Method for the manufacture of a cream cheese

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a cream cheese, the method comprising: (i) providing a first dairy liquid; (ii) fermenting the first dairy liquid to form a first acidified dairy liquid; (iii) providing a second dairy liquid; (iv) acidifying the second dairy liquid with citric acid to form a second acidified dairy liquid; (v) combining the first acidified dairy liquid and the second acidified dairy liquid to form a cream cheese.

Claims

1. A method for the manufacture of a cream cheese, the method comprising: (i) providing a first dairy liquid, wherein the first dairy liquid comprises cream; (ii) fermenting the first dairy liquid to form a first acidified dairy liquid by a lactic acid fermentation with lactic acid producing bacteria; (iii) providing a second dairy liquid, wherein the second dairy liquid comprises microfiltered or ultrafiltered milk concentrate, and wherein the second dairy liquid comprises at least 6 wt % protein; (iv) acidifying the second dairy liquid with citric acid to form a second acidified dairy liquid having a pH of less than 5.3; and (v) combining the first acidified dairy liquid and the second acidified dairy liquid to form a cream cheese, wherein a genus of the lactic-acid producing bacteria is Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Streptococcus, or Lactobacillus.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cream cheese has less than 50% soluble calcium as a percentage of a total calcium content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first dairy liquid consists of cream.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first dairy liquid is pasteurized and/or homogenized prior to step (ii).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (ii) the first dairy liquid is fermented with mesophilic lactic bacteria.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second dairy liquid comprises from 6 wt. % to 18 wt. % protein.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (iv) further comprises fermenting the second dairy liquid either before or after the acidification with citric acid.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of fermenting the second dairy liquid occurs after acidification with citric acid and comprises fermenting the second acidified dairy liquid with citrate negative bacteria.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein after step (ii) the first acidified dairy liquid has a pH of less than 5.5; and/or wherein after step (iv) the second acidified dairy liquid has a pH of between 4.5 and 5.0.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second dairy liquid is produced by a method comprising: (a) providing a third dairy liquid comprising milk; (b) pasteurizing the third dairy liquid; (c) ultrafiltrating or microfiltrating the pasteurized third dairy liquid; and, optionally, (d) heat-treating the filtered pasteurized third dairy liquid.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second dairy liquids provide at least 90 wt % of the acidified mixture, and are present in a ratio by weight of from 1:4 to 4:1.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein step (iii) and/or step (v) further comprises adding one or more of whey protein concentrate and lactose concentrate, a further protein source, lactose, salt, locust bean gum, carrageenan, gelatin, citrate, stabilizers, colors and flavors.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein step (v) comprises heat treating and/or homogenizing and/or texturizing the combined first and second acidified dairy liquids.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of texturizing the combined first and second acidified dairy liquids is carried out for a period of 10-80 minutes, and/or wherein the step of texturizing the combined first and second acidified dairy liquids is carried out at a temperature of 70-90 C.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the total calcium content of the cream cheese is at least 1600 mg/kg.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the cream cheese has less than 40% soluble calcium as a percentage of a total calcium content.

17. The method of claim 5, wherein in step (ii) the first dairy liquid is fermented with citrate positive mesophilic lactic bacteria.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of fermenting the second dairy liquid comprises fermenting the second acidified dairy liquid with citrate negative thermophilic or mesophillic lactic bacteria.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein after step (ii) the first acidified dairy liquid has a pH of between 3.75 and 5.3.

Description

FIGURES

(1) The present disclosure will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the steps in accordance with the method of manufacturing cream cheese of the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the steps of an alternative process also in accordance with the method of manufacturing cream cheese of the present disclosure.

(4) FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the steps of an alternative process for the manufacture of cream cheese.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a spider web diagram showing the sensorial profiles of the aroma (AR), flavour (FL), and aftertaste (AT) of the samples of Example 4.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a spider web diagram showing the sensorial profiles of the Appearance (AP), texture by hand (TH), texture in mouth (TM) and aftersensation (AS) of the samples of Example 4.

(7) FIG. 1 shows: step 110 of providing a first dairy liquid; step 120 of fermenting the first dairy liquid; step 130 of providing a second dairy liquid; step 140 of directly acidifying the second dairy liquid with citric acid; optional step 150 of fermenting the acidified second dairy liquid; step 160 of combining the acidified dairy liquids; and optional step 170 of heat treating the acidified mixture.

(8) For consistency like reference numerals in figure to relate to the equivalent step in FIG. 1.

