HK1138483B - Method of producing natural cheese - Google Patents

Description

Preparation method of natural cheese

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a technique for producing natural cheese, and more particularly, to a technique for miniaturizing a production apparatus for natural cheese, enhancing the efficiency of a production process, and the like.

Background

The starter culture used to prepare cheese is generally stored in a frozen or lyophilized state. The starter for practical production is produced by subculturing the frozen or freeze-dried bacteria with reconstituted skim milk (reconstituted liquid of skim milk powder) or cheese milk to proliferate lactic acid bacteria and expand the size of the cells. The prepared starter is added to cheese milk at 1 to 2 wt%, and then rennet is added to form curd (non-patent document 1).

In this case, since the starter has a low acid-producing activity immediately after the starter is added to the cheese milk, a preliminary cooking step is designed to increase the activity to a predetermined level. Further, the culture temperature or culture time for preparing the fermentation agent varies depending on the kind of lactic acid bacteria.

The conventional production method of natural cheese will be described by taking the treatment conditions and the like as examples. For example, a starter for cheese is prepared by using reconstituted skim milk (solid matter concentration: 9% by weight) as a culture solution and culturing lactic acid bacteria at 35 ℃ for about 16 hours. 2% by weight of the starter is added to the cheese milk and the pre-ripening is carried out at 35 ℃ for 30 to 60 minutes. Chymosin is then added to the pre-cooked cheese milk to form curd. After forming the curd, cutting or molding is performed as necessary.

That is, in the production of natural cheese, after the fat concentration of raw milk is adjusted and sterilized, a lactic acid bacteria starter is added to the raw milk (cheese milk) and the raw milk is kept at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time to adjust the raw milk to a predetermined pH (acidity). The early stage of lowering the cheese milk to the predetermined pH value in order to maintain the predetermined temperature for the predetermined time also comprises a stage of stabilizing the acid forming activity of the starter.

For example, in soft cheese such as camembert (カマンベ - ル) or blue line (ブリ -one), curd having good texture is formed by adding a starter to cheese milk to lower the pH to about 6.4 and then adding rennet to lower the pH in a short time (non-patent document 2).

In this case, in the preparation of soft cheese, the pre-cooking step is to add a starter to cheese milk and then to keep the cheese milk at about 30 to 40 ℃ for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or at about 5 to 10 ℃ (in a refrigerated state) for half a day or more, for example, to increase the acid-producing activity of lactic acid bacteria (non-patent document 3).

Here, the change (decrease) in the pH of the cheese milk has a large influence on the physical properties (quality) of the curd. In addition, the acid-producing activity of the fermentation agent affects the pH change, i.e., the pre-ripening step. By stabilizing the pre-cooking step and controlling the pH change, the physical properties of the curd can be controlled. Wherein the moisture or calcium content of the curd is properly adjusted to obtain a soft and smooth mouthfeel.

On the other hand, when the acid-producing activity of the starter can not be controlled, it is difficult to control the physical properties of the curd. In addition, when the pre-ripening process cannot be stabilized, the preparation time cannot be controlled, so that it is difficult to automatically control or mass-produce, etc. Therefore, it is very important to control the acid-producing activity of the starter and stabilize the pre-ripening process in the production of natural cheese.

Non-patent document 1: CHEESE Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology third edition Volume 1, General Aspects (third edition of CHEESE Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology Vol.1, overview). Edited by Patrick f.f., Paul L h.m., Timothy m.c., andTimothy P.G.

Non-patent document 2: CHEESE Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology third edition Volume 2, Major CHEESE Groups. Edited by Patrick f.f., Paul L h.m., Timothy m.c., and Timothy P.G.

Non-patent document 3: cheese scaling (Cheese manufacture). Edited by a.eck.

In the case of forming curd in a batch operation (batch type), a pre-ripening step is designed in which after a starter is added to cheese milk, the starter is kept at a predetermined temperature for a long time (predetermined time) before the acid-producing activity of the starter is improved. After a predetermined time has passed in the pre-maturation process, chymosin is added and the pH is lowered in a short time, forming curd.

