CA1071464A - Dried soft curd cheese - Google Patents

Abstract

DRIED SOFT CURD CHEESE

Abstract of the Disclosure Alpha cellulose powder is used in the manufacture of dried soft curd cheese, such as bakers cheese or cottage cheese, to increase its texture and water-binding capacity.

Description

. C-1~22 This inveTIt:;on rclatcs to a dried soft curd ch~esc and mcthoc~ of its preparatlon which is charactcrize(l by the use o~ micropulveri~cd alpha cellulose to improve t~xturc o thc reconstituted C}leeSe as well as to increase its ~el s~rerl~Jtll and its wateî-billdincJ capacity. Dried soft curcl che~.se is in the form of a substantially dry powder. Ex~
amples of such ch~ese include bakcrs cheese, cotta~e cheesc, pot chcese, farmers cheese and Neufchatel cheese.
The main object of this invention is to increase O water-~)indin~ capacity of the dried soft curd cheese so that it can billd moLe water than when the dried cheese is macle without alpha cellulose powder. Increase in water-binding eapacity of the dried cheese is accompanied by improvement in the texture thereof when reconstituted with milk or water which is of vital importance for commercial acceptability of the product.
Because of its biological constitution, disposition of whey presents problems especially in view of the recent regulations by various localities which either prohibit out- ;
O right disposition of whey into sewers and rivers or impose a tax on the privilege of dumping it into sewers. By retain-ing the whey solids in the cheese and disposing of water as steam when the cheese composition is spray dried, as is tau~ht by this disclosurc, not only is the problem of its disposal eliminated but also the resulting product is en-richcd because of the nutritious character of whey solids.
Liquid whey contains 5~ lactose, 0.5~ whey protein, 0.8~ ash, 0.1 to 0.2% non-pxotein nitro~en and remain~er w~ter. Olcy pro~ein is a vcry high qu;~ y protein which has .

