JP5165850B2 - Cheese and freeze-dried food - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to cheeses suitable for a raw material of freeze-dried foods that have excellent hot water removability and have good stringiness after hot water reversion.
The present invention also relates to a freeze-dried food obtained by freeze-drying the above cheeses and having both hot-water retentivity and stringiness after hot-water rejuvenation. The freeze-dried food of the present invention is useful as an ingredient for instant foods such as instant noodles and instant soups, and as an ingredient for other general food groups, mainly liquid food groups such as ramen, soup, miso soup and pots.
In addition, cheeses as used in the field of this invention mean the cheese-like food which uses process cheese, cheese food, milk, etc. as a main raw material.

  Cheese is gradually taking root in the current Japanese diet, and opportunities to climb the table are increasing. Along with this, as with other foods, there is an increasing need for cheeses in instant foods that can be easily used, and in fact, dried foods such as instant noodles and instant soups, and curry roux that can be stored at room temperature after being processed at high temperature and pressure There is a demand for the development of cheeses that can maintain the same flavor, physical properties, shape and the like as in normal use even after advanced processing such as retort foods.

Dry cheeses and freeze-dried cheeses with poor stringiness are known before the present application, and their production methods are also known. For example, it is known that sodium polyphosphate and sodium metaphosphate are added as molten salts, the product moisture is adjusted to 45 to 50%, and the reconstitution property is improved by making the tissue porous by slow freezing (Patent Document 1). ). This is a special manufacturing facility and food additives other than molten salt that were necessary in the past, and those that were time-consuming in production, improved the tempering ability with ordinary facilities and labor. .
Moreover, the freeze-dried cheese which added molten salt, the stabilizer, and the emulsifier suitably to raw material cheese is also well-known (patent document 2). This technology is not a rejuvenation of the obtained cheese food, it is shown that a cheese food with a light texture even if eaten as it is without creaking is obtained. There is no mention of sex.

  Although the said well-known technique is the freeze-dried cheese which added the additive to raw material cheese, and emulsified and was freeze-dried, the technique of patent document 1 is a description regarding the stringing property after hot water refining with high user needs. In addition, it has been confirmed that the freeze-dried cheeses described in the examples do not have stringiness after freeze-drying. Further, even in the technique of Cited Document 2, since the obtained product is directly eaten without reconstitution, there is no need for reconstitution, and there is no need for reconstitution, and it relates to the stringiness after reconstitution. There is no description.

  Furthermore, freeze-dried cheese that satisfies both the hot-water refining property after freeze-drying and the stringiness after hot-water refining is also known from the technology of the applicant company (Patent Document 3). In this technology, raw cheeses are heated while being stirred at a low speed, and a special production method is used in which gas is bubbled to foam the aerated cheeses under vacuum. Manufacturing equipment and good stringiness after rejuvenation is limited to foamed natural cheese, and cheese-like foods made mainly from processed cheese, cheese food, milk, etc. In the foamed product, there was no product excellent in hot water rewinding property and stringing property after hot water refining.

Japanese Patent No. 3581976 JP 2004-290087 A Japanese Patent Publication No.7-114629

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described prior art, does not require special production equipment, can use a normal emulsification pot, has excellent hot water rewinding properties, and good stringiness after hot water rewinding. It is an object to provide cheeses suitable for a raw material of a certain freeze-dried food. Another object of the present invention is to provide a freeze-dried food obtained by freeze-drying the above cheeses and having both hot-water retentivity and stringiness after hot-water rejuvenation.

  The present inventors use natural cheese having a maturity index of 20% or less as a raw material natural cheese or a maturity index adjusted to 20% or less, and (A) citrates or Two types of monophosphates and polyphosphates or (B) three types of citrates, monophosphates and polyphosphates are used in combination to obtain cheeses, and the resulting cheeses are cut and cut Alternatively, the freeze-dried food obtained by pulverizing and freeze-drying has good hot-water rewinding properties and good stringiness after hot-water refining. As a result, the present invention has been completed.

  That is, the present invention uses natural cheese having a maturity index of 20% or less or a maturity index adjusted to 20% or less as a raw material natural cheese, and (A) citrates or Two types of monophosphates and polyphosphates, or (B) cheeses suitable for raw materials of freeze-dried foods characterized by using three types of citrates, monophosphates and polyphosphates in combination It is. Moreover, this invention is the freeze-dried food obtained by freeze-drying the said cheeses.

