NL9500596A - Method and device for preparing and manufacturing cheese, inside of which mold develops. - Google Patents

Description

Title: Method and device for preparing and manufacturing cheese, inside of which mold develops.

The invention relates to a method for preparing cheese in which food-grade cheese, such as blue cheese, develops inside the cheese mold. In addition, the invention relates to a method for preparing hard-rind type cheese in which mold develops in the interior of the cheese, as well as to such a cheese. Finally, the invention relates to a device suitable for use in the aforementioned methods.

The cheeses which are the subject of the present invention are characterized by the presence of edible fungi in the ripened cheese mass, which fungi influence the taste and appearance of the cheese. This group of cheeses includes in particular the blue * cheeses. In fact, the term "blue cheese" is used in general to denote this group of cheeses, regardless of the color of the mold, which varies, for example, from light blue to green.

The current range of blue mold cheeses consists of semi-hard cheeses such as Stilton, Danablu (Danish Blue) and Edelpilzkase, and soft cheeses such as Gorgonzola,

Bleu d * Auvergne and Roquefort.

in the present description, the term "blue cheese" will be commonly used. In particular, this term also includes hybrid white * blue cheese varieties.

Blue cheese is mainly characterized by the development of fungi of the genus Penicillium. and mainly of the species Penicillium rocrueforti. in the interior of the cheese.

These cheeses are usually prepared from raw or pasteurized milk to which a conventional starter culture is added, as well as rennet, after which a mixture of whey and curd is formed from the milk. Whey and curd are separated from each other, after which cheese is prepared from the curd.

Traces of the desired mold strain are added either to the cheese milk - as in the preparation of Danablu, EdelpilzkSse, Gorgonzola and Roquefort - or to the curd - as in the preparation of Stilton and Bleu d'Auvergne. In both cases, the spore suspension or a spore-containing powder is distributed homogeneously throughout the cheese mass. The spore-containing curd is processed in order to allow as much whey to drain off as possible. The curd is then placed in cheese molds. Due to the processing, the curd has a structure with many corners and edges, which creates a porous structure from individual curd particles. After draining, the curd mass is brined or dry-salted, after which the ripening period begins. During this maturing period, the cheese is usually "pricked".

Fungi of the genus Penicillium are aerobic; they require oxygen for their growth. Unless the structure of the cheese mass is very porous and air can enter the cheese from the outside - as with Danablu cheese, for example - air ducts must be created in the ripening cheese.

Pricking involves mechanically applying air channels in the ripening cheese mass, via which air channels air oxygen penetrates into the cheese mass, which induces or stimulates the growth of the introduced mold spores.

For the preparation of known blue mold cheeses, reference is made to Labkase Technology, Band I / II (1988) J. Kammerlehner, Verlag Th. Mann, Gelsenkirchen-Bluer, B.R.D. Handbuch der Kase (1974) H. Mair-Waldburg,

Volkswirtschaftlicher Verlag GmbH, Kempten, BRD; The Mitchell Beazley Pocket Cheese Book (1981), Mitchell Beazley Publishers, London, UK; and Blue-veined cheeses (1981) H.A. Morris Pfizer, Inc., New York, Ü.S.A.

Whether the oxygen enters through the porosity of the cheese mass or through punctured air channels, it is essential in both cases that mold spores are distributed homogeneously throughout the cheese mass. After all, where air is supplied, mold growth must occur. All this means that a relatively large amount of mold spores must be added to the cheese milks and / or the curd. In general, these grafting methods require so many spores that at least 10,000-20,000 spores per gram of cheese mass are present.

A major drawback of the known methods of preparing blue cheese cheese is that it is difficult to prepare this cheese next to other types of cheese or on existing cheese lines on which other types of cheese are also manufactured, because the risk of contamination of these other types of cheese with Penicillium spores is very large and hard to avoid.

A method has now been found with which blue mold cheese can be prepared on existing cheese lines and next to other cheese types without undesired contamination with Penicillium spores.

According to the invention, this method is characterized in that the inoculation with mold material is carried out mainly during the maturing period of the cheese.

Using the method according to the invention, the inoculation with mold material can take place in shielded spaces, so that the risk of contamination of equipment and cheeses in other spaces can be minimized.