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- ~ 46 4 . C-1622 a biolo~i.cal av~ilahi..li.ty ~actor of 100 wh:i.cll is used as a r-`ferellCC! point ~or all o~ er proteills most all of whicll h~ve b~ actor of less tharl 100.
In the collv~Jltiollal manufacture of a sof-t curd cheese, cow's ski.m mill; or wl~ole milk is treated with additives to ma]ce a coagu].able mix which sets at a low temL~erature in a period of 18 to 30 hQurs. ~t the end of the setting period, the mix i.s ~ully coagulated and the curd may settle to the bottom or float on the sur~ace, dependlng upon amount of gassing or aeration of tl-e curd The coagulated mix is stirred and then placed in bags for drainage of whey for a period of 24 to ~ hours. Drainage is facilitated by appli-cation of pressure and by packing the bags in ice or storing . them in a cooler. After drainage, the curd is in the form of a heavy paste havi.ng a total so].ids concentration of 18 to 26~ by weight, on dr~ basls.
The main objections to the conventional procedure are the prolonged time required for operation, the labor and material expense involved, the various handling operations whi.ch may result in contaMination o tlle cheese and the loss o~ cheese adhering to the bags or througll brea~ing of the bags duxing handling. The long processing periods also re-quire a substantial inventory and plant storage for the curd.
In another conventional. process,.the bagging operatlon is not used but the cheese mix is set in an open vat and treated with .suf~ici.ent additives to complete the set in a-bout 6 to 8 hour~. After setting, the coagulated mix is cut wilh a rake and tlle whey drained. Ilere again the processing time i.5 consicleral)lC and tlle same objecti.on-; alply witll .... _ , 7~4~4 R.I. C-1622 ~ .
xespect to labor, possible 103s 0~ cheese and poor keeping qualities, The conventi.oncll methods of prepariny so~t curd cheese~ repx~sent a gradual development of years of practice W:it~l ~he obje.ct o~ controlling the final titratable acidity of the cheese and enabling the whey to drain from bags or vats to produce a cheese with total solids o~ about 25%.
Procedure utilized-to make the cheese must also assure that the cheese will not be too granular and will have a pleasant ;
1avor, all of which require careful process control. Such control is obtained to a substantial degree by means of additives which require long periods o~ setting to cause a very gradual change in the milk so that it can be kept in bags or vats ~ox a day or two without adversely affecting the product. ~mong such additivès are starters such as cur- :
dled milk precipitated by means of strictly controlled bac-teria~ The function of a starter is to accelerate formation `
of lactic acid by the bacterial action and is added to the milk in varying amounts depending on the type of cheese to be made. For instance, amount o~ starter varies from 2 to 5% for bakers cheese. Another additive is rennet which is an extract from calve's stomachs. A third additive, which is used only occasionally, is calcium chloride, which is used to xeduce setting period and to replace natural calcium chloride in the milk which is either precipitated or rendered less active by rennet or pasteurization.
Rennet furnishcs pepsins and enzymes of controlled quali.ty to xeplace those present in raw milk which are dc-. ~: : -. . , :. ,.
.: ~: . . ; . : . .. -~ 7~4~4 ~ . I. C-1622 stroyed by pclcitcuri~cJtirjll. In ~omc instances, addition of renrlet is omitte~ and the action is obtainecl from the starter and additional heat~ ~s little as one part of rc?nnct in ~000 ~arts o milk will cause coacJulation. It i5 customary, ~hout3ll, to add lcc of rennet per 80 to 1000 pouncl~ of milk.
The additives contribute to coagulation of milk in the desired leng-th of time, eliminate erratic behavior of the set, protect against self-inoculation of the milk from impurities in the dairy and contribute to desired formation of che~ese particles.
The Roundy et al U. S. patent 2,956,885 describes a more recent process for malcing dried bakers-type cheese wherein fermentation and the accompanying use of starter cultures and rennet is eliminated. In preparation of bakers c~heese pursuant to the Roundy et al patent, substantially all buttexfat is removed and the resulting skim milk is optiona1ly pasteurized to improve its flavor and keeping qualities.
This skim milk is condensed to a solids content of up to 40~
and heated during its condensation in the hot well to destroy vlab'e organisms and to inactivate enzymes which may be pre-sent in the rnilk.
Instead of using rennet and/or starting culture, ~oundy et al acidify the milk to a pH of 4.0 to 4.9, preferably 4.5 to 4.7, while maintaining temperatuxe thereo~ at 3~ to 135F, preferably at 40 to GOF. Acidification is accomplished by addition to the skim milk of about 0.3 to 0.4% by weight of an edible acid dissolved in water while a~itatin~ the skim milk. Precipitation of the curd i5 accomplished in a very ~5--~`~
~C97~46~
~.I. C-1622 S]lOrt ti.lllC as soon as t}~e mixture i.s completcly and uni-~oxmly acidlfied. The prccip;tated miYturc is then de-hydrated b~ any suitah1c means such as conventional spray dry:incJ ec~uipment having a nozzle orifice of about 0.02 to 0.0~ inch in diameter. Inlet temperature in the spray dryer is in excess of 212F, pre~erably 250F, and the outlet temperature is within the range of 138 to 155F.
The dried bakers cheese, which is in powder form, has a moisture content of about 3%. Freeze drying and roller dry-ing can also be used to dehydrate precipitated or coagulated mixture.