In addition, the stringiness after hot water reversion can be evaluated by the following method.
(Thread drawability after reconstitution)
The freeze-dried food was collected in a 5 g cup, and 100 ml of hot water at 90 ° C. was added and restored for 3 minutes. Pass the bottom of the 2mm standard L-shaped hexagon wrench so that the short side (16mm) of the 2mm standard food comes to the center of the tempered food, and speed of 10cm / second by the string drawing measuring machine (Fuji Seiki Seisakusho) When it was pulled up, the stretched length of the food until cutting was measured. It is assumed that the stringiness is 100 mm or more.
The maturity index is calculated by the following formula.
Maturity index (%) = (soluble nitrogen amount / total nitrogen amount) × 100

Various factors can be considered as factors relating to the hot-water retentivity and water absorption of the freeze-dried food according to the present invention.
In general, it is considered that the higher the moisture content before drying, the more porous after drying and the more easily water is absorbed. In some cases, it is possible to force the air into the tissue and promote the porous structure. However, in the case of cheeses, particularly those that undergo secondary processing such as cut cheese, dice cheese, shred cheese, etc., a soft tissue will be formed if adjusted to high moisture, and processing suitability will be impaired.
The large surface area per unit volume is also a major factor. The larger the contact area with hot water when recuperating, the better the reversibility of the hot water. The hot water rewinding property is higher in small thin shapes such as small dice cheese and shred cheese than in shapes such as cut cheese and large dice cheese.

It is common to use sodium citrate or sodium monophosphate to produce cheeses having stringiness, but these salts have an ion exchange effect, but increase the swelling and water absorption of proteins. Since the peptizing action is weak, even when cheeses prepared using such salts are freeze-dried or hydrated and freeze-dried as they are, the refrigerating properties of those freeze-dried products are very poor.
This is due to the low peptizing action, which reduces the water absorption of the protein itself, even if the moisture content during cheese preparation is increased or the surface area per unit volume is increased. However, the partially restored cheeses are also hard and elastic because they form gums and strong fibers. Therefore, it was found that the cheeses after reconstitution with hot water seem to have a low stringiness.

  Therefore, in the present invention, in the reconstituted freeze-dried food, it is considered that smooth and soft stringiness cannot be expected with a gummy and strong fiber, so that the stringiness is slightly lowered to give smooth and soft stringiness. Even so, in order to further increase the water absorption of the protein itself, it has been thought that it is preferable to add polyphosphates (including diphosphates) having a high peptizing action. A freeze-dried food having both physical properties that are preferable for the stringiness after returning was obtained.

In the present invention, raw material natural cheese is also an important requirement, and in particular, it is important to use natural cheese itself having a maturity index of 20% or less or natural cheese having a maturity index adjusted to 20% or less. .
Examples of such raw material natural cheese include gouda cheese, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese, which are usually used in the manufacture of cheese-like foods whose main raw materials are process cheese, cheese food, milk, and the like. If it is natural cheese itself with a maturity index of 20% or less or natural cheese with a maturity index adjusted to 20% or less, it is not particularly limited, but it is hard or semi-rigid with good stringiness. It is preferable to use low-ripening natural cheese.
For example, when adjusting the maturity index to 10%, the maturity index of 12% and 8% natural cheese are mixed in equal amounts, or the maturity index is 24% and 8% natural cheese. May be mixed at a ratio of 12.5 wt% and 87.5 wt%, respectively.

  As the molten salt used in the present invention, two types of citrates or monophosphates having an ion exchange action and weak peptization action and polyphosphates having a strong peptization action are used in combination. In addition to the above two types of combination, in some cases, three types of citrates, monophosphates and polyphosphates may be used in combination, or a molten salt in which they are blended in advance may be used.

The monophosphates having weak peptization used in the present invention are structurally one phosphorus. Usually, if it is a monophosphate used for cheese manufacture, it will not specifically limit.
The polyphosphates having strong peptization used in the present invention are generally called polyphosphates and metaphosphates, which have two or more phosphorus in structure, diphosphates, pyrophosphates The term “salt”, which includes two phosphorus in structure, is also included. Usually, if it is a polyphosphate used for cheese manufacture, it will not specifically limit.
Furthermore, examples of the citrates in the present invention include sodium citrate and potassium citrate. Usually, if it is a citrate used for manufacture of cheeses, it will not specifically limit.