In a preferred embodiment of this method, the inoculation is performed in combination with the piercing step. For example, during the ripening period, the cheese should be pricked with a pen loaded with inoculating material.

A second advantage of the method of the invention is that only a fraction of the amount of mold material is required compared to the amount of spores required in the known methods.

After all, mold material only has to be introduced where air ducts are also located. In addition, the mold material does not need to exclusively exist. Since the fungal material is introduced in the vicinity of air ducts, any fungal material that can grow, for example mycelium, can be used as a bone material.

The inoculation material includes fungi of the genus Penicillium. Although P. rooueforti is preferably used, fungal material from other species of this genus, optionally in combination, may also be used, particularly P. candidum and P. qlaucum.

for further details regarding suitable Penicillium species, see K.P. Roper and C.H. Thom, Manual of Penicillia, Williams & Wilkins, BaltimoreU.S.A. (1949).

The process according to the invention can be used for the preparation of all types of known blue mold cheeses.

In particular, it is very suitable for use in cheeses pricked during the conventional preparation method, such as cheeses of the type Stilton, Bresse Bleu and Gorgonzola.

The invention also relates to a method for preparing hard-rind type cheese, in which mold develops inside the cheese. Hard-rind-type cheeses have a firm closed rind, in which no curd contours are visible and which is obtained by pressing a curd with the acidification still demonstrably going on mechanically. Typically, a hard-rind type cheese is obtained by treating curd as is common in Gouda cheese manufacturing technology. Another means that the cheese will not be subjected to a pressing pressure for longer than 4 hours, the maximum data pressing pressure being in the range of 0.1-0.5 atmosphere. This method according to the invention in which a hard-rind type cheese is prepared comprises the following essential steps: a) a curd is prepared in the usual manner; (b) this curd is treated in such a way that the individual curd particles round off; c) these rounded curd particles are filled in conventional cheese molds; (d) the curd particles are pressed in the usual manner for hard-rind cheeses, after which the pressed curd mass is brined or dry-salted; and e) the young cheese is subjected to the above-described method wherein inoculation with mold material is carried out mainly during the maturing period of the cheese.

Thus, after maturing, a cheese is obtained with the characteristics in terms of shape, appearance and consistency of the dairy of, for example, a Gouda or Edam cheese.

The known blue mold cheeses do not have such a closed hard crust. In the preparation of almost all types of blue cheese, no pressing step is carried out or only a very small pressing step. Examples of cheeses in which a small pressing step is used are stilton cheeses which are sometimes stacked on top of each other and are thus lightly pressed under their own weight. This stacking is performed primarily to drain whey and not to form a crust. The inventors only know one type of blue mold cheese that is pressed. Blue Vinney (Dorset Blue) is a cheese in which very coarsely broken curd parts are pressed overnight under a pressure of approximately 50 kN / m2 (a pressure that is much higher than the maximum pressure with which a Gouda cheese is pressed). The already completely acidified cheese mass forms a crust in which, however, the curd contours remain essentially perceptible.

Due to the absence of a closed hard rind obtained by pressing, the known cheeses are more likely to be damaged by (mechanical) external forces. Moreover, the risk of unwanted microbiological contamination is higher in these known cheeses.

These drawbacks are overcome by the method just described. In addition, the piercing according to the present invention can be carried out after the cheese has been coated.

Process step b) is essential in this method. Curd, which can be prepared from all types of milk, for example, cow's milk, sheep's milk and goat's milk, as well as mixtures thereof, must be treated in such a way that the individual curd particles round off, or at least lose sharp edges and corners. The curd particles poured into cheese molds according to the state of the art for preparing blue mold cheese have been obtained by cutting, breaking and / or grinding. These particles have relatively sharp edges and corners. If these particles were to be pressed in a manner known for hard-rind cheeses, such as Gouda or Edam cheese, a compact curd mass would be created which is not suitable for the growth of blue mold1.

By slightly rounding off the individual curd particles and possibly by forming a kind of skin by drying or compacting the curd mass, it surprisingly appears possible to squeeze the curd mass while retaining a somewhat open structure in the finished cheese, the individual curd particles, however, at least partially grow together, creating a special, internal structure. This structure is formed by a continuous curd mass of agglomerated curd particles with cavities and channels in between. In fact, an internal dairy structure resembles the internal dairy of Gouda or cream cheese, but with porosity.