At bottom of column 3 of the Roundy et al patent, it is noted that the bakers-type cheese product can be improved in its baking characteristics when either natural or synthetic stàbilizers are added thereto. The three best stabilizers mentioned are carboxymethyl cellulose, locust bean gum and instant starch. Especially suitable is a mixture of 3.3%
carboxymethyl cellulose and 6.7% instant starch, resulting in the final cheese product which contains about 10% stabilizers.
~ nlike the process described in the Roundy et al U. S.
patent, 2,956,885, our process relies on fermentation of milk by means of a starter culture and rennet. In makiny bakers cheese, skim milk is heated to a temperature of 165 to 195F
and held in the hot well in that range for about 5 to 30 minutes. This heat treatment can also be accomplished at a temperature of 280 to 300F in about 30 seconds, or at other extrapolated temperature and duration. After this initial heat treatment, protein nitrogen should be 2.0 milligrams or les.s per c~ram o~ non-fat milk solids, whether the milk '~
~37:~.4t6~
I'~.I. C-~622 is whole or s)i-im mll~i.
The heat l:rcatment of milk is impor~an~ to ma~;mi~e water-lloldinc3 capacity of the cheese. The milk is heated stlfficielltly to promote 'the reaction between whey protein S and casein. The rcac-tion between whcy protein and casein forms complexes which have water-binding capacity up to 10 times that of the reactants.
Following heat treatment, the s]cim milk i.s condensecl to a solids proportion of 8 to 30~ total sollds and cooled ' to ahout 45GF. Condensation is accomplished in a conventional manner at a temperature of l20 to 130F. Following con--densation, the milk is held in a quiescent state at a pre-ferred temperature of 40 to ~OaF for a period in excess of about 6 hours. Higller or lower temperatures can be used hut ~are must be exercis~d to maintain bacterial plate count at an acceptable level of less than about S000 colonies per gram of milk solids.
Condensed skim milk is pasteurized in any suitable manner, preferably through a high temperature short tirne unit ~)r~')52 t.o 170~;~ for 16 to 25 seco~ . it i~ -then coolecl to 90F and pumped to a cheese vat. Sodium ci-trate is mixed with warm water and the mixture is added to the vat accompa~
~ied by good agitation to enhance flavor of the product.
With continued agitation, startex and rennet are added. ~-mount of starter will depend on ty~,e o starter used and the particular cheese produced Far ~akers cheese, ~owever, amount ~ starter wlli '~-: in the ranye o 1 to 20~ by wei~Jht o total mi~K ~,S;~Is in the condensecl mil]c. ~moun-t of starter varies irlJcrse3y w;~ th~ ~i.lllC! it ta~es ~o acl~ vc the clesircd ~i7~6~
R.I. C~1622 charac~er. It shoulcl be ~r-derstood tha~ moxe or less st~,er coulcl be U5e-l anc1 tlie time would be eitller lessened or lengtllencd. Amounts giverl here are merely given as a general guide. At 1% of s;tarter, .it may take 20 hours to achi2ve the desired cnd whereas at 10%, it will take only about 5 hours and even quicker at 20%. The starter is changed frequently to avo~d formation of bacteriophage.
Rennet i5 a very powerful reagent,. It is a pro-- ,teolitlc enzyme which curdles casein. As little as one part 0 of rennet 100, a standar-lized solution of rennet, in 8000 parts of liquid skim milk will cause coagulation. In making bakers cheese, the normal practice involves addition of lcc of rennet 100 pc-r 10 to 125 pounds of milk solids. The ~ mixture is then heated to a temperature in the range of 60 to 120F, preferably ~oor~, the agitators turned off and the mixtuxe allowed to incubate.
After titratable acidity of the incubated mixture reaches from 1.0 to 1.6, preferably 1.35, hydroxypropyl cellu~
;bse or methyl cellulose in a solution of hot ~7ater is adde~
0 in an amount-. of 0.1 to 0.5% on dry weight of the final spray dried product followed'by alpha cellulose powder which is added in an amount oi~ 0.5 to 10~ by weight of the dried soft curd cheese. Addition of alpha cellulose powder is made by sprinkling it on top of the mixture in the vat while !5 continuing wi~h high agit:ation which dcvelops a vortex.
After complete mixing, the slurry is homoc3enized by passln~3 it through a homogeni7.er at a pressure of 500 to ' 2500 pounds. The sluxry is then dried in a spray drier ha~in~3 a O.OG,0 inch orii,icc with inlet tempcrature o~: ~00 ~8-107~464 ~ . I. C~16~22 to ~50F, and outlet tcmL~cra~ure o 180 to ~oo~r~. It is des~ïed to have a procluct witll a maximwn mo;s~ure of about .5%.
Suitable m:icropu]verized a]pha cellulose is ~vicel--~P~t-101 microcryslalline cellulose made by FMC as well as other analo~o-ls powders falling in this group. Avicel~l'lI-101 is a white, odorless, nonfibrous, ~ree-flowing powder containing only trace amounts of organic solvents and dilu-te acids. It is insoluhle in water t organic solvents and dilute acids. It is paxtially soluble in dilute alkali. It is believed that the property o~ inso]ubility and the very fine particle size render alpha cellulose powder suitable for imparting water-binding property to the cheese. The vast surface area of the powder probably binds a film of water which suggests that the finer the particle size of the powder, the higher will be its water-hinding capacity. E~perimentation has confirmed this premise.
Avice ~-PH-101 micxocrystalline cellu]~se powder has less than about 5% loss or drying, less than 10 ppm of heavy metals, less than 250 ppm resi~ue on ~gnition, less than 8 .
mg/5g of water soluble subskances. Its pH is in the range of 5.5 to 7.0~ its average particle size is 30 microns and its particle size distribution is as follows:
less than lt~ retained on 60 mesh screen j less than 30% retained on 200 mesh screen ~ vice~2~H~105 is also a spray dried powder of specially xefined foxm of alpha cellulose ~Jhich has an average particle s ze of 18 to 20 microns with less than 19~ retained on a ~lO0 mesh screcn.