In the present invention, as described above, two or three kinds of molten salts are used in combination, but the combined use of citrates or monophosphates having a weak peptizing action and polyphosphates having a strong peptizing action is essential. .
If at least one citrate or monophosphate with weak peptization and one or more polyphosphates with strong peptization are used in combination with the above conditions, other citrates and other It is within the scope of the present invention to use monophosphates and polyphosphates in combination and use a molten salt of three or more components in total.
In addition to this, the use of a molten salt such as tartrate generally used for cheese preparation also hinders the good hot-water retentivity and the good stringiness after hot water, which are the characteristics of the present invention. It is possible as long as it is not.

  The addition amount of the molten salt in the present invention may be appropriately determined depending on conditions such as the setting of the maturity index of the raw cheese, the moisture content of the final product, the presence or absence of secondary processing, and the like. When two types of (A) citrates or monophosphates and polyphosphates are used in combination with the raw material natural cheese, citrates or monophosphates are 0.1 to 2% by weight, preferably 0. 2 to 1.8 wt%, polyphosphates 0.1 to 1.5 wt%, preferably 0.2 to 1.0 wt%, (B) of citrates, monophosphates and polyphosphates When three types are used in combination, citrates and monophosphates 0.1 to 2% by weight, preferably 0.2 to 1.8% by weight, polyphosphates 0.1 to 1.5% by weight, preferably 0.2 to 1.0% by weight. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned conditions of the individual molten salt addition amount, the total molten salt addition amount is 0.5 to 2.5% by weight, preferably 0.5 to 1.5% by weight. You may adjust this total molten salt addition amount by adding and adding the molten salt generally used for cheese preparation.

  If the total amount of molten salt added is less than 0.5% by weight, emulsification may be unstable. If the amount of polyphosphate added exceeds 1.5% by weight, good stringing after reconstitution with hot water will occur. Sex cannot be expected.

  Secondary ingredients used in the present invention include dairy products such as skim milk, dairy ingredients, stabilizers, emulsifiers, starches, modified starches, vegetable fats, carbohydrates, spices, fragrances, etc., processed cheese, cheese food, milk Cheese-like foods that have main ingredients such as those that can be used in each grade can be selected according to their respective purposes. For example, physical property adjustment, flavor adjustment, and the like. Of course, it may be used or not used.

In the emulsification treatment in the present invention, an emulsifier such as a high-speed shearing emulsifier is usually used, as appropriate, using emulsifiers and stabilizers used for emulsification of cheese-like foods mainly made of processed cheese, cheese food, milk and the like. It is preferable to stir at a medium to high speed from 400 to 1500 rpm, but is not particularly limited.
After passing through the above blending and the above steps, it is sufficiently cooled in the same manner as ordinary cheeses to obtain cheeses suitable for the raw material of the freeze-dried food of the present invention. Furthermore, about the obtained cheeses, secondary processing is performed as needed, and the freeze-dried food of this invention is obtained by using for freeze-drying.

Various forms of secondary processing are conceivable. For example, after hydration, a method of freeze-drying after forming into various shapes, a method of directly freeze-drying block-shaped cheese, and a strip Secondary processing method, size, shape, lyophilization conditions, etc. after cutting into slicing, slicing, dicing, cutting into shred or crushing, pulverizing into powder, freeze drying, etc. Although it does not matter, it is more advantageous to take a surface area per unit volume as large as possible, which is generally considered as a factor affecting hot-water removability. Naturally, thick, large blocks or cut products that have been freeze-dried do not necessarily have good reconstitution properties, but are usually cut to a size that can withstand use in conceivable dry food groups, cut, ground, and freeze-dried The obtained freeze-dried food can have both a good hot water rewinding property and a stringiness after hot water refining.
Moreover, the cheeses suitable for the raw material of the freeze-dried food of the present invention have different properties depending on the secondary processing method, size, and shape. For example, when shredded, the cheese pieces after shredding are difficult to bind. Shred suitability is required. That is, in the cheeses suitable for the raw material of the freeze-dried food of the present invention, the raw material composition including secondary raw materials may be appropriately determined according to the secondary processing method, size, and shape capable of realizing the required suitability.