In contrast, in the case of forming curd in a continuous manner, it is difficult to design a pre-cooking process that is maintained at a predetermined temperature for a long time (predetermined time). For example, the pre-ripening step also involves adding a starter to the cheese milk in a continuous manner, and then requires long-term laying of pipelines (pipes) or the like.

However, when such a long-distance line is designed, the installation area for the preliminary cooking process, the equipment investment, and the like increase, the whole preparation process becomes complicated, and it is difficult to control the physical properties of the curd. Specifically, when the machine is stopped or the like during the continuous production of cheese, if the cheese milk is held directly in the line, only the pre-cooking is performed for a long time during the stop time, and thus the acid-producing activity of the starter cannot be controlled.

Thus, in continuous cheese production, it is not practical to keep the retention time of the pre-ripening process as long as that in batch-type (batch-type) cheese production. Therefore, there is a need to simplify or omit the pre-maturation process to make the pre-maturation process suitable for a continuous curd forming apparatus, and thus there is a need to improve the acid forming activity of the starter in some way.

It can be predicted that the acid-producing activity of the starter increases in proportion to the number of lactic acid bacteria. Therefore, even if the pre-ripening step is omitted, the pH of the cheese milk can be changed (decreased) at the same rate as in the conventional method by increasing the volume (weight) of the starter, that is, by increasing the number of lactic acid bacteria added to the cheese milk.

However, if too much starter is added to the cheese milk and chymosin is added, the pH changes (decreases) rapidly and the curd formed has physical properties different from those of conventional methods. Furthermore, if the starter is added in excess, the taste of the cheese milk may be affected, thereby deteriorating the taste of the curd. That is, adding a large amount of starter to cheese milk itself may deteriorate the physical properties and taste of curd.

Disclosure of Invention

The method for producing natural cheese according to the present invention comprises a step of producing a starter having improved acid-producing activity, a step of adding the starter produced in the starter producing step to cheese milk, and a step of adding rennet to the cheese milk to which the starter has been added without a preliminary cooking step.

The method for producing natural cheese according to the present invention includes a preparation step of preparing a starter having an improved acid-producing activity, a pre-cooking step of adding the starter prepared in the starter preparation step to the 1 st cheese milk for pre-cooking to perform pre-cooking, a step of adding the 1 st cheese milk subjected to the pre-cooking to the 2 nd cheese milk for producing cheese, and a step of adding rennet to the 2 nd cheese milk to which the 1 st cheese milk is added.

This makes it possible to miniaturize the manufacturing equipment of natural cheese or to efficiently process it. Further, the production process can be smoothly performed even in a continuous natural cheese production apparatus.

In addition, the acid production activity of the starter is further improved by improving the concentration of the lactic acid bacteria in the culture solution. It is possible to maintain the same effect as the long-time preliminary treatment such as more than 60 minutes.

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method for preparing natural cheese, which maintains the same quality as the conventional method even after the pre-ripening process is simplified or omitted during the preparation process. The objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a continuous cheese production system that simplifies the pre-ripening process.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the effect of adding a lager brewing yeast extract to a culture medium.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change of pH value with time after the simplified pre-maturation treatment.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a continuous cheese production system in which the preliminary cooking process is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a continuous cheese production system in which the preliminary cooking process is omitted.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the change of pH with time after omitting the preliminary treatment.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the effect of adding a buffer to a culture medium.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the effect of adding a neutralizing agent to a culture medium.

Best mode for carrying out the invention

The best mode of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

< embodiment mode 1: method for producing natural cheese with simplified precooking step >

In the present embodiment, the pre-cooking process is simplified in the natural cheese production process. Further, in order to simplify the pre-ripening process, a starter having improved acid-producing activity is prepared.

