Cheese curd suitable for conversion into natural hard cheese is prepared by ultrafiltering and diafiltering milk or a milk product to produce a retentate, ripening the retentate by fermenting with a cheese starter culture, coagulating the retentate to produce a coagulum, cutting, cooking and agitating the cut coagulum to produce curd, and separating the curd from whey. The retentate has a concentration Factor of 2-8 and contains 1.0-6.2% w/w lactose. Ripening the retentate produces a pH drop of 0.05-1.5 units. Cutting the a coagulum is at a time between 120% and 220% of coagulation time and cooking is at a temperature of 30.degree.-50.degree. C. Combined cooking and agitating operations take 20-120 minutes. Coagulation may be continuous, and a minor portion of the retentate may be separated, fermented with a cheese starter culture and mixed with the remaining retentate to produce a ripened retentate having a pH of 0.05-1.0 units lower than before ripening.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 238,193, filed Aug. 30, 1988, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 072,686, filed July 13, 1987, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 618,403, filed June 1, 1984, now abandoned.
A method of producing cheese by ripening the cheese under high pressure, e.g. between 100 to 2500 kg/cm.sup.2. Ripening the cheese under high pressure significantly shortens the period of time required for ripening, while having no adverse effect on the flavor and testure of the cheese as compared to cheese ripened in the conventional manner. Ripening the cheese also reduces the proliferation of contaminant microorganisms.
Process for the production of dairy products comprising at least one ultrafiltration (1) and maturation (2) stage, is characterized in that it comprises at least one stage for placing the said product under pressure downstream of a homogenization stage (4), followed by at least one distribution stage which makes it possible to obtain the passage of the product from a liquid phase to a solid phase, and then at least one expansion (16) or decompression stage for the forming, and finally, at least one stage for cutting the said solid product into portions.
A process and an apparatus for the production of cheese on the basis of milk or milk products where after pasteurizing and partially cooling the material, said material is subjected to membrane filtration, further cooling, dosing of rennet and starter and optionally other additives, mixing and casting followed by after-treatment and curing, whereby the membrane filtration is carried out to obtain a retentate with a dry matter content of x % by weight, wherein x is between 38+1/3 (y-20) and 44+1/3 (y-20) and wherein y is the fat content in % by weight calculated in relation to the dry matter content, whereby the retentate is subjected to heat treatment, whereupon the material is cooled to a temperature not higher than 40.degree. C. before dosing the rennet and the starter and whereby the viscosity of the material is kept below 60,000 cP when starting the dosing. By the process an interesting new type of cheese having a high quality and being reasonably priced is obtained.
A cheese which is natural, resists melting, includes a pH of between about 5.9 and about 6.35, is made in the absence of and includes no cheese culture, is packaged in block form and is sliceable with a knife without crumbling, and includes a nonlactose sweetener having a perceived sweetness at least 30% that of sucrose. Methods for making the sweetened cheese preferably in the absence of cheese culture are also disclosed.
A cheese which is natural, resists melting, includes a pH of between about 5.9 and about 6.35, is made in the absence of and includes no cheese culture, is packaged in block form and is sliceable with a knife without crumbling, and includes a nonlactose sweetener having a perceived sweetness at least 30% that of sucrose.
