GB2106366A

GB2106366A - >Imitation cheese base masses

Info

Publication number: GB2106366A
Application number: GB08226105A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Engl; Karl Schroder
Original assignee: Meggle Milchind & Co GmbH; Meggle Milchindustrie GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Meggle Milchind & Co GmbH; Meggle Milchindustrie GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1981-09-29
Filing date: 1982-09-14
Publication date: 1983-04-13
Also published as: JPS5863349A; DE3138740C1; JPS5831898B2; GB2106366B

Abstract

A fat-free imitation cheese base mass based upon acid casein and salt additives is described. The salts contain calcium in the form of calcium hydroxide or edible calcium salts and phosphate in the form of water- soluble alkali metal or alkaline earth metal orthophosphates, the acid casein, the calcium compounds and the phosphates being present in finely particulate form. The imitation cheese is constituted by mixing the base with fat and hot water.

Description

SPECIFICATION Imitation cheese base masses The present invention is concerned with imitation cheese base mass in the form of a dry mixture based on acid casein and salt additives which, upon mixing with water and fat, gives a cheese-like mass.

Cheese substitute foodstuff products (imitation cheese) based upon casein and salt additives are known. Federal Republic of Germany Patent Specifications Nos. 2,535,856 and 2,535,857 describe cheese-like foods which contain fat, calcium caseinate and an acid, for example adipic acid. Federal Republic of Germany Patent Specification No.2,808,303 describes a cheese substitute foodstuff product which contains rennet casein, a solubilising agent and oils or fats, phosphates or citrates thereby being used as solubilising agents.

Disadvantages of the known cheese substituted products include, for example, the frequently occurring taste of casein, the use of additives which are foreign to milk, for example adipic acid, and also the usually laborious methods of production.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an imitation cheese base mass with which, in a simple and easy manner, upon mixing with water and fat, there can be produced an imitation cheese product which from the point of view of taste and consistency, fulfils the demanded requirements and which, on the basis of its meltability and other properties is especially suitable for the preparation of pizza, as a toast spread and the like.

Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided a fat-free imitation cheese base mass based upon acid casein and salt additives, wherein it comprises 0.6 to 3.0% of calcium in the form of calcium hydroxide or edible calcium salts and 0.4 to 5.0% by weight of P04 in the form of water-soluble alkali metal or alkaline earth metal orthophosphates, the acid casein, the calcium compounds and the phosphates being present in finely particulate form.

With the imitation cheese base mass according to the present invention, there can be obtained, in a simple manner, cheese substitute products (imitation cheese) which, with regard to flavour, consistency and melting behaviour, display outstanding properties. Even without the addition of further conventional flavouring materials, they are also free from a taste of casein and possess the appearance and the consistency of a semi-solid cuttable cheese. Upon heating, they form a homogeneous melt and, after melting on a pizza base, do not stick to the knife or only stick to a very small extent. In a cut or otherwise comminuted state, they do not exude oil and are readily measured out.On the basis of these properties, the imitation cheeses produced with the base mass according to the present invention are especially suitable for the production of pizza, as a toast spread or for similar purposes. Therefore, the present invention is also concerned with the use of the imitation cheese base mass for the production of imitation cheese.

For working up to give imitation cheese, the base mass according to the present invention is homogeneously mixed with water and fat The addition of fat can thereby take place simultaneously with or after mixing with water. It is also possible to take up certain salt components of the base mass according to the present invention in the water and to add the rest of the base mass in powdered form.

The base mass is preferably taken up in warm water with a temperature of 60 to 950C. but it is also possible to mix it with water at ambient temperature and only thereafter to heat. At a temperature of from 80 to 950C., especially good results are thereby achieved.

The fat used can be any edible fat, such as a vegetable or animal fat or a hydrogenated fat, dependinq upon availability or local taste preference. However, fats which has a consistency similar to that of butter or margarine have proved to be especially preferable. The mixing and heating can take place in a device conventionally used for the production of melt cheese.

We have, surprisingly, found that, with the mass according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an imitation cheese product by simpiy mixing it with water and fat, without a precipitation of calcium phosphate taking place due to the simultaneous presence of calcium ions and phosphate ions, which would result in a gritty mixture of calcium phosphate and acid casein. Thus, with the base mass according to the present invention, a definite sequence of addition of the indicated components is not necessary: the imitation cheese can be produced in a simple and rapid manner by mixing a "one-pot" mixture with water and fat. Furthermore, when using the base mass according to the present invention, it is not absolutely necessary, for the achievement of a melt, also to add polyphosphates or other melt salts.