The invention also relates to a cheese of the hard-rind type, inside of which mold has developed. This cheese is available by treating curd particles during the preparation in such a way that these rounds, and in a later process step, pressing these particles as if it were Gouda cheese.

The treatment of the curd particles can conveniently be carried out by means of devices which collide the individual particles with each other and with parts of the device. Due to these collisions, the sharp edges are either knocked loose or dented. The treatment is continued until a free-flowing product is obtained which nevertheless gives a spongy structure or another structure with many pores. After taking note of this description of step b) it is within the scope of the skilled person to choose suitable devices and conditions for preparing curd particles suitable for carrying out the method and for obtaining the cheese according to the invention.

In a preferred embodiment, the curd particles are or are rounded by moving them on or in a vibrator.

Process step b) can advantageously be combined with the separation step by which whey and curd are separated from each other. For this purpose, the whey and curd mixture can be poured onto a vibrating sieve. In this way, a well-drained mass of rounded curd particles is obtained in one step.

The curd particles can then be poured into conventional cheese barrels. The dumped curd particles that are individually recognizable are then pressed. This pressing step can be carried out by any conventional pressing method known for hard-cheeses, such as Gouda and Edam cheese. The curd particles grow more or less together due to the pressing action, while still sufficient air cavities and channels remain.

After pressing, the curd mass is optionally in brine or dry salted.

Thus, a young cheese is obtained which, after a maturing period, produces a cheese with a hard closed rind.

During the ripening period, the ripening cheese is inoculated with mold material as described above. The fungus develops in both the inoculation channels and in the pore channels which were formed in the curd mass during pressing and which are in communication with the inoculation channels. Since spores are not homogeneously distributed due to the young cheese mass, it is possible to obtain a milder blue mold cheese according to the method according to the invention. Thus, according to the invention, a cheese of the hard-rind type can be obtained in the interior of which mold has developed, wherein the number of mold spores per gram in the cheese mass which is not in contact with oxygen-containing air is less than 1000. For further details of the determination of the number of fungal spores is referred to example 1.

Incidentally, the blue cheese according to the invention can also be prepared from curd obtained from cheese milk, inoculated with Penicillium spores, or from curd to which similar spores have been added. It is essential that the cheese is available by rounding off curd particles during preparation and pressing these rounded particles in a manner customary for closed-hard-rind type cheeses.

Due to the dense rind, it is necessary that air ducts are pierced in the cheese during the maturing period in order to introduce oxygen into the interior of the cheese. Air oxygen can hardly or hardly diffuse in the cheese due to the dense rind. Depending on the maturation period, it can be punctured once or more.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, step e) is carried out no earlier than 2 days after brining. The time of inoculation is not critical, but can be varied to influence the taste and type of the cheese. This variation is entirely within the scope of the expert.

The cheeses can be matured under usual conditions. Normally ripening takes place at a temperature of 0-25 ° C at a relative humidity of about 85-95% and for several weeks to a few months.

The cheese obtained according to the method comprising steps a) - e) does not have to mature as long as competitor cheeses to obtain a dry cheese. This advantage is obtained because the curd treatment of step b) produces a curd which has been very well de-grained.

After the cheese according to the invention or available according to the invention has matured sufficiently, it can be optionally coated and packaged in the usual manner.

The finished cheese, which is available by rounding the curd particles during preparation and pressing these particles into a pore-containing curd mass, is easy to cut, in contrast to the well-known blue mold cheeses, which are either soft or have individually recognizable curd particles and therefore crumble faster. .

Finally, the invention relates to a device suitable for use in the methods according to the invention.

This device comprises one or more pins intended to at least partially pierce a food, for example a cheese, to form holes in that food and means for adding additive to the holes in the food.

When the device is used in carrying out the method of the invention for inoculating cheese, the additive will consist of a trace solution or suspension. A suitable solution or suspension is, for example, water and spores.

