GB983752A - Method for the preparation of cheese - Google Patents

Abstract

Fresh cheese curd and/or mild unripened cheese containing cooking salt and less than 7% (reckoned as anhydrous salt) of processing salt reckoned on the total weight of mixture, is melted at above 70 DEG C., is cooled to a temperature low enough not to destroy the activity of the ripening culture to be added, and is then mixed with a ripening culture and allowed to ripen. The curd or cheese is ripened at the temperature of greatest activity of the ripening culture, usually below 50 DEG C., to a r H of between 5.0 and 4.2, and the ripened product is further cooled to a temperature of between 4 DEG C. and 8 DEG C., to kill or greatly inhibit the ripening culture and give a stable product. The curd or cheese is salted with cooking salt and processing salts during or after its formation but before heating and the mixture, including further optional ingredients, is homogenised before or after addition of the ripening culture. As processing salts there may be employed the soluble ortho-phosphates, pyrophosphates, condensed phosphates and citrates of inorganic or organic cations such as alkali metal, ammonium, urea or glucosamine in specified proportions. The curd or cheese is produced by curdling soured milk (or other casein-containing product capable of curdling) having an SH value between 7 and 30; the curds are drained and washed to decrease their lactose content. The milk may be soured by addition of buttermilk, acidifying cultures (Thermobacterium yoghourt, Thermobacterium bulgaricum or Thermobacterium helveticum), organic acids such as lactic, citric or tartaric acid, or rennet. An excessively sour milk is first treated with a citrate, phosphate, lactate or tartrate buffer. The curd or cheese may contain a minor proportion of the following: processed cheese, a caesin-containing fat emulsion which has a fat content of more than 30% (e.g. derived from completely or partially homogenised cream, butter, margarine, fat, oil (specified), milk or milk powder) in a proportion providing 40-70% fat in the final cheese, proteinaceous material, rennet, and flavouring and swelling or binding agents such as whey, spices, honey, pineapple, candied orange or lemon peel, fruit kernel meal, raspberry jam, blackberry jelly, gelatine, agar-agar, alginates and pectins. The melted and cooled mixture containing the ripening culture is packed into air-tight packaging (polyethylene bags, lined aluminium foil, plastic pots and sachets) to ripen in portions; the portions may have been coated with flavouring or pectin-containing substances such as fruit- and alginate-based jellies, and apricot and strawberry jams to inhibit surface infections such as slime formation. Much specific detail is contained in the many examples. Specification 862,067 is referred to.