 Prior to maturation, the milk fat content is adjusted.

 The milk then undergoes a pressing operation. These are conventional treatments, within the reach of those skilled in the art.

 The milk 1 stored in a tank 2 is then distributed in containers 3 generally called basins.

 In these basins, the milk undergoes a coagulation phase and gives coagulum or curd 2.

 The development of coagulation must be carefully monitored to determine the appropriate time to take the curd with a ladle 5. The samples are taken from the surface of the coagulum, the flaccid mass of which is cut by the ladle 5 and the sampled material is directed in molds 6. Generally. the molds 6 are filled in several ladles. Once the molds are filled, they are stored in order to allow the material to be drained and turnings are carried out before demolding.

 The particularity of the manufacturing process of the present invention relates more particularly to the operation of taking the coagulum s with a ladle 5 in the container 3. The preparation of the coagulum or curd 4 is carried out in the container 3 which has the advantage of proceeding statically to avoid manipulation or transfer that could adversely affect mass consistency.

 According to the main characteristic of the process of the invention, the curd or coagulum is sliced from below using a ladle which collects the sampled material which is then directed to a mold. Unlike current manufacturing methods in which the coagulum sample is always taken from its upper surface, according to the process of the present invention, it is precisely in its lower part that the samples are taken. The advantages of this change are in particular to benefit from the forces of gravity to facilitate the filling of the ladle, or a possibility of emptying the entire container 3 of coagulation which cancels the losses of material.

 Preferably, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the curd 4 is sliced with the ladle over the entire section of the container 3. "Thus, the phenomena of" steeples ", created by the imprints of successive samples and encountered before are completely avoided.

 The curd 4 is sliced from below in a circular motion with a hemispherical ladle whose diameter corresponds substantially to that of the container 3. The material 7 removed is received in the mold 6.

 According to this method, the coagulum 4 does not suffer from any constraint, does not undergo any vibration since the container 3 is entirely static. It is a small container since, in order to respect the designation of origin, the ladle has a diameter of around 110 mm. Due to its low capacity, it is essential to be able to completely empty the coagulation container 3 of the curd 4 contained, which is achieved with the sampling from below.

 By the circular movement of the hemispherical ladle, the cut material 7 has a geometric relationship between mass and precise surface.

 FIGS. 3a, b, and c respectively represent the different phases of the curd removal ladle method contained in a coagulation container 3.

 First, the curd; is sliced by the ladle 5 arranged at the bottom of the container 3 by means of a circular movement of the said ladle 5 of hemispherical shape.

 At the end of the rotational movement as illustrated in FIG. 3b, the ladle 5 closes the bottom of the coagulation container 3 and thus prevents the curd from being able to descend by gravity.

The sampled material is received in a second
lower hemispherical ladle, formed of two half-ladles 8 and 9.

The molding of the material removed is obtained thanks to a
rotating movement of the two half-ladles 8 and 9 which slide
against the upper ladle 5 as shown in Figure 3c and which
thus create the necessary clearance so that the material can penetrate the mold 6.

 After molding. the half-ladles 8 and 9 return to the lower closed position and the ladle 5 is again actuated in a rotary movement to return to the position occupied in FIG. 3a. The bottom of the container 3 is then released and the curd column can then descend and be sliced by the ladle 5 again. The cycle continues until the curd 4 is exhausted in the container 3.

 FIG. 5 shows diagrammatically the view of a fixed coagulation container 3 provided with a rotary hemispherical ladle 5 disposed at its lower part and which constitutes not only the sampling member but also the retractable bottom of the container 3. The mold 6 is arranged in the lower part of the ladle 5 and allows reception of the quantity of material removed.

 Due to the small amount of material placed in the container 3, in the industrial phase, there will be molding batteries as illustrated in FIG. 5 in which many containers 3 are arranged side by side and have ladles 5 with controls grouped.

 As illustrated in FIG. 3a, the dimension of the sampling ladle 5 is slightly greater than the internal diameter of the coagulation container 3. This arrangement has been adopted to, on the one hand, ensure good sealing at the bottom of the container 3 and on the other hand to facilitate the slicing of the coagulum 4.

 The characteristic of the coagulation container 3 is to have a retractable bottom in order to allow the descent of the coagulum into the ladle when the bottom of the container is retracted. It is a good idea to use the ladle 5 precisely as the bottom of the container 3 to slice the curd and control its descent into a column in the container 3.

 Other implementations of the present invention, within the reach of those skilled in the art, could also have been envisaged without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims (10)

 1. Process for the production of ladle cheeses, which will find its application in particular in the food industry, in which the milk undergoes a maturation by adding ferments then a pressing and is placed in a container (3) in which the after a coagulation phase, it turns into curd (4) or coagulum, characterized in that the curd is sliced) from below using a ladle (5) in which the material is collected sampled (7) which is directed towards a mold (6).  2. A method of making ladle cheeses according to claim 1, characterized in that the curd (4) is sliced with the ladle (5) over the entire section of the container (3).  3. A method of making ladle cheeses according to claim 1, characterized in that the curd (4) is sliced from below in a circular movement of the hemispherical ladle (5) and that the material is received sampled (5) in a second ladle (8) and (9) for reception.  4. A method of making ladle cheeses according to claim 3, characterized in that one opens the ladle (8, 9) of reception formed by two half-ladles to deposit the sampled material (7) above the mold (6).  5. A method of making ladle cheeses according to claim 3, characterized in that the bottom of the container (3) is closed by a circular movement of the sampling ladle (5).  6. Coagulation container for the production of cheeses authorizing an implementation of the method of claim 1, characterized in that it has a retractable bottom.  7. Coagulation container according to claim 6, characterized in that the container (3) is cylindrical in shape, the bottom of which is formed by a ladle (5) of hemispherical sampling.  8. Coagulation container according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a hemispherical sampling ladle (5) and a receiving ladle (8, 9) also hemispherical capable, in a rotational movement, of sliding in the interior volume of the sampling ladle (5).  9. Coagulation container according to claim 8, characterized in that the receiving ladle is formed of two movable parts (8) and (9).  10. Coagulation container according to claim 7, characterized in that the diameter of the sampling ladle (5) is slightly greater than the inside diameter of the container (3).