The method for preparing the starter having improved acid-producing activity will be described below. Adding appropriate amount of yeast extract as lactobacillus growth promoting substance into reconstituted skim milk to obtain culture solution. Then, lactic acid bacteria were cultured at 35 ℃ for about 2.5 to 3.5 hours using the culture solution, and the culture was terminated halfway through the logarithmic growth phase to prepare a starter having high acid-producing activity. The starter has low lactic acid concentration.

Adding yeast extract 0.1 wt% or more to the culture solution to improve acid production activity of the starter. However, in order to increase the acid-producing activity of the fermentation product to a practical level, it is necessary to add 0.2% by weight or more of yeast extract to the culture solution. On the other hand, if the amount of yeast extract added is too large, there is a fear that the physical properties and taste of curd are adversely affected, and therefore, it is considered that it is more reliable to add 0.5% by weight or less of yeast extract to the culture medium.

In the actual cheese production, the starter produced in the above-described manner is mixed with cheese milk at a weight ratio of 1: 1, and subjected to a preliminary cooking treatment at 40 ℃ to 45 ℃ for 15 minutes to 60 minutes. That is, although the starter and the cheese milk are mixed in a weight ratio of 1: 50 or the like and subjected to the preliminary cooking in the conventional method, only a part of the cheese milk is subjected to the preliminary cooking in the present embodiment. Thus, the pre-cooking is greatly simplified by using a very small amount of cheese milk for the pre-cooking.

Furthermore, the pre-cooked cheese milk was added to untreated cheese milk (sterilized milk without starter) at 4 wt%.

In the present embodiment, the starter and the cheese milk are mixed in a weight ratio of approximately 1: 1 to perform a preliminary cooking treatment, which will be referred to as "1: 1 preliminary cooking" as appropriate in the following description. At this time, specifically, the starter and the cheese milk are mixed preferably at a weight ratio of 1: 2 to 2: 1, more preferably 1: 1.5 to 1.5: 1, even more preferably 1: 1.2 to 1.2: 1, and subjected to the preliminary ripening treatment. In contrast, the conventional method of mixing the starter and the cheese milk at a ratio of 1: 50 or the like to perform the precooking is referred to as "usual precooking". As mentioned before, typically precooking is a process in which for example 2 wt% of starter is added to the cheese milk and the precooking treatment is carried out at 35 ℃ for 30 to 60 minutes.

In this way, when rennet is added in the simplified precooking process, the pH of the cheese milk is lowered as in the conventional method. In this case, the cheese milk must be pre-cooked in an amount of about 1/50 of the weight of the conventional method. In the subsequent steps, curd is formed and cut or molded in the same manner as in the conventional method.

However, if the pre-cooked cheese milk is stored in a tank in a refrigerated state, its activity can be maintained for about 7 hours. Thus, it is possible to carry out operations such as adding the cheese milk to untreated cheese milk in a continuous manner.

< example 1>

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a manufacturing system for continuously manufacturing natural cheese through simplified pre-cooking. In this example, the starter was mixed with the cheese milk in a weight ratio of 1: 1 for pre-ripening ("1: 1 pre-ripening").

First, the sterilized milk for the batch starter is fed into the batch fermentation tank 12 through the sterilized milk tank 11. As described above, in the batch fermentation tank 12, a yeast extract is added to sterilized milk to produce a culture solution, and a fermentation agent is added to the culture solution to perform the culture. The culture is terminated halfway through the logarithmic growth phase to prepare a starter having a high acid-producing activity.

Then, the entire amount of the fermentation agent having the acid-producing activity improved is transferred to the precooking tank 13. Further, the sterilized milk for precooking is transferred from the sterilized milk tank 11 to the precooking tank 13. As mentioned above, the weight ratio of the starter culture to the sterilized milk is 1: 1. In the precooking tank 13, a small amount of sterilized milk is simply precooked, and the precooked sterilized milk is mixed with untreated sterilized milk delivered from the sterilized milk tank in a ratio and delivered to the coagulator 14.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the effect when a lager brewing yeast extract is used as the yeast extract. This figure compares the change over time in the pH of the "1: 1 precooked" precooked liquor with the change over time in the pH of a normal precooked liquor that is conventionally done.