The hot water used for restoring the freeze-dried food obtained according to the present invention is not particularly limited in the temperature range, but a hot water having a higher temperature is advantageous in order to express the stringiness after hot water reversion. . This is because the softness is imparted to the restored cheese.
When used as ingredients such as cup soups and instant noodles, which are listed as the main uses of freeze-dried foods, boiling water and hot water are used, so there is no problem and both hot water rewinding properties and stringing properties after hot water refining are combined. Can be expressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the cheese suitable for the raw material of the freeze-dried food which is excellent in hot-water-removing property, and has the favorable stringing property after hot-watering, and the freeze-dried food which freeze-dried this cheese can be obtained. The freeze-dried food of the present invention has the same good stringiness as normal natural cheese and process cheese having stringiness after reconstitution with hot water.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples.

Using 5 kg of Gouda cheese and 5 kg of mozzarella cheese as raw natural cheese, the maturity index was adjusted to 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% as shown in [Table 1] below, and pulverized and mixed. After 10 kg of mixed cheese is put into a high-speed shearing emulsifier, 100 g of sodium monophosphate as a molten salt, 50 g of sodium polyphosphate, 10 g of guar gum as a stabilizer to stabilize emulsification and impart shred suitability Then, water was added so that the final moisture content was 45% by weight, and the mixture was heated and stirred at 1000 rpm to 78 ° C. About the heated cheese, it filled with 400g carton, cooled in the 5 degreeC refrigerator for 24 hours or more, and processed cheese was obtained.
The obtained processed cheese was shredded to 4 mm × 15 mm, frozen at −40 ° C., and freeze-dried under the conditions of 0.2 Torr to obtain freeze-dried processed cheese.

(Test Example 1)
About the freeze-dried process cheese obtained in Example 1, it tested by the following method about (1) hot water rewinding property and (2) stringing property after hot water rewinding.
(1) Hot water reversibility The freeze-dried process cheese was collected in a 5 g cup, and 100 ml of 90 ° C. hot water was added to observe the state of restoration for 3 minutes.
(2) Thread pullability after reconstitution with hot water The short side (16 mm) of a 2 mm standard L-shaped hexagon wrench is passed from the bottom so that it comes to the center of the restored cheese that has been reconstituted with hot water by the above method. When the machine was pulled up at a speed of 10 cm / second, the length of cheese stretched before cutting was measured. It is assumed that the stringiness is 100 mm or more.
The results are shown in Table 1.

  From the results of [Table 1] above, the hot water rewinding property was generally good within the range of the maturity index of 10% to 25%, but the stringing after the hot water refining as the maturity index increased from 10%. Sex has weakened.

Using 5 kg of Gouda cheese and 5 kg of mozzarella cheese as raw natural cheese, the maturity index was adjusted to 12% by crushing and mixing. 10 kg of mixed cheese is put into a high-speed shearing emulsifier, and 60 g of sodium citrate as a molten salt, 80 g of sodium polyphosphate, 50 g of sucrose fatty acid ester as an emulsifier to stabilize emulsification and impart shred suitability. After adding 30 g of locust bin gum as a stabilizer and 100 g of soybean white squeezed oil as vegetable fat, water was added so that the final water content was 45 wt%, and the mixture was heated and stirred at 1000 rpm to 78 ° C. About the heated cheese, it filled with 400g carton, cooled in a 5 degreeC refrigerator for 24 hours or more, and obtained cheese food which is cheeses suitable for the raw material of the freeze-dried food of this invention.
The obtained cheese food was shredded to 4 mm × 15 mm, frozen at −40 ° C., and freeze-dried as it was to obtain a cheese food that is a freeze-dried food of the present invention.
The obtained freeze-dried cheese food was collected in a 5 g cup, and 100 ml of 90 ° C. hot water was poured. As in the case of the maturity index of 10% in Example 1, good hot-water reversibility and good after hot-water rejuvenation were obtained. It also had stringiness.