In the base mass according to the present invention, the acid casein is to be present in finely particulate form. The particle size of the finely particulate acid casein is preferably less than 300 Mm.

and more preferably less than 200 ,um. The phosphates are also preferably used with a particle size of less than 300 ym. and here, too, particle sizes of less than 200 ym. are especially preferred.

The calcium hydroxide is preferably present in an even finer particulate form than the acid casein and the phosphates. Chemically pure, powdered products have proved to be especially preferred and especially those with a particle size of less than 80 ,um.

The degree of fine particularity of the calcium salts and phosphates is also dependent upon the solubility. If edible calcium salts, for example calcium chloride or calcium lactate, are used, then, especially in the case of the very rapidly dissolving calcium chloride, coarser forms can also be used; however, no very coarse particularity is to be present. This also applies to the phosphates.

The water-soluble alkali metal orthophosphate is preferably sodium or potassium phosphate and the alkaline earth metal phosphate is preferably calcium dihydrogen phosphate. Mixtures of one or more calcium salts or phosphates can also be used. It has proved to be advantageous to employ either a basically reacting calcium carrier in combination with an acid-reacting PO4 carrieror, vice versa, an acidic calcium carrier and a basic POa carrier. As "acidic" or "basic", there are here to be understood pH values below or above 7 and preferably below 5 or above 8.

It is preferable for the base mass to contain, in addition to the orthophosphates, also one or more water-soluble polyphosphates and/or citrates. Although this is not absolutely necessary for the meltability of the imitation cheese, by the addition of polyphosphates and/or citrates in combination with the components used according to the present invention, the melting behaviour and the form stability of the product can be influenced in a desirable manner.

The base mass according to the present invention preferably contains the calcium compounds in an amount of from 0.6 to 2.0% by weight (calculated as calcium), referred to the total base mass, and the phosphates preferably in an amount of 0.4 to 3.5% by weight (calculated as P04). In the case of the simultaneous use of polyphosphates, the proportion of polyphosphates is generally 0.05 to 1.5% by weight and preferably 0.1 to 1.00to by weight and, in the case of citrates, is preferably 0.1 to 2.0% by weight.

Higher amounts of calcium and Pro, can be used and give good melts. Amounts of up to 3% calcium and 5% PO4 have the advantage of approximating to the native calcium phosphate-casein complex of milk or of natural cheese.

The base mass can also contain further additives conventional for foodstuff products, for example flavour-improving materials, stabilisers, preserving materials and anti-oxidants. The base mass preferably also contains lactose, especially in amounts of from 5 to 1 5% by weight, referred to the total mass and/or spice additives, for example pepper, paprika and especially sodium chloride. However, these additives can also be added during the working up to give an imitation cheese, together with the water and fat.

It is also possible, instead of a mixture of calcium salts and casein, to replace the proportion of calcium corresponding to the calcium salts, or a part thereof, by calcium caseinate. The base mass can then, for example, consist of calcium caseinate, alkali metal or alkaline earth metal phosphates and optionally further conventional additives.

In the imitation cheese base mass according to the present invention, the nature and amount of the components and especially the nature (cations and anions) and amounts of the calcium and phosphate salts, is preferably so chosen that the cheese mass produced from the base mass has a pH value of 5 to 6.3 and especially of 5.3 to 6.

The following Examples are given for the purpose of illustrating the present invention: EXAMPLES 1 TO 14 Production ofan imitation cheese base mass Dry imitation cheese base masses are produced by a simple mixing of the components in the desired amounts. The compositions of some base masses is given in the following Table I, Example 14 being given for the purposes of comparison.

TABLE I Composition of fat-free base masses in parts by weight

sodium- tri acid tetrapoly- potassium No. casein Ca(OH)2 Ca(H2PO4) KN2PO4 phosphate citrate CaCl2 2H2O Na3PO4 NaCl lactose 1 100 1.5 0.6 1.0 3 10 2 100 2.5 1.0 3 10 3 100 2.5 1.1 3 10 4 100 1.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 3 10 5 100 1.5 0.7 0.4 3 10 6 100 1.7 0.5 0.6 3 10 7 100 1.7 0.5 0.6 3 15 8 100 1.7 0.5 0.6 3 20 9 100 5 5 10 10 100 4 4 10 11 100 6 7 12 100 7 8 13 100 5 7 14 100 5 5 10 Production of a cheese mass: The imitation cheese mass is stirred into water at about 95cm. until a homogeneous, whitish mass has formed (stirring time with a hand stirrer about 2 minutes). Fat (margarine or butter) is then added in a molten state and the mixture is intensively stirred for a further 2 minutes with a hand stirring device (double spiral).

