71A-13 |
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N. KOCA, C. J. Kuo, T. Ji, W. J. Harper, and V. B. Alvarez. Dept. of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State Univ., 2015 Fyffe Ct., 110 Parker Food Science Bldg., Columbus, OH 43210-1007 Due to economical and practical reasons, it is difficult to do research and obtain scientific information using cheese products made at industrial scale. Therefore, it is very important to have a cost-efficient standard process at small scale that would allow flexibility in cheesemaking for research and new product development. Overset eye formation has been encountered using Kosher cooking temperature (48 °C) in place of standard cooking temperature, 50 °C and higher. The objective of this research was to develop a standard small-scale Swiss cheese process that would replicate the characteristics of large-scale commercial production. Thermophilic and Propionibacterium cultures were added into standardized and pasteurized milk (20 L). After cutting the curd and water addition, the curd was cooked, scooped at pH about 6.4 into molds under whey, and pressed overnight. After cheese pH reached 5.15 to 5.25, it was submerged in brine. Vacuum-packaged cheese was held at cold room temperature (4 °C), and then ripened in a warm room (22 °C). The pH development was monitored by the Quinhydrone method. Cheese samples were evaluated in terms of eye formation and flavor development. The process variables were: starter culture amount, scooping method, cooking temperature, and weight of pressing. High cooking temperature resulted in good eyes. Decreasing the amount of thermophilic cultures gave better pH control during pressing and brining, but did not solve the oversetting problem. The use of cloth for collecting the curd with one movement gave some improvement. Increasing pressing weight or a brief vacuum treatment before overnight pressing reduced oversetting by eliminating nucleation sites. Reducing nucleation sites appeared to eliminate overset eyes; however, further studies on different process parameters are needed to get the cheese in good quality and to understand the mechanism of process effects.
Session 71A, Dairy Foods: General
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |