KR20060017843A - Particulate cheese curd product - Google Patents

Abstract

A method is described for producing a young cheese or cheese curd in which the natural ripening process is slowed. The method involves forming a coagulum of cheese curd from milk, salting and draining the whey. The curd is then formed into particles and dried to a preferred moisture level of 5% to 30%. The dried curd particles may be stored over extended periods and then used in the manufacture of processed cheese.

Description

Granular cheese curd product {PARTICULATE CHEESE CURD PRODUCT}

The present invention relates to cheese curd or young cheeses used in the manufacture of processed cheeses, and to processed cheeses produced therefrom. The invention also relates to a method of making curd or immature cheese and a process of making processed cheese therefrom.

Processed cheese is made by combining a mixture of immature cheese and mature (flavored) cheese with other ingredients to obtain a combination of the desired composition, texture and flavor. An important property of immature cheese for this purpose is that it contains high levels of complete casein. Full casein can be variously classified into functional casein, relative casein, structural casein, functional protein, and structural protein. These meanings and other understandings in the art are encompassed by this specification.

As used herein, "curd" and "young cheese" are terms that may be used together. In practicing the present invention, it is not necessary to determine the exact turning point between the terms.

Cheese can have a life cycle that can be separated into three phases. The first phase is the functional phase when the functionality is dominant. In the second phase, most of the cheese's functionality is lost, but the flavor of the cheese is not yet developed. It is used as a filler in the second phase. In the third phase, the cheese is aged to produce flavor. The combined action of bacteria and enzymes causes the cheese to mature during the three phases resulting in the gradual degradation of complete casein. This is useful for extending the functionality or first phase of the cheese ripening cycle. Cheeses that use functionality can be produced over a long period of time. Markets far from where immature cheese is made may be delayed in transportation, causing loss of value. Cheese production has also been attempted only during the milking season, but can be made over a year and 12 months.

One way to delay or inhibit degradation of cheese ripening and complete casein is to refrigerate or freeze the immature cheese. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,773,054 and 5,783,236 disclose methods for producing immature cheese in a particulate form. Fresh cheese curd is drained, salted, ground and made into granules. The product is then cooled and optionally dried to a minimum moisture content of 33% to 36% by weight. The effect of the drying and cooling can yield fresh curd particles so that they are not tight when the cheese is packaged and stored in bulk. The product can be selectively aged, which is not stable to bacterial or enzyme aging processes.

If immature cheese is fed in bulk (eg 200 kg block), it cannot be cooled fast enough to delay or stop the initial proteolytic reaction.

It is desirable to produce cheese curd or immature cheese without spending the cost of a refrigeration or freezing process. The stabilized cheese curd can then be made into the processed cheese at a time and place selected by the processed cheese manufacturer.

It is an object of the present invention to achieve the above object or to at least provide the public with useful options.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method for producing a particulate cheese curd suitable for the production of processed cheese, the method comprising the following steps:

Forming a coagulum of cheese curd from milk, adding salt to the coagulum and draining whey from it to form a curd;

Shaping the curd into particles, the particles having a particle size suitable for drying; And

Drying the formed curd particles to a moisture content of 5% to 30% by weight.

Preferably, the clot is formed by adding a clotting enzyme source or clotting enzyme to the milk.

Preferably, the coagulation enzyme source is rennet.

Optionally, the clot is formed by adding food grade acid to milk.

In a third alternative, the clot is formed by adding a coagulating enzyme source and an edible acid.

In a first alternative, the curd is shaped into particles by stirring the clot.

In a second alternative, the curd is shaped into particles by grinding.

In a first alternative, the milk is whole milk.

In a second alternative, the milk is skim milk.

In a third alternative, the milk is cheese milk.

Preferably, the curd is ground to a particle size 20 mm mesh or less.

More preferably, the curd is ground to a particle size of 10 mm mesh or less.

More preferably, the curd is ground to a particle size of 7.5 mm mesh or less.

More preferably, the curd is ground to a particle size 4 mm mesh or less.

Most preferably, the curd is ground to a particle size 3 mm mesh or less.

Preferably, the curd particles are dried to a moisture content of 5% to 25% by weight.

More preferably, the curd particles are dried to a moisture content of 22% to 23% by weight.

In a first alternative, the drying step is a batch process.

In a second alternative, the drying step is a continuous process.

Preferably, the continuous process comprises one or more steps carried out in parallel or in sequence.

Preferably, the curd particles are dried in a fluid bed dryer.

More preferably, the dryer is a multistage fluid bed dryer.

In a first embodiment, the dryer, in the case of a multistage fluid bed dryer, pulverizes some dried curd after exiting from one step and before entering the next step.

Preferably, the curd particles are dried in an air dryer at an air temperature of 20 ° C to 80 ° C.

More preferably, the air temperature is 20 ° C to 50 ° C.

Preferably the granular curd is dried under conditions that are not heated above the melting point of the fat contained in the granular curd.

In a first embodiment, the salt is added after the curd particles are molded.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to granular cheese curd produced by the method described above.

In another embodiment, the invention relates to a granular cheese curd having a particle size of 20 mm mesh or less and a moisture content of 5% to 30% by weight.

Preferably, the particle size is 10 mm mesh or less.

More preferably, the particle size is 7.5 mm mesh or less.

More preferably, the particle size is 4 mm mesh or less.

Most preferably, the particle size is 3 mm mesh or less.

Preferably, the moisture content of the particles is 5% to 25% by weight.

Most preferably, the moisture content of the particles is 22% to 23% by weight.

The invention also relates to the use of the granular cheese curd as defined above, which is used to make processed cheese.

The present invention also relates to processed cheese made by using granular cheese curd as defined herein.

The invention also relates to the individual or comprehensive of some, elements and features mentioned or pointed out herein, to a combination of two or more of the above parts, elements, or features, and to particular details mentioned herein. It is understood that equivalents known in the art, and equivalents known above, are incorporated herein.

The present invention relates to a hypothetical structure which is provided only by way of example above and below.

The invention may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

1A shows the control in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 1A shows the log-linear degradation levels of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) inversely proportional to time in a granular curd control sample containing 32.5% by weight moisture content.

1B shows Test 1 in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 1B shows log-linear degradation levels of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) inversely proportional to time in granular curd samples dried from 22% to 23% by weight moisture content.

1C shows Test 2 in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 1C is a plot showing the log-linear degradation levels of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) inversely proportional to time in granular curd samples dried at a water content of 28% to 30% by weight.

1D shows Test 3 in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 1D shows log-linear degradation levels of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) inversely proportional to time in granular curd samples dried from 22% to 23% by weight moisture content.

1E shows test 4 in Example 3. FIG. FIG. 1E shows the log-linear degradation levels of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) inversely proportional to time in granular curd samples dried from 28% to 30% by weight moisture content.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the measured degradation rates of α _s1 -casein (●) and β-casein (▲) in cheese curd to cheese curd moisture content.

The inventors have found that the degradation rate of casein protein selected from granular cheese curd or immature cheese can be reduced by drying. The state of the protein selected is believed to reflect the level of complete casein in cheese.

Cheese curds, or cheese-like curds containing skim milk cheese curds, may be prepared by means known in the art. A conventional method of making cheese curds is disclosed in Kosikowsky et al. (1997).

In a first embodiment, after adding salt and draining the excess whey, the fresh cheese curd is milled and fed to the dryer. The dryer may be batch or continuous and may consist of one or more steps used simultaneously or consecutively.

In an optional embodiment, whey and curd are continuously stirred during manufacture. After whey is removed, the curd is continued to stir during subsequent curd manipulation steps including adding salt. Using this step would not require an additional grinding step to granulate the curd during drying.

Preferred dryer forms are fluid bed dryers, and more preferred dryers are multistage fluid bed dryers. Optionally, between the drying steps, a curd grinding, size reduction or screening device can be further arranged.

The drying medium is supplied to the dryer. Preferred drying medium is air, and more preferred drying medium is heated air. Optionally, the drying medium may be dehydrated or dampened before feeding to the fluidized bed or before contacting the material to be dried. Optionally, the drying medium can be reused.

At the outlet of the dryer, the curd particles have a desirable moisture content of 5% to about 30% by weight.

In a preferred embodiment, the air supplied to the dryer should be at most 80 ° C and at least 20 ° C. Optionally, the properties (temperature and humidity) of the drying medium fed in various steps can vary between the steps.

In addition, the inventors have found that very desirable preservation levels of complete casein can be obtained at moisture concentrations which accidentally inhibit the growth of decaying organisms at room temperature. In a preferred embodiment it is therefore convenient to store the dried product at room temperature.

The optionally dried product may be stored at room temperature or below, preferably below 0 ° C.

Example 1 Preparation of Dry Curd

Cheddar cheese curd is prepared as follows:

In a cheese batt, 375 L of pasteurized milk (the sterile milk standardizes the ratio of protein to fat to 0.78) is added. The temperature of the cheese milk is adjusted to 32 ° C. Mesophilic starter at 2.4% of cheese milk, coagulant at a rate of 6 mL / 100L of cheese milk and CaCl ₂ at a rate of 0.02% are added and mixed thoroughly with cheese milk.

After about 20 minutes of setting, the gel is cut using a 6 mm curd knife. The curd and whey are then heated to 38.5 ° C. over 40 minutes with stirring and cooked.

Whey is drained from the curd after an additional 2¾ hours. The curd is first stirred six times at 18 minutes, then three times at 15 minutes, and then once every 10 minutes. When the pH reaches approximately 5.2, salt is added to the curd at a rate of 22 g / kg. The curd is aged for an additional 20 minutes.

Example 2: Drying of Curds

Four 9 kg ground curd batches prepared in a manner similar to the method in Example 1 above were dried using a low humidity low temperature drier. The curd sample is dried at 10 ° C. for 2 days. Approximately 9 kg of curd was weighed onto twelve dry stainless steel drying trays and the procedure was repeated in four separate drying tests over two days. The air temperature, relative humidity and average cheese moisture content for each dryer test are listed in Table 1 below.

The average composition of dried curd samples is shown in Table 2 below.

Example 3: Storage and Proteolysis Measurement

Dried cheese samples were stored for a long time (3 months) at 10 ° C. and sampled at regular intervals. The casein protein hydrolysis was measured using a well-established electrophoretic method (Alkaline Urea PAGE). See Creamer (1991).

The results of casein degradation measured from PAGE analysis were measured and shown in FIGS. 1A-1E. Plotting the α _s1 -casein and β-casein degradation rates and correlating using log-linear plots show that drying has a very important effect on casein degradation rates.

수분 함량 22~23 %로 건조된 시료(시험 1 및 3, 도 1B 및 1D)의 카제인 최소 분해율은 건조되지 않은 대조군 시료(도 1A - 32.5% 수분 함량)와 비교하여, 10 ℃에서 3개월 후에 α_s1-카제인 및 β-카제인 둘다에서 > 90%이다(대조군 시료는 10 ℃에서 3개월 저장 후에 α_s1-카제인은 < 20%이고, β-카제인은 약 40%임).

The casein minimum degradation rate of the samples dried at a moisture content of 22-23% (tests 1 and 3, FIGS. 1B and 1D) after 3 months at 10 ° C., compared to the undried control samples (FIGS. α _s1 - casein and a> 90% in both β- casein (control sample at 10 ℃ after 3 months later α _s1 - and casein is <20%, β- casein will be approximately 40%).

중간 수분 함량(28~30 %의 수분 함량)으로 건조된 시료(시험 2 및 4, 도 1C 및 1E)의 카제인 분해율은 건조되지 않은 대조군 시료(도 1A)와 비교하여, 10 ℃에서 3개월 후에 α_s1-카제인 > 35%, β-카제인 > 90%로 낮아진다.

The casein degradation rate of samples dried to medium moisture content (28-30% water content) (tests 2 and 4, FIGS. 1C and 1E) was 3 months after 10 months at 10 ° C. compared to the undried control samples (FIG. 1A). α _s1 -casein> 35%, β-casein> 90%.

The relationship between the observed cheese constants for dried cheese curd and α _s1 -casein and β-casein is nonlinear, but tends to be similar to the following (see FIG. 2).

The test shows that at a moisture content of <25% by weight, the rate of degradation of casein in the cheese curd can be drastically reduced to satisfactorily maintain complete casein levels for several months at or near room temperature.

Example 4: Drying of Curds

2 kg of salted and drained cheese curd (38.4% moisture, 31% fat, 25.3% protein, 3.13% salt) prepared as disclosed in Example 1 are prepared into granules by removing whey and stirring. Size analysis is shown in Table 3.

The granular curd is dried using a Uniglatt batch fluid bed dryer (Glatt Process Technology GmbH, Binzen, Germany) equipped with a Munters dehumidifier (Munters ML 180E dehumidifier, Munters Europe, Tobo, Sweden) attached to the dryer air supply.

The relative humidity of the dehumidified air is 6% at 27 ° C. (absolute humidity 1.3 g / kg dry air). The incoming air is electrically heated to 28 ° C. before entering the fluidized bed. An airflow of 3 kg / min is used.

The moisture content of the curd in the dryer is measured by collecting a small amount of sample (about 16 g) at regular intervals for analysis (16 hour oven drying method). Fluidized bed temperature and moisture content in the drying process are shown in Table 4.

Example 5 Preparation of Processed Cheese from Dried Curd

The ingredients in Table 5 are reduced to uniform particle size by passing through a 5 mm cheese grinder and placed in a 25 kg Blentech (Model No. CC45) cooker.

The ingredients of Table 6 are also added to the cheese in the Blentech Cooker.

The mixture is mixed using an auger speed of 120 rpm. 0.026 kg of citric acid is added and the mixture is heated to 87 ° C. over about 1 minute using direct steam injection. The temperature is maintained for about 6 minutes. About 1.47 kg of condensate is added during heating and incorporated into the mixture.

The molten mixture is poured through a colloid mill prior to casting on a cold table and the cheese film is cut into slices. The cooled slice is a processed cheese slice of acceptable quality for IWS applications.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, many modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

references

Creamer, LK (1991) Electrophoresis of cheese. Bull Int Dairy Fed 261, 14-28.

Kosikowski FV & Mistry VV Cheese and Fermented Milk Foods. Volume 1: Origins and Principles 3 ^rd ed. 1997. Chapts. 7 & 13. Kosikowski, Great Falls, Virginia 22066, USA.

Claims (37)

As a method for producing a particulate cheese curd suitable for the production of processed cheese, The method comprises the following steps: Forming a coagulum of cheese curd from milk, adding salt to the coagulation and draining whey from it to form a curd; Shaping the curd into particles, the particles having a particle size suitable for drying; And Drying the formed curd particles to a moisture content of 5% to 30% by weight. The method of claim 1, Clot formation by adding a clotting enzyme source or clotting enzyme to milk. The method of claim 2, Wherein said coagulation enzyme source is rennet. The method of claim 1, A method for forming a clot by adding food grade acid to milk. The method of claim 1, A clot is formed by adding a source of coagulant enzyme and edible acid to milk. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, And the curd is formed into particles by stirring the clot. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, Forming the curd into particles by grinding. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, Wherein said milk is whole milk. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, Said milk is skim milk. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, Said milk is cheese milk. The method of claim 7, wherein Pulverizing the curd to a particle size of 20 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 7, wherein Pulverizing the curd to a particle size of 10 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 7, wherein Pulverizing the curd to a particle size of less than 7.5 mm mesh. The method of claim 7, wherein Pulverizing the curd to a particle size of 4 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 7, wherein Pulverizing the curd to a particle size of 3 mm mesh or less. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, And drying the curd particles to a moisture content of 5% to 25% by weight. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, Drying the curd particles to a moisture content of 22% to 23% by weight. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, The drying step is a continuous process. The method of claim 18, Wherein the continuous process comprises one or more steps carried out in parallel or in sequence. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, Wherein said drying step is a batch process. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, Drying the curd particles with a fluid bed dryer. The method of claim 21, The dryer is a multi-stage fluidized bed dryer. The method of claim 22, And after the some dried curd has emerged from one step and before entering the next step. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, And the curd particles are dried in an air dryer at an air temperature of 20 ° C to 80 ° C. The method of claim 24, The air temperature is characterized in that 20 ℃ to 50 ℃. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 25, And drying the granular curd under conditions not heated above the melting point of the fat contained in the granular curd. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 26, After the curd particles are formed, a salt is added thereto. A granular cheese curd produced by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27. A granular cheese curd, characterized in that the particle size is 20 mm mesh or less and the water content is 5% to 30% by weight. The method of claim 29, The grain size cheese curd, characterized in that the grain size is 10 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 29, The grain size cheese curd, characterized in that the grain size is 7.5 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 29, The grain size cheese curd, characterized in that the grain size is 4 mm mesh or less. The method of claim 29, The grain size cheese curd, characterized in that the grain size is 3 mm mesh or less. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, Granular cheese curd, characterized in that the moisture content of the particles is 5% to 25% by weight. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, Granular cheese curd, characterized in that the moisture content of the particles is 22% to 23% by weight. 35. Use of the granular cheese curd according to any one of claims 28 to 34 used for producing processed cheese. Processed cheese produced by using the granular cheese curd according to any one of claims 28 to 35.

Images