Using 5 kg of Gouda cheese and 5 kg of mozzarella cheese as raw natural cheese, the maturity index was adjusted to 10%, and pulverized and mixed. 10 kg of mixed cheese was put into a high-speed shearing emulsifier, and sodium citrate, sodium monophosphate, and sodium polyphosphate were respectively added thereto according to the following [Table 2] as a molten salt, and the final moisture content was 47% by weight. Water was added so that the mixture was heated and stirred at 1000 rpm up to 80 ° C. About the heated cheese, it filled with 400g carton, cooled in the 5 degreeC refrigerator for 24 hours or more, and processed cheese was obtained.
The obtained processed cheese was shredded to 4 mm × 15 mm, frozen at −40 ° C., and freeze-dried under the conditions of 0.2 Torr to obtain freeze-dried processed cheese.

(Test Example 2)
About the freeze-dried process cheese obtained in Example 3, it tested by the method similar to Test Example 1 about the hot water rewinding property and the stringiness after hot water refining. The results are shown in Table 2 together with the emulsified state of the processed cheese before lyophilization and the results of the stringiness after emulsification.

From the results of the above [Table 2], in samples 1 to 3 in which sodium citrate and / or sodium monophosphate and sodium polyphosphate were used in combination, the hot water rewinding property and the stringiness after hot water refining were compatible. On the other hand, in samples 4 to 9 using each molten salt alone, the stringiness after reconstitution with hot water was inferior.
Moreover, since the addition amount of the molten salt of Samples 4 to 6 was half that of Samples 1 to 3 and Samples 7 to 9, the emulsified state was unstable and the water was slightly removed.
Samples 5, 6, 8, and 9 to which only sodium citrate or sodium monophosphate was added had poor water absorption, so the hot water reversibility was poor, and the cheese structure that was partially restored after hot water was also transparent. As a result, a gum and strong fibers were formed, and the apparent stringiness was poor.
Sample 4 to which only sodium polyphosphate is added has good hot-water rewinding properties, but is inferior in emulsified state and stringiness, and sample 7 has good emulsified state and hot-watering properties, but has poor stringiness. It became.
From this fact, freeze-dried process cheese having both good rewinding property and good stringiness after reconstitution when sodium citrate and / or sodium monophosphate and sodium polyphosphate are used in combination as a molten salt Was found to be obtained.

Using 5 kg of Gouda cheese and 5 kg of mozzarella cheese as raw natural cheese, the maturity index was adjusted to 10%, and pulverized and mixed. 10 kg of mixed cheese is put into a high-speed shear emulsification kettle, and molten salt is added to each according to the following [Table 3]. Then, water is added so that the final moisture content becomes 47% by weight, and up to 80 ° C. at 1000 rpm. Stir with heating. About the heated cheese, it filled with 400g carton, cooled in the 5 degreeC refrigerator for 24 hours or more, and processed cheese was obtained.
The obtained processed cheese was shredded to 4 mm × 15 mm, frozen at −40 ° C., and freeze-dried under the conditions of 0.2 Torr to obtain freeze-dried processed cheese.
(Test Example 3)
The freeze-dried process cheese obtained in Example 4 was tested in the same manner as in Test Example 1 for hot water rewinding property and stringing property after hot water refining. The results are shown in Table 3 together with the emulsified state of the processed cheese before lyophilization and the results of the stringiness after emulsification.

From the results of [Table 3] above, both sodium citrate and sodium polyphosphate were used in combination, and the amount of sodium polyphosphate added was 25 g (0.25% by weight of raw natural cheese) and 50 g (0 of raw natural cheese), respectively. .25 wt%), 100 g (1 wt% of raw natural cheese) and Samples 11, 12, and 13 which are appropriate addition amounts, both the hot water rewinding property and the stringiness after hot water refining were compatible. On the other hand, the amount of sodium polyphosphate added is as small as 10 g (0.1% by weight of raw natural cheese) and the amount of sample 10 is small, and the amount of sodium polyphosphate added is as high as 150 g (1.5% by weight of raw natural cheese). In sample 14, the core tends to remain during reconstitution with hot water, and the apparent stringiness after reconstitution with hot water slightly deteriorated. Furthermore, sample 15 having a large amount of 200 g (2% by weight of raw natural cheese) and sodium polyphosphate is very stable in emulsification, the structure is narrowed, the hot water rewinding property is poor, and the stringiness is also poor from the time of emulsification. The same was true after reconstitution.
From this, it was found that the addition amount of sodium polyphosphate is preferably 0.1 to 1.5% by weight, and more preferably 0.25 to 1.0% by weight.