~071464 ~. I. C-1~22 B Aviee ~r}l~lo2 is another spray dried powder of alpha ceI~:ulose hut its averaye paxticle size is 140 microns, con-siderably larger than other powders.
The terms "powder", I'micropulverized'' or "microcry-s~].line"~ as used herein, shall indicate particle size on the order of thc Avice ~-PH-lOl powder and others given above.
The term "dried soft curd cheese" shall define a dried cheese ~ !
haviny a sot curd when reconstituted, such as that of bakers cheese, cottage cheese, etc; As used herein, the term 'Imilk"
0 shall include cow's milkj goat's milk, mare's milk, etc. ;
The following examples illustrate the invention de- -scrlbed herein as it relates to production of bakers cheese and subsequent use of such cheese in a cheese cake.

EX~MPLE 1 ~he bakers cheese formulation included the followiny materials in pounds by weight:
skimrni]X containing 22% solids ~653.00 (dry) c~ltured ski~nmills containing 12% solids 517.00 (d~) sodium citrate duohydrate 41.25 micrc~ulverized alpha cellulose ~Avice~-PlI-lOl) 275.00 hydro~propyl cellu~Dse (I~luce~)LF) 13. 75 rennet 240cc 5500.00 The skim milk was heated to about 1~0F and held for about 30 mi.nutes in a hot well until whey protein nitrOcJen was less than 2.0 millic3rams per gram of non-fat milk solids.
It was then condensed to 30 ~ total solids. Condensation W~5 carried out in 60 minutes at 120 to 130F in a vacuum --10~

~7~4~4 ~. I. C-lG~7.

