14A-24 |
A laboratory-scale Swiss cheese making procedure |
C. A. WICK and P. D. Courtney. Dept. of Food Science & Technology, Ohio State Univ., 2015 Fyffe Ct., 110 Parker Food Science Bldg., Columbus, OH 43210-1007 Pilot- or commercial-scale cheese making is costly in terms of time and materials. Smaller scale cheese production would be convenient for screening many experimental processing variations. However, it is often difficult to reproduce commercial cheese attributes in small-scale production. The objective was to develop a small-scale method for Swiss cheese preparation. Pasteurized milk (1.5 L) in a sterile, flat-bottom plastic bag was inoculated with thermophilic and Propionibacterium starter cultures, and a coagulating enzyme was added. Bags were held in a water bath to control milk temperature. After coagulation, the curd was cut with ¼² wire knives and cooked by increasing the water bath temperature. Curds and whey were stirred during cooking using a small, motor-driven rotary stirrer. The curds were “pressed” by centrifuging the curd and whey mixture still in the plastic bag. After additional pressing on the bench top for >12 hours, the cheese was soaked in brine. Cheeses were vacuum-packaged and ripened with the standard warm and cold room incubations. The average cheese weight was 146.7 g. Cheeses produced by this method were similar to commercially produced Swiss cheese in appearance and chemical composition. Eye formation appeared to proceed normally in the miniature-sized cheeses. Informal sensory observations indicated Swiss cheese-like flavor and aroma. The cheeses were 30.7% fat, 37.6% moisture and 26.5% protein, similar to the values for commercial Swiss cheese. Salt, free amino acid and organic acid (propionic, succinic and lactic acids) contents will also be reported. Results indicate that with some modifications to the make procedure small scale Swiss cheese, similar to commercial Swiss cheese, can be produced in the laboratory. This procedure will allow researchers to test numerous experimental parameters prior to pilot- or commercial-scale trials.
Session 14A, Dairy Foods: General developments in dairy technology I
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