The curve shown in the "usual precooking for 30 minutes" figure shows the change of pH value with time after usual precooking for 30 minutes, which is generally used according to the conventional method; the curve shown in the "usual precooking for 60 minutes" shows the change of pH with time after the usual precooking for 60 minutes which is generally used in the conventional method. In addition, the curves represented by 0%, 0.4% and 1.0% in the figure show the change of the pH value of the precooked liquid with time after adding 0%, 0.4% and 1.0% of the brewer's yeast extract to the culture liquid and "precooking 1: 1" at 35 ℃ for 60 minutes, respectively.

From this figure, it is understood that the acid-producing activity is increased by using the bulk fermentation agent to which the lager brewing yeast extract is added. Further, it was found that the acid-producing activity was higher than that of the usual pre-ripening for 30 minutes even when only the lager brewing yeast extract was added.

FIG. 3 is a graph of measured pH as a function of time when the "1: 1 precooking" was carried out for 15 minutes or 60 minutes. Specifically, the starter was prepared as follows: after 1.0 wt% of the brewer's yeast extract was added to the culture, the lactic acid bacteria were cultured for 3 hours, and the culture was terminated in the middle of the logarithmic phase. After "1: 1 Pre-ripening" for 15 minutes or 60 minutes using the thus prepared starter, the change of pH with time was measured.

As can be seen from this figure, the acid-producing activity of the "1: 1 precocity" was higher than that of the usual precocity carried out by the conventional method for 30 minutes. Further, it was found that the acid-producing activity was similar to that in the case of the ordinary preliminary aging for 60 minutes. However, as described above, since it is considered appropriate to add 0.5% by weight or less of the yeast extract to the culture medium, it is expected that the acid-producing activity is slightly lower than the experimental result in practical use.

< embodiment mode 2: method for producing natural cheese omitting pre-cooking step >

In the present embodiment, the pre-cooking step is omitted in the process of preparing natural cheese. In order to omit the pre-ripening step, a starter having further improved acid-producing activity is prepared.

Hereinafter, a method for preparing the starter having further improved acid-producing activity will be described. 0.2 wt% of yeast extract was added to reconstituted skim milk to produce a culture broth. The negative influence on the whey taste is considered when the concentration of the yeast extract is set. The lactic acid bacteria are cultured at 40 ℃ for about 4.5 to 6.5 hours using the culture solution, and the culture is terminated when the acidity of lactic acid becomes 0.6 to 0.8% (about 0.7%), to obtain a starter having high acidity activity.

In actual cheese making, the starter prepared as described above was added to cheese milk at 3 wt%, and the precooking step was omitted and rennet was added. The result obtained with this method is the same reduction of the pH of the cheese milk as in the case of adding rennet after adding the starter to the cheese milk in 2% by weight and performing a pre-maturation treatment at about 35 ℃ for 30 minutes according to the conventional method. Namely, the same effect as that of the usual precooking for 30 minutes in the conventional method was obtained.

The starter prepared by the above method was added to the cheese milk at 4 wt%, and the pre-cooking step was omitted and chymosin was added. The result obtained with this method is the same reduction of the pH of the cheese milk as in the case of adding the starter to the cheese milk in 2% by weight and after a pre-maturation treatment at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes the rennet was added according to the conventional method. Namely, the same effect as that of the conventional method of pre-cooking for 60 minutes is obtained.

At this time, since the pH of the cheese milk is changed (decreased) at the same rate as in the conventional method, the physical properties of the curd are as good as in the conventional method. In addition, since the amount of the starter is set to 4 wt% or less and the amount of the starter contained in the cheese milk is slightly controlled, the physical properties and taste of the curd are as good as those of conventional methods.

The method for producing cheese without the preliminary cooking step is characterized in that a fermentation agent having an acid-producing activity improved is added to cheese milk in an appropriate amount, and the production conditions corresponding to the retention time of the preliminary cooking treatment by a conventional method can be adjusted by appropriately adjusting the amount of the fermentation agent added. That is, by appropriately changing the amount of the starter prepared in this embodiment added to the cheese milk, the degree of decrease in the pH of the cheese milk after adding rennet can be adjusted.

