28-8 |
Studies on the ripening of smoked Cheddar cheese |
S. U. REHMAN1, N. Y. Farkye1, and M. A. Drake2. (1) Dairy Products Technology Center, California Polytechnic State University, 1 Grand Ave San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, (2) Southeast Dairy Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC NC 2769 Cheese production in the U.S. continues to increase annually and the market for different cheese varieties also continues to increase. There is very little scientific information on smoking of Cheddar cheese. The present study was undertaken to study ripening of smoked Cheddar cheese and to find out whether to ripen the cheeses and then smoke or vice versa. Cheddar cheese was manufactured on three occasions and on each day of manufacture one 20 kg of block was obtained after pressing. The block was divided into six 3-kg blocks and ripened at 8ºC for up to 270 d. One 3 kg block was taken after 1, 30, 90, 180 and 270, smoked for 20 min and placed in ripening room for further ripening. Periodically, samples were taken during ripening for lactobacilli counts, moisture, pH and proteolysis. A trained sensory panel (n=7) evaluated 6 and 9 month-old cheeses for sensory attributes for fifteen flavor attributes. Application of natural smoke to Cheddar cheeses did not cause any major effect on moisture content pH or primary proteolysis and in the 270 day-old cheeses the ranges for moisture, pH, water-soluble N were 35.9-37.0%, 5.37-5.44 and 24–25%, respectively, However, secondary proteolysis as assessed by determining concentration of free amino acids (mg Leu / g cheese) was generally higher in smoked cheeses (8.30-11.91) than control (7.80) up to 150 d. The trained panel perceived that cheese smoked after 6 months of ripening had better smoked flavor. This information will be helpful for optimization of smoking time and parameters for Cheddar cheese.
Session 28, Dairy Foods: Developments in microbiology and chemistry of cheese
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