Incidentally, the device according to the invention can also be used to introduce additives other than trace solutions into cheese or other foodstuffs. Examples of other additives are enzyme preparations or microorganisms, which enzymes and organisms can influence, for example, ripening processes in cheese; aramas, flavors; and dyes. If these substances were added to cheese milk, the majority of these relatively expensive substances would be lost with the whey.

In a preferred embodiment, the additive feed means effect an additive flow along or through the pins. Preferably, this additive flow is not continuous. Preferably, the additive flows past or through the pins just before piercing the object.

Other possibilities include piercing the foodstuff with the pins, after which the pins are contacted with additive which is fed to the bores upon withdrawal of the pins; piercing the cheese with a hollow pin through which the additive flows which is fed to the bores during withdrawal of the pins; and dipping the pins into an additive reservoir before the pins are drilled into the cheese. Other embodiments for adding additive into the boreholes are within the skill of the art.

The means for supplying additive preferably comprise a reservoir connected to a plurality of tubular elements, each of which partially encloses one pin. In one embodiment, additive partially flows through the pin and is passed out through an opening in the pin at a position surrounded by a tubular member. The tubular element works to direct the feeder flow past the pin.

The device according to the invention may suitably comprise a support plate for supporting the food, e.g. a cheese. This support plate is provided with a number of holes, the number of which positions correspond to the number and positions of the pins. In this embodiment, the foodstuff can be completely pierced.

In addition, it offers practical advantages if the device is provided with a guide plate which is pressed on the top of the food to be pierced during operation and which contains a number of holes, the positions of which correspond to the number of pins, to guide the pins. This prevents the food from being undesirably damaged during piercing.

A preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawing.

In the drawing, figure 1 represents a sketch in which a cheese is placed on a support plate under the pins of the device.

Figure 2 shows the device of figure 1, in which the pressure plate is pressed onto the cheese and the pins pierce the cheese.

Figure 3 shows in detail a tubular element surrounding a pin with space.

In Figure 1, a cheese 2 is placed on a support plate 1, which is provided with receiving holes 11 for the ends of the pins 4. Above the cheese 2 are pins 4, which are attached to a pin carrier 6. This pin carrier 6 can be moved vertically between guides 8 by a first pressure means 7, for instance a hydraulic piston system. Tubes 12, which surround the pins 4 with space, are also attached to the stand carrier 6.

Guide plate 3 is provided with a number of holes, the positions and number of which correspond at least to the number of pins 4. This guide plate 3 serves to guide the pins 4 and can be moved vertically between the guides 8 by a second pressure means 5.

The pins 4 can be wetted with additive by means of pipes leading via a pump 9 from an additive reservoir 10 to the pins 4.

In a preferred embodiment, additive is pumped past or through the pins 4, while the pins 4 are at the highest dead center and no cheese is present on the support plate; this to avoid spillage of additive over the cheese rind.

In figure 2 the device of figure 1 in operation is sketched. The printing plate 3 is pressed onto the cheese 2 by printing means 5. The pin carrier 6 with the moistened pins 4 is then moved downwards by means of pressure means 7 along the guides 8, the pins 4 drilling through the cheese 2.

The ends of the pins 4 are herein received in the receiving holes 11.

Figure 3 shows a part of the pin carrier 6 in which a pin 4 is mounted. At the top end of this pin 4 is attached a pipe connected to the additive pump 9 and the additive reservoir 10 (both not shown). The pin 4 is surrounded with space 14 by a tubular element 12, which is also attached to the pin carrier 6. Additive flows into the pin 4 via the conduit and through the opening 13 in the space 14 between the pin 4 and the tubular element 12. Thus is effected that the additive stream flows past the pin 4 and wets it completely.

The invention is now further illustrated by the following non-limiting examples.

Example 1

The preparation of some cheeses was based on a customary manner of up to 60+ standardized cheese milk. The ingredients necessary for Gouda cheese preparation were added to the cheese milk, after which cheese was prepared according to the usual method known for Gouda cheese. A weight-average diameter of the curd particles usual for Gouda cheese was obtained (5.0-6.8 mm).