< example 2>

The natural cheese is continuously manufactured by using the leavening agent (hereinafter, referred to as a high-activity batch leavening agent) prepared in embodiment 2 and the continuous cheese manufacturing system shown in fig. 4 or 5.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a system in which a highly active fermentation medium is mixed with sterilized milk in a certain ratio. The static mixer 23 is continuously supplied with sterilized milk from the sterilized milk tank 21, and a certain amount of the batch starter is fed from the batch starter tank 22 to the static mixer 23 for a certain period of time. The sterilized milk mixed by the static mixer 23 is transferred to the coagulator 24. After the high-activity batch starter is added to the sterilized milk in this manner, chymosin is added without performing a preliminary maturation treatment.

Fig. 5 is a configuration diagram of a system using the total quantity mixing method. After the high-activity batch starter is cooled separately, it is put into the sterilized milk tank 31 from the batch starter tank 32. Alternatively, when the high-activity batch starter reaches a predetermined acidity, the whole is put into the sterilized milk tank 31 where the sterilized milk is refrigerated and cooled. The sterilized milk to which the high-activity batch starter is added is transferred from the sterilized milk tank 31 to the coagulator 33. After the high-activity batch starter is added to the sterilized milk in this manner, chymosin is added without performing a preliminary maturation treatment.

The acid-producing activity when the camembert cheese was produced by the method of embodiment 2 was compared with that when the camembert cheese was produced after the usual precooking according to the conventional method, and the comparison result is shown in fig. 6.

It is found that when the preliminary aging treatment is omitted by using the high-activity batch starter, the pH values of the two hardly change with time, as compared with the case of using the conventional preliminary aging method. The curves indicated by "high activity batch 3% and 4%" in the figure show the change of pH with time when the high activity batch starter was added to the cheese milk at 3 wt% and 4 wt%, respectively, and the kamunebel cheese was prepared without the pretreatment. In addition, the graph represented by "precocity for 30 minutes, 60 minutes" shows the change of pH value with time when Carmanbecel cheese is prepared after the precocity treatment for 30 minutes or 60 minutes at 35 ℃ using a conventional starter.

< embodiment 3: conformity with Long-term Pre-ripening >

However, when the pre-ripening treatment is performed for a long time, the quality of the natural cheese is sometimes improved. Therefore, it is important that the method for producing natural cheese described in embodiment 2 without the preliminary cooking step can be matched with a method for producing natural cheese corresponding to a long-time preliminary cooking step. For example, it is desirable to make the preparation process omitting the pre-ripening process consistent with a conventional cheese preparation process in which 2% by weight of a starter is added and the pre-ripening is performed at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes or more.

As explained in embodiment 2, if the starter having an increased acidogenic activity is added to the cheese milk at 4 wt%, the pH of the cheese milk is similarly decreased as compared to the case where the pretreatment is carried out at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes according to the conventional method. However, since 4% by weight or more of a leavening agent may not be added in some cases from the viewpoint of adversely affecting the taste of cheese or whey, it is difficult to keep the same as the case where the pretreatment is carried out at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes or more by a conventional method.

Thus, a starter having further improved acidogenic activity was prepared in accordance with the case where the preliminary aging treatment was carried out at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes or more according to the conventional method. Specifically, a starter having an increased concentration of lactic acid bacteria (the number of lactic acid bacteria per unit weight of the culture solution) was prepared.

If a starter (culture solution) is prepared in which the concentration of lactic acid bacteria is increased, the amount of lactic acid bacteria added can be maintained high even if the amount of starter (culture solution amount) added to the cheese milk is reduced. The addition of a small amount of starter with improved acid-producing activity to the cheese milk thus reduces the negative impact on the cheese or whey taste, and is consistent with the conventional pre-cooking at about 35 ℃ for more than 60 minutes.