Alternatively, the mixing of the powder with the water is carried out in a melt cheese boiler at the same temperature and, after the addition of the fat, is further stirred for 30 to 120 seconds.

The mixing and stirring conditions can be varied depending upon the type of mixer used.

The following Table II gives the results obtained, Example 14 again being given for the purposes of comparison.

TABLE II Cheese batches in parts by weight

No.

acc. to base Tabl. I water mass margarine butter pH evaluation 1a 460 300 240 5.7 whitish, elastic, meits homogeneously b 460 300 240 5.6 as (1a) but of somewhat "shorter" consistency 2 460 320 220 5.9 whitish, very soft and rapidly melting 3 460 320 220 5.6 similar to (2) 4 510 270 220 5.7 similar to (2) 5 460 300 240 5.5 similar to (2) but more slowly melting 6 460 320 220 5.7 similar to (5) 7 460 320 220 5.7 softer than (6) 8 460 320 220 5.7 softer than (7) 9 460 320 220 5.3 whitish, acidic, more slowly melting than (10) 10 480 320 220 5.7 whitish, acidic, homogeneously melting 11 470 310 220 6.0 whitish, somewhat glassy, homogeneously melting 12 470 310 220 5.2 whitish, acidic, homogeneously melting 13 470 310 220 6.3 elastic, somewhat glassy. homogeneously melting 14 510 270 220 - non-homogeneous, gravely, crumbly, no homogeneous melt

Claims

1. Fat-free imitation cheese base mass based upon acid casein and salt additives, wherein it comprises 0.6 to 3.0% of calcium in the form of calcium hydroxide or edible calcium salts from 0.4 to

5.0% by weight of PO4 in the form of water-soluble alkali metal or alkaline earth metal orthophosphates, the acid casein, the calcium compounds and the phosphates being present in finely pa rticu late form.

2. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 1, wherein it is present in the form of a dry mixture based on acid casein and salt additives.

3. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 1, wherein it contains a basic calcium compound together with an acidic phosphate compound or an acidic calcium compound together with a basic phosphate compound.

4. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the acid casein present has a particle size of less than 300,us.

5. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 4, wherein the acid casein present has a particle size of less than 200,um.

6. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the phosphates present have a particle size of less than 300,us.

7. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the calcium hydroxide is present in powdered form.

8. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 7, wherein the calcium salts present have a particle size of less than 300,us.

9. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the edible calcium salt is calcium chloride, calcium lactate and/or calcium dihydrogen phosphate.

10. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the phosphate present is sodium and/or potassium and/or calcium orthophosphate.

11. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein, in addition to the orthophosphate, it contains at least one water-soluble polyphosphate.

12. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein, in addition to the calcium and phosphate compounds, it contains at least one water-soluble citrate.

13. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein it contains 0.6 to 2.0% by weight of calcium in the form of calcium hydroxide or calcium salts.

14. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein it contains 0.4 to 3.5% by weight of PO4 as orthophosphate.

1 5. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein it contains further conventional additives.

1 6. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein some or all of the calcium corresponding to the calcium salts is present as calcium caseinate.

17. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 16, wherein it comprises calcium caseinate and alkali metal or alkaline earth metal phosphates and optionally further conventional additives.

1 8. Imitation cheese base mass according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the calcium and phosphate salts are, with regard to the nature of the cations and anions and of the amount, so chosen that an imitation cheese produced from the base mass has a pH value of 5 to 6.3.

19. Imitation cheese base mass according to claim 18, wherein the calcium and phosphate salts are, with regard to the nature of the cations and anions and of the amount, so chosen that an imitation cheese produced from the base mass has a pH value of 5.3 to 6.

20. Imitation cheese mass according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described and exemplified.

21. Imitation cheese, whenever produced from an imitation cheese base mass according to any of claims 1 to 20.