Using 5 kg of Gouda cheese and 5 kg of mozzarella cheese as raw natural cheese, the maturity index was adjusted to 10%, and pulverized and mixed. 10 kg of mixed cheese is put into a high-speed shearing emulsification pot, and molten salt is added to each according to the following [Table 4]. Then, water is added so that the final moisture content is 47% by weight, and up to 80 ° C. at 1000 rpm. Stir with heating. About the heated cheese, it filled with 400g carton, it cooled in the 5 degreeC refrigerator for 24 hours or more, and the process cheese was obtained.
The obtained processed cheese was shredded to 4 mm × 15 mm, frozen at −40 ° C., and freeze-dried under the conditions of 0.2 Torr to obtain freeze-dried processed cheese.
(Test Example 4)
The freeze-dried process cheese obtained in Example 5 was tested in the same manner as in Test Example 1 for hot-water retentivity and stringiness after hot-water rejuvenation. The results are shown in Table 4 together with the emulsified state of the processed cheese before lyophilization and the results of the stringiness after emulsification.

From the results of [Table 4] above, when the amount of sodium polyphosphate added was 50 g (0.5% by weight of the raw natural cheese), in Samples 16, 17, and 18, the hot water retentivity and the stringing after hot water reversion Sex was compatible.
However, in the sample 16 where the amount of sodium citrate added is as small as 10 g (0.1% by weight of the raw natural cheese), the core tends to remain during reconstitution, and the apparent stringiness after reconstitution is slightly worse. . In addition, in Sample 18 where the amount of sodium citrate added is as large as 200 g (2% by weight of the raw natural cheese), the amount of sodium citrate is large, so the flavor is not good and the crystals of sodium citrate become longer as the storage becomes longer. Caused quality problems.
Further, in Samples 19 and 20 in which the amount of sodium polyphosphate was increased to 100 g (1% by weight of raw natural cheese), the amount of sodium citrate relative to sodium polyphosphate was small, so the stringiness after reconstitution with hot water deteriorated. There was a trend. Furthermore, in sample 21 in which sodium citrate was further increased to 200 g (2% by weight of raw natural cheese), the emulsification was very stable, the structure was narrowed down, and the hot water reversibility deteriorated. The stringiness was also poor from the time of emulsification and was the same after reconstitution with hot water. In Sample 21, as in Sample 18, the flavor was not good, and as the storage was prolonged, crystals of sodium citrate were formed, resulting in quality problems.
From this, sodium citrate has a lower peptizing action than sodium polyphosphate, and can be added in an increased amount. Sodium citrate is added in an amount of 0.1 to 2 with respect to raw natural cheese. % By weight was preferred, more preferably 0.2-1.8% by weight. It was also found that increasing the amount of sodium polyphosphate tends to counteract the stringiness effect of sodium citrate. Furthermore, as the addition amount of the entire molten salt, if the addition amount is small from the results of Test Example 2, the emulsification becomes unstable, and if the addition amount is large, the emulsification becomes too stable and the reconstitution property deteriorates. Since the flavor is deteriorated or crystals of the molten salt are generated, it is preferably 0.5 to 2.5% by weight, more preferably 0.5 to 1.5% by weight with respect to the raw material natural cheese. It turns out that.

Claims (4)

As natural cheese, natural cheese having a maturity index of 20% or less or a maturity index adjusted to 20% or less is used, and (A) citrates or monophosphates and polyphosphoric acid as a molten salt Process cheeses prepared using two types of salts together or (B) three types of citrates, monophosphates and polyphosphates were freeze-dried, after reconstitution with hot water, at a rate of 10 cm / sec. A freeze-dried food characterized by having a stringiness of 100 mm or more when pulled up. The freeze-dried food according to claim 1, wherein the polyphosphate is used in an amount of 0.1 to 1.5% by weight. The freeze-dried food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the amount of the citrates or monophosphates used is 0.1 to 2.0% by weight. An instant food comprising the freeze-dried food according to claim 1.