In the present embodiment, in order to produce a fermentation agent having an increased concentration of lactic acid bacteria, a neutralization culture method is employed in which sodium hydroxide or the like as a neutralizing agent is added to a culture solution at a predetermined rate after a predetermined culture time has elapsed.

In addition, as a method for preparing a starter having an increased concentration of lactic acid bacteria, the following culture method can be similarly employed. First, a culture method in which a neutralizing agent, sodium hydroxide or the like, is previously added to a culture solution before starting culture to adjust the pH of the culture solution to about 7. Second, a culture method in which buffers such as sodium hydrogen carbonate, trisodium citrate, and disodium hydrogen phosphate are previously added to the culture solution to adjust the pH of the culture solution to 7 or less. At this time, the concentration of the buffer added to the culture solution is preferably 0.1 to 0.2% by weight of sodium hydrogencarbonate, 0.5 to 1.5% by weight of trisodium citrate, 0.3 to 1.0% by weight of disodium hydrogenphosphate, more preferably 1.0% by weight of trisodium citrate, 0.5% by weight of disodium hydrogenphosphate.

However, in order to maintain the optimal growth of lactic acid bacteria, it is effective to control the pH of the culture solution within a predetermined range. Therefore, a method of indicating the pH value of the culture solution with a pH meter while intermittently adding a neutralizing agent to control the indicated value within a predetermined range is generally employed in the neutralization culture method.

However, when the indicated value of the pH meter is different from the measured value, the lactic acid bacteria cannot grow to a predetermined concentration, and thus a starter having an increased concentration of lactic acid bacteria may not be prepared. In order to avoid such a problem, the present embodiment employs a method of continuously (quantitatively) adding a predetermined amount of neutralizing agent after a predetermined incubation time has elapsed. The acid production activity of the leaven prepared by the method is high and stable.

Specifically, a starter with improved acid-producing activity was prepared as follows: after 3 hours from the start of the culture, 0.67 wt%, 1.3 wt%, 2 wt% of a neutralizing agent (4N sodium hydroxide) was added to the culture broth, and the culture was allowed to stand until the pH reached 4.8 without any other measures. In this case, if the amount of the neutralizing agent to be added is increased, the acid-producing activity of the fermentation agent is increased. Further, since the culture medium may be coagulated if the rate of addition of the neutralizing agent is high, the rate is required to be 1g/min or less relative to 1.5kg of the culture medium, and if the rate is lower than this rate, the acid-producing activity of the fermentation product is favorably affected. Specifically, it was confirmed that this speed was suitable at 0.67g/min or 0.4g/min relative to 1.5kg of the culture solution. That is, the rate of adding the neutralizing agent (4N sodium hydroxide) to 1.5kg of the culture medium is preferably 0.3g/min to 1g/min, more preferably 0.4g/min to 0.67 g/min.

In the actual cheese production, the starter prepared by adding 0.67 wt%, 1.3 wt%, 2 wt% of the neutralizer was added to the cheese milk at 4 wt%, the precooking step was omitted, and the pH of the cheese milk was similarly lowered as compared with the case where the starter was added at 2 wt% and the rennet was added after the precooking at about 35 ℃ for 70 minutes, 80 minutes, and 90 minutes.

The starter prepared by adding 2 wt% of the neutralizer was added to the cheese milk at 3 wt%, the pre-cooking step was omitted, and the pH of the cheese milk was similarly lowered as compared with the case where the rennet was added after the pre-cooking at about 35 ℃ for 60 minutes.

The same phenomenon has also been confirmed in Streptococcus (Streptococcus) or Lactococcus (Lactococcus) which are commonly used as starter cultures for cheese.

< example 3>

The results of producing camembert cheese using starter (batch starter) with added buffers (trisodium citrate, disodium hydrogen phosphate) are shown in fig. 7. The "high activity batch" in the figure represents the change in pH over time when cheese is made using the high activity batch starter described above without the addition of a buffer. As is clear from the figure, the rate of decrease in pH of the curd was slightly increased by adding the buffer, and it was similar to the rate of decrease in pH when ordinary preliminary cooking was carried out for 75 minutes by a conventional method.