(9) FIG. 2 shows: step 210 of providing the first dairy liquid; step 211 of pasteurizing the first dairy liquid; step 212 of homogenising the pasteurized first dairy liquid; step 213 of cooling the homogenized first dairy liquid; step 220 of fermenting the cooled homogenized first dairy liquid; step 221 of cooling fermented first dairy liquid to produce a first acidified dairy liquid; step 222 of providing a milk; step 223 of pasteurizing the milk; step 224 of cooling the pasteurized milk; step 225 of filtering the cooled pasteurised milk; step 226 and 227 of heating and cooling the cooled pasteurized milk to provide a second dairy liquid; step 228 of enzyme treating the second dairy liquid; step 240 of acidifying the second dairy liquid with citric acid; step 250 of fermenting the second acidified dairy liquid; step 251 of cooling the fermented second acidified dairy liquid; step 260 of combining the first acidified dairy liquid and the cooled fermented second acidified dairy liquid to produce an acidified mixture; step 261 of holding the acidified mixture at a temperature; step 262 of adding further ingredients to the acidified mixture; step 270 of heat-treating the acidified mixture; step 271 of homogenizing the heat-treated acidified mixture; step 272 of texturizing the heat-treated mixture; and step 273 of cooling the texturised mixture to produce a cream cheese.

(10) The order of steps 211 and 212 may optionally be reversed. Additionally, steps 270, 271 and 272 may be performed in any order, though 272 is generally the last of these steps.

(11) FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the steps of an alternative process. All aspects and preferred features of the processes described herein apply equally to this alternative process.

(12) FIG. 3 shows: step 310 of providing the first dairy liquid; step 311 of pasteurizing the first dairy liquid; step 312 of homogenising the pasteurized first dairy liquid; step 313 of cooling the homogenized first dairy liquid; step 320 of fermenting the cooled homogenized first dairy liquid; step 321 of cooling fermented first dairy liquid to produce a first acidified dairy liquid; step 322 of providing a milk; step 323 of pasteurizing the milk; step 324 of cooling the pasteurized milk; step 325 of filtering the cooled pasteurised milk; step 326 and 327 of heating and cooling the cooled pasteurized milk to provide a second dairy liquid; step 360 of combining the first acidified dairy liquid and the second dairy liquid to provide a partially acidified mixture; optional step 361 of holding the acidified mixture at a temperature; optional step 363 of further acidifying the partially acidified mixture with citric acid; step 362 of adding further ingredients to the acidified mixture; step 370 of heat-treating the acidified mixture; step 371 of homogenizing the heat-treated acidified mixture; optional step 374 of further acidifying the partially acidified mixture with citric acid step 372 of texturizing the heat-treated mixture; and step 373 of cooling the texturised mixture to produce a cream cheese.

(13) At least one of optional steps 363 and 374 must occur, preferably both.

(14) The order of steps 311 and 312 may optionally be reversed. Additionally, steps 370, 371 and 373 may be performed in any order, though 373 is generally the last of these steps.

(15) This alternative process for the manufacture of a cream cheese comprises: (i) providing a first dairy liquid; (ii) fermenting the first dairy liquid to form a first acidified dairy liquid; (iii) providing a second dairy liquid; (iv) combining the first acidified dairy liquid and the second dairy liquid to form a partially acidified mixture; and (v) further acidifying the partially acidified mixture with citric acid to form a cream cheese.

(16) FIG. 3 shows a specific example of this alternative process, wherein the second dairy liquid is formed from a milk by pasteurizing, filtering and heat-treating a milk. However, the skilled person would readily appreciate that the variations to the method of the invention disclosed herein may also be applied to this alternative process. In this process the two streams are initially treated separately, the fat stream is fermented before the streams are combined. The combined mixture is then further directly acidified by the addition of citric acid.

(17) The present disclosure will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting examples.

Comparative Example 1

(18) Cream cheese bases were produced from cream (30% fat), skim milk, WPC70 (whey protein concentrate powder) and MCC80 (micellar casein concentrate powder).

(19) A Light base with 10% fat and 8% protein was prepared as follows:

(20) TABLE-US-00001 Cream Skim Milk WPC70 MCC80 32.50% 60.90% 1.95% 4.65%

(21) A Full Fat base with 22% fat and 8% protein was prepared as follows:

(22) TABLE-US-00002 Cream Skim Milk WPC70 MCC80 65.80% 27.20% 2.00% 5.00%

(23) The bases were pasteurized (72 C.) and homogenized (350 bar). Acidification was either performed with mesophilic cultures at 22 C. or with direct addition of a 50% citric acid solution at 5 C. The acidified bases were again heated (80 C.) and homogenized (500 bar) to produce a cream cheese.

(24) To determine soluble calcium, the aqueous phase of the cheeses was separated with an ultracentrifuge at 65,000 g for 2 h. The partitioning of calcium and the taste perception of the cheeses is listed below.