The curd particles were poured out on a vibrating screen, after which the last whey was separated while vibrating. Curd particles hereby formed a free-flowing product that could be dumped loose cheese barrels. The curd was then pressed according to a program comparable to the pressing program as used in the preparation of Gouda cheese. Typically, half an hour was pressed at an overpressure of 0.5 bar, followed by half an hour at an overpressure of 1.0 bar and half an hour at an overpressure of 1.3 bar. After pressing, the pressed curd mass was removed from the cheese molds and brined for 40 hours at 12 ° C and 20 ° Be.

The young pickled cheese was stored in a cheese warehouse at a temperature of 7-15 ° C and a relative humidity of 85-95%. After 1 week, the cheese was pricked with pens to which had been added a suspension of spores of Penicillium crrueforti. The maturation period was then continued for 3 weeks. After maturing, the cheese was coated in a usual manner.

Thus a mild tasting blue cheese which was easy to cut was obtained. In terms of structure, this cheese had a hard rind, a continuous internal structure with cavities and channels in it, as well as piercing channels in which and from which blue mold cheese had grown.

At 5 weeks of age, microbiological analyzes were performed in a manner known in the art to determine the number of fungi in some of the cheeses thus prepared. However, in the sampling, a clear distinction was made between cheese mass in contact with air and cheese mass not in contact with air. The same analyzes were performed with several 15-week-old cheeses prepared by a nearly identical procedure, however, traces of Penicillium rooueforti were added to the cheese milk. Results of the microbiological analyzes are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1

Number of molds per gram of cheese mass in blue cheese

Example 2

Cheeses were prepared as in Example 1, with the difference that the cheeses were coated after brining by a conventional method.

The coated cheeses were stored under the same ripening conditions as described in Example 1. After one week, the coated cheeses were punctured on both sides with needles wetted with a Penicillium crrueforti suspension. after which the cheeses ripened for another two weeks. A similar blue mold cheese as in Example 1 was thus obtained.

Example 2

Cheeses were prepared as in Example 1 except that two phases are now punctured. After 1 week of maturing, the cheese was partially pierced from the top with pins moistened with a spore suspension. After 2 weeks of maturation, the bottom was pierced with moistened pins.

Claims (16)

Method for the preparation of cheese in which mold develops inside the cheese, characterized in that the inoculation with mold material is carried out mainly during the maturing period of the cheese. The method according to claim 1, wherein the grafting is performed in combination with a piercing step. A method according to claim 2, wherein the cheese is pricked during the maturing period with a inoculating material-loaded pen. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which inoculation is carried out with spores of Penicillium rocrueforti. A method for preparing hard-rind type cheese, in which mold develops inside the cheese, comprising the following steps: a) preparing curd in a conventional manner; b) treating the curd in such a way that the individual curd particles round off; c) filling the curd particles in a conventional cheese vat; d) pressing these curd particles in a manner customary for hard-rind type cheeses; after which brining or salting; and e) performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A method according to claim 5, wherein step b) is performed by vibrating the curd particles on or in a vibration device. A method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein step b) is carried out by treating the curd particles on a vibrating screen. A method according to any one of claims 5-7, wherein step e) is carried out no earlier than 2 days after brining. 9. Hard-rind type cheese, inside of which mold has developed, obtainable by treating curd particles during preparation in such a way that they round off and then press these particles. Cheese according to claim 9, wherein the blue mold spore pass is introduced during maturation. The hard-rind type cheese in the interior of which mold has developed according to claim 10, wherein the number of mold spores per gram in the cheese mass which is not in contact with air is less than 1000. 12. Device suitable for use in the method according to any one of claims 1-9, comprising one or more pins intended for at least partially drilling through an object to form perforations in a foodstuffs means for adding additive to the perforations in the food. The device of claim 10, wherein the means for supplying additive effect an additive flow along or through pins. The device of claim 10 or 11, wherein the additive supply means comprises a reservoir connected to a plurality of tubular members each partially enclosing one pin with space. Device according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the device comprises a support plate for supporting the foodstuff, which support plate is provided with a number of holes, the number and depositions of which correspond to the number and positions of the pins. Device as claimed in any of the claims 10-13, which device is provided with a guide plate which can be placed on the top side of the foodstuff to be pierced during operation and which has a number of holes, the number of depositions of which correspond to the number of pins for guiding the pins.