Further, as described above, the results of producing the camembert cheese with the starter (batch starter) to which the neutralizer was continuously added at the time of 3 hours from the start of the culture are shown in fig. 8. The "high activity batch" in the figure indicates the change in pH over time when cheese is made using the high activity batch starter described above without the addition of a neutralizing agent. As is clear from the figure, the rate of decrease in the pH of the curd was slightly increased by adding the neutralizing agent. It is also found that the larger the amount of the neutralizing agent added, the faster the rate of decrease in pH. The rate of decrease in the pH of the curd was faster when 20g (1.3 wt%) of the neutralizing agent was added than when the curd was subjected to the usual precooking for 75 minutes by the conventional method, and the rate of decrease in the pH of the curd was equivalent to when 30g (2 wt%) of the neutralizing agent was added to the curd when the curd was subjected to the usual precooking for 90 minutes by the conventional method.

< summary >

The invention can simplify the preparation process of the natural cheese and shorten the preparation time. That is, by simplifying or omitting the preliminary cooking step, it is possible to not only shorten the preparation time by omitting the preparation facility of the preliminary cooking step in the batch operation type (batch type), but also stably and accurately correspond to the preparation step of forming curd in the continuous type, and the like.

The fermentation agent of the present invention can maintain acid-producing activity even when stored for 72 hours or more in a refrigerated state (10 ℃ or less). If the starter can be stored in a refrigerated state for a long time to maintain the acid-producing activity, the starter can be flexibly supplied according to the production time of cheese, and the production control of cheese becomes easy. In addition, since the activity of the starter is generally fixed in the preparation of cheese, the quality of cheese is also stable.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the details thereof, and can be broadly construed within the scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A method of making natural cheese comprising:

a starter preparation process for preparing the starter with improved acid production activity,

a step of adding the starter to the cheese milk, the starter being produced in the starter production step,

a step of adding rennet to the cheese milk to which the starter is added without a pre-cooking step,

the preparation process of the leavening agent comprises the following steps:

a step of adding the yeast extract to reconstituted skim milk to produce a culture solution,

and a culture step of adding lactic acid bacteria to the culture solution and culturing.

2. A method of making natural cheese comprising:

a starter preparation process for preparing the starter with improved acid production activity,

a pre-cooking step of adding the starter to the 1 st cheese milk for pre-cooking, the starter being prepared in the starter preparation step, and performing pre-cooking,

a step of adding the 1 st cheese milk subjected to the pre-cooking treatment to a 2 nd cheese milk for producing cheese,

adding rennet to the 2 nd cheese milk to which the 1 st cheese milk is added,

the preparation process of the leavening agent comprises the following steps:

a step of adding the yeast extract to reconstituted skim milk to produce a culture solution,

and a culture step of adding lactic acid bacteria to the culture solution and culturing.

3. The method for producing natural cheese according to claim 2, wherein the starter prepared in the starter preparation step is added to the 1 st cheese milk at a weight ratio of 1: 2 to 2: 1.

4. The process for producing natural cheese according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the culturing step is terminated in the middle of the logarithmic growth phase of lactic acid bacteria.

5. The process for producing natural cheese according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the yeast extract is added to the culture medium in an amount of 0.1% by weight or more.

6. The method for producing natural cheese according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the starter-producing step includes a concentration-adjusting step of increasing the concentration of lactic acid bacteria in the culture solution.

7. The process for producing natural cheese according to claim 6, wherein the concentration adjustment step is a neutralization culture method.

8. The process for producing natural cheese according to claim 7, wherein a predetermined amount of the neutralizing agent is continuously added after a predetermined incubation time has elapsed in the concentration-adjusting step.

9. The method for producing natural cheese according to claim 6, wherein a buffer is added to the culture solution in advance in the concentration adjustment step.

10. The process for producing natural cheese according to claim 1 or 2, which is a continuous process for producing cheese.