(25) TABLE-US-00003 solu- total Solu- ble Ca total Ca ble Ca (% of citrate pH- sensory Sample mg/kg mg/kg total) [g/l] value perception Light 2180 1856 85.1 0.4 4.8 dairy sour. meso- cultured, philic very bitter Light 2180 202 9.3 10.6 4.9 very mild, bland, citric not bitter acid Full Fat 2150 1743 81.1 0.3 5.1 dairy sour- meso- cultured, bitter philic Full Fat 2150 83 3.9 10.5 5.0 bland, not bitter citric acid

(26) The table clearly shows that during mesophilic fermentation, more than 80% of the micellar calcium is solubilized and the natural citrate of milk (ca. 2.0 g/l) is mainly consumed by the bacteria. The cheeses showed an aromatic, dairy sour, cultured note, but also an unpleasant bitter off-taste.

(27) In contrast, after acidification with citric acid, less than 10% of the total calcium was found in the centrifugal supernatant and the taste was described as mild, bland and not bitter at all.

(28) These surprising results lead to the assumption that fresh cheeses with sufficient aromatic, dairy cultured notes, but without bitter off-taste, could be produced without the separation of acid whey by combining mesophilic fermentation with direct citric acid addition.

Example 2

(29) Light cream cheese bases were produced from cream (30% fat), a liquid skim milk MF-concentrate (8.7% protein) and MCC80 (micellar casein concentrate powder). Additionally salt and locust bean gum (LBG) were added.

(30) A Light base with 10% fat and 8% protein was prepared as follows:

(31) TABLE-US-00004 Cream MF-Concentrate MCC80 LBG Salt 33.0% 64.2% 2.0% 0.20% 0.6%
Comparative Method:

(32) The base was pasteurized (90 C.) and homogenized (250 bar). Acidification was either performed with mesophilic cultures at 22 C. or with direct addition of a 50% citric acid solution at 5 C. The acidified bases were re-heated (80 C.) and homogenized (500 bar) to produce a cream cheese.

(33) Split-Stream Acidification According to the Method Disclosed Herein:

(34) The total base was split into a cream stream (only cream with 30% fat) and a protein stream prior to acidification.

(35) Protein Base:

(36) TABLE-US-00005 MF-Concentrate MCC80 LBG Salt 96.0% 2.8% 0.30% 0.9%

(37) The protein base was pasteurized (90 C.) and homogenized (250 bar) prior to acidification. Option 1 (split 1): Cream was directly acidified with 50% citric acid solution at 5 C. and protein base was fermented with mesophilic cultures at 22 C. Option 2 (split 2): Protein base was directly acidified with 50% citric acid solution at 5 C. and cream was fermented with mesophilic cultures at 22 C. This approach is in accordance with the method disclosed herein.

(38) After acidification the two streams were blended, re-heated (80 C.) and homogenized (500 bar) to produce a cream cheese.

(39) To determine soluble calcium, the aqueous phase of the cheeses was separated with an ultracentrifuge at 65,000 g for 2 h. The partitioning of calcium and the taste perception of the cheeses is listed below.

(40) TABLE-US-00006 solu- total solu- ble Ca total Ca ble Ca (% of citrate pH- sensory Sample mg/kg mg/kg total) [g/l] value perception meso- 2600 2600 100 0.3 4.8 bitter, acidic, philic cultured citric 2600 380 15 9.5 4.9 very mild, bland, acid not bitter Split 1 2800 2800 100 1.4 4.9 slightly bitter, sour Split 2 2600 830 32 6.9 4.9 balanced, mildly acidic, creamy, not bitter

(41) The best taste profile was obtained by sample Split 2, i.e. by mixing a directly acidified protein base with fermented cream (sour cream). This sample showed a balanced, creamy and mildly acidic taste profile without any bitter off-notes.

Example 3

(42) Split Stream Acidification According to the Invention:

(43) A dairy base for a full fat cream cheese was prepared with two ingredients only, i.e. a cream with 40% fat and a skim milk microfiltration (MF) concentrate with 8.7% total protein. The formula of this dairy base with the main components is listed below.

(44) TABLE-US-00007 Skim Milk Cream MF-Concentrate Dairy Base Total Solids 45.30% 14.80% 30.05% Fat 40.00% 0.18% 20.09% Protein 2.00% 8.70% 5.35% Lactose 3.00% 4.10% 3.55% Casein 1.60% 7.60% 4.60% Whey Protein 0.40% 0.80% 0.60% Calcium 0.08% 0.32% 0.20% Amount % 50.00% 50.00% 100.00%

(45) The two dairy streams were initially treated separately. The cream was heated to 83 C. for 120 seconds and then homogenized at a pressure of 50 bar. The MF-concentrate was heated to 83 C. for 120 seconds without a homogenization step. Acidification of the cream stream was always carried out by mesophilic fermentation at 21 C. until a pH of below 4.6 was reached. The protein concentrate however, was acidified in different ways: Direct acidification with citric acid (50% solution) at 5 C. to pH values ranging from 4.6 to 5.0. Adjustment of pH 5.9 with citric acid at 5 C. followed by thermophilic fermentation at 42 C. until a final pH below 4.6 was obtained. Adjustment of pH 5.6 with citric acid at 5 C. followed by thermophilic fermentation at 42 C. until a final pH below 4.6 was obtained.