pan at about: ~7 inchc.s oE vacuum. Should it l~e nccessacy to hold the condensed skim n~i.llc ~or a day or lon~rer, it shoulcl be coolcd to about ~15F or lower to maintain it~
kecpill~ quality. lt was thus maint~tincd at a})ou-t 45F in a quieC,cellt state for a period of 10 hours to max:imizc -the water-~incling capacity of the final s~ray dried produc-t.
The condensed milk was pastellrized in a hic3h temper-ature short time unit at about 165F which took about 20 seconds, cooled to about 90F and pumped to a cheese vat.
D Sodium citrate was mixed in 30 gallons of warm water ancl added to the vat with good ayitation. With continued ac3i-tation, the cultured skim milk starter was added in amount of 10~ of total milk solids. The starter included 2 parts by weight of H-18 ~(made by Chas. Hansen's Laboratory, Mil-` ~ waukee, Wisconsin) and 1 part by weight of 11-7 ~(made by the same company). Any oth~r good multiple strain s-tarter can be used. H-18 ~is diacetyl lactis and H-7 ~is a multiple strain starter containinc3 a mixture of lactic acid-forminc3 organisms. After adding the starter, rennet was added in 2 gallons of cold water accompanied with c300d agitation. Agi-tation was continued for about 10 minutes while heating the slurry to about 90F and then discontinued and allowed the slurry to incubate. The slurry contained about 22~ total solids.
A~ter titratable acidity of the slurry reached 1.35, which took about 3 hours a~ter incubation, ICluce ~ F powder in 30 ~allons of 140F water and ~vice ~-PII-101 were addcd.
In thc casc o~ thc ~vice ~powder, it was sprin]i]ed on top o~ thc s].urry in tlle v~t. ~cJit:a-tion w~ cont::ialuccl un-l:il ~) complcl.c di~ c-~,iorl of- K]uccf~cllld ~v;cc ~was achievec1, wl~ich took ~l~out 15 min~ c~

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~ 1071464 P . I. C-],G22 ~ fteJ: co~nl)letincJ mj.xi.ng, ~hc .s].urry was pumped to a smallcr Vc~t with a pair of lightniny ~gitators to kcep vicel~from settling out and thcn homogeni7.ed at'l500 pounds and spray dricd. The orifice in the s~ray dri.er was 0.060 ,. !
iinch, and inlet and outlet ternperaturcs werc ~30 and 190F, respectively.
The, product was a free~flowing white powder contain-i.ng 3~ moisture. Compositlon of the product in weight percent on.dry basis was as follo~s~
) . , skim mil~csolids 94.00 sodium citrate , - 0.75 ,. :. :
. alpha cellulose (~vice ~-~H-101)5.00 ~ydroxyp.ropyl cellulose (~iuce~LFj 0.25 loo.on 'j ' EXAMPLE 2 ~ :
This example illustrates the use of dried bakers .; , .cheese prepared in Example l~ln ma~ing~a refriyerated cheese cake.

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-Into a small mixi.ng bowl was added 336 grams of milk and 200 grams of a bakers cheese formulation was blended in ,at a blendiny speed for 1 minute. The bakers cheese formu- ~
' lation had the following composition in percent by weight: :-, sucrose , ' , 29.5 bc~ers chcese of F,x, 1 20.0 i dextrose 12.7 p~dered shortening - 17.5 buttermLlk pcwder . 12.5 pr.eyelalizecl st~rc~l'(Stalcy's ~ediso ~313) 3.3 tetrasod~ n~lro~hos~ atc 2.0 ~noc;llci.~mll.)hcsr)hat,e 1.5 l~nK~n jui.c.c p~clcr 0.5 ~t: 0.1 ... --12- .

, r R.I~ C-162 Th~. s].urry was whir)l~ed a~: a whi,~-,plnc~ speed ~OI^ 3 minutes, ~ eed in an ~-ineh pie l~all' and refricJera~:ec1 .~or one hour.
The eheese eake had mc,re body than a pudd:ing, some c3rains ].ilie in eottacJe cheese ancl eut clean without eollal:~sing.
In addition to improvlny water-bindi.nc3 eap~eity and the te~ture of so.ft eurd eheese, addition of mieroerystalline eellulose also i,mproves the cJel strength thexeof. Data has ~hown that addition of from about 1 to about 5~ of miero-erystalline alpha cellu]ose (Avice ~PH-]01.), on clry basis of the final produet, increased the gel strength up to 20~. This property also contributes to the desired eharaeteristies of the soft eurd c.lleeses.
The dri.ed soft curd eheese produet should have a ma~cimum of about 5~ aeid measured as laetie aeid and a ma~imum moisture of about 4.5~. To test if the produet has the desired water-absorbi.ng capacily~ 2 parts by weight of water and 1 part by weight of dried soft eurd eheese, sueh as bakers eheese, are mixed in a beaker and then allow~d to stand for 5 minutes.
If the product has suffiej.ent water-binding eapacity, the eon-tents of the bea]cer wil:L not run out when it is laid on its side. It has heen esti.mated that addition of micronized a]pha eellulose and the proeessing steps described herein have douhled the water binding capacity of the spray dried ba]cers eheese.
When bakers cheese is prepared eonventionally, about 75~ of the whey formed is drained and disearded. The disearded whey i.s equiva].ent to al~out 50~ of so]ids in skim mi]k powder.
These fi.c~ures alone show that tile ;c)resent invention reduces su~stantial.ly t}lC~ co~t of proclllet, wh.iell use mi].k or sklm mllk -].3 ~ .

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R.I. C-1~22 ~:, ~?owdelA si..nce tlle ~Jhey s01i.ds arc retclincd .Ind not drained of~
Witll tile wllcy. In the c~se of bakers chce.sc prepared hy the i.ll~el-tion described here, the increase in weight of the prodl.lct resu1ting from retentioll of the whey sol.ids amounts to about l0~%.

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Claims (10)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Process for making from milk dried soft curd cheese having a grainy texture, improved gel strength and water-binding capacity comprising heat treating milk to promote reaction between whey protein and casein in order to maximize the water-binding capacity of the cheese, said heat treating step being continued until protein nitrogen is 2.0 milligrams or less per gram of non-fat milk solids in the milk, condensing the milk, coagulating the condensed milk by adding a starter in amount of 1cc of rennet 100 per 10 to 125 pounds of milk solids in the condensed milk, adding alpha cellulose to the coagulated milk in amount of 0.5 to 10% based on the weight of the dried cheese, homogenizing and drying the coagulated milk.

2. Process of Claim l wherein the heat treating step is carried out between a temperature of 165 to 195°F for a period of 5 to 30 minutes or from 280 to 300°F for about 30 seconds;
the process further including the step of incubating the coagulated milk following addition of rennet.

3. Process of Claim 2 wherein addition of alpha cellulose is made after titratable acidity of the incubated coagulated milk reaches a value within the range of about 1.0 and 1.6; the process further including the step of maintaining milk in a quiescent state for a period in excess of 6 hours between the condensing and coagulating steps.

4. Process of claim 3 wherein the milk is cow's milk;
the process further including the step of homogenizing the coagulated milk following addition of alpha cellulose and the step of adding a gum selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and mixtures thereof in amount of 0.1 to 0.5% by weight of the dried cheese prior to the homogenizing step but following the coagulating step.

5. Process of Claim 4 wherein the milk is skim milk, the condensing step is carried out to yield 8 to 30% solids in the skim milk, drying of coagulated milk is carried out by spray drying and amount of alpha cellulose is from 1 to 5%
which is added in powder form.

6. Process of Claim 5 wherein the soft curd cheese is selected from the group consisting of baker's cheese, farmer's cheese, pot cheese, Neufchetel cheese and cottage cheese; and the starter is selected from the group consisting of diacetyl lactis, multiple strain starter containing a mixture of lactic acid forming organisms, and mixtures thereof.

7. Process of Claim 6 including the step of pasteurizing the condensed milk prior to the coagulating step.

8. Dried soft curd cheese having an amount of alpha cellulose in the range of from 0.5 to 10% by weight, whenever prepared according to the process of Claim 1, 2 or 3, or by an obvious chemical equivalent.

9, Dried soft curd cheese having an amount of alpha cellulose in the range of from 0.5 to 10% by weight, whenever prepared according to the process of Claim 4 or by an obvious chemical equivalent.

10. Dried soft curd cheese having an amount of alpha cellulose in the range of from 1 to 5% by weight, whenever prepared according to the process of Claim 5, 6 or 7 or by an obvious chemical equivalent.