(46) The cream and protein streams were cooled to 5 C. after acidification and stored overnight. The next day, 50% of sour cream and 50% of acidified protein concentrate were blended to provide the dairy bases. As additional ingredient, 0.7% salt was added.

(47) The blends were heated to 70 C. and homogenized two-stage at 300/50 bar. The homogenized blends were re-heated to 80 C. and held at this temperature under slow stirring until sufficient texture was built up. At this stage, the hot cream cheeses were filled into plastic tubs and cooled to 5 C.

(48) A sensory evaluation by an expert team revealed that none of the cream cheese prototypes showed any bitter or mineralic off-notes. The overall taste was described as creamy-buttery, with a distinct fermented, sour cream note. Minor differences between the prototypes were observed regarding overall sourness, firmness and smoothness in mouth. The samples produced with thermophilic cultures exhibited a slightly more sour, yoghurt-like flavor note.

Example 4

(49) Four full fat cream cheeses were produced in pilot-scale batches of approximately 80 kg of finished product.

(50) One batch (STD-2) was made as a reference by a conventional process, i.e. fermentation of a fat-adjusted milk first, followed by an acidic concentration step with a centrifugal separator. This step resulted in the generation of about 40 kg of acid whey per 60 kg of curd.

(51) The other three batches were produced according to the invention.

(52) Cream with 40% fat was fermented separately with mesophilic bacteria until a pH of 4.3-4.4. was achieved in order to generate a crme fraiche/sour cream type of intermediate product.

(53) A milk protein concentrate with about 9-10% total protein was produced from pasteurized skim milk using microfiltration. This protein concentrate was adjusted to pH 4.9 with a 50% citric acid solution that was added at 8-10 C. under vigorous stirring to avoid flocculation.

(54) The sour cream and acidified milk protein concentrate were blended and further processed in the same way as the reference product. The post-curd processing comprised the following steps: Optional addition of whey-derived ingredients, e.g. whey protein concentrate (FWPC) and/or whey permeate concentrates (PC) (the addition of optional ingredients is reflected in the coding of the prototypes in the following table) Addition of salt and locust bean gum Pasteurization at 75 C. and homogenization at 300 bar Texture building step Hot filling

(55) The composition of each of the four samples is shown in the table below, where: FF/STD (STD-2) is the reference sample produced via the conventional process, FF/SPLIT (SPLIT-2) was produced according to the invention without any additional whey ingredients, SPLIT-PC (SPLIT-PC-1) was produced according to the invention including added whey permeate concentrates, and SPLIT-FWPC (SPLIT-PC-FWPC-2) was produced according to the invention including added whey protein concentrate.

(56) TABLE-US-00008 Total Solids Protein Fat Salt Lactose Calcium Sample code (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (mg/kg) FF/STD 32.3 5.4 20.4 0.8 4.1 1160 FF/SPLIT 32.0 5.7 21.5 0.8 3.0 1700 SPLIT-PC 34.1 5.8 21.8 0.8 4.3 1810 SPLIT-PC-FWPC 33.8 5.7 21.3 0.9 4.3 1630 Ratio soluble Citric Lactic Ca/total Ca Acid Acid Firmness Sample code (%) (%) (%) pH [g] FF/STD 71.2 0.12 0.49 4.92 113 FF/SPLIT 31.6 0.43 0.22 4.93 100 SPLIT-PC 28.8 0.46 0.26 4.97 90 SPLIT-PC-FWPC 30.9 0.43 0.29 4.88 105

(57) It is clearly shown that the inventive products are considerably higher in total calcium, but lower in the ratio of soluble calcium to total calcium compared to the reference. In addition, the concentration of lactic acid is reduced and the concentration of citric acid is about 4 times increased.

(58) All samples were evaluated after a minimum of 2 weeks of cold storage by a trained sensory panel.

(59) The sensory attributes are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

(60) The sensorial parameters shown in FIG. 4 are:

(61) TABLE-US-00009 A Total aroma B Dairy sour aroma C Sweet aroma D Butter aroma E Total flavour F Total sour flavour G Lemon sour flavour H Dairy sour flavour I Salty flavour J Sweet flavour K Cream/butter flavour L Bitter flavour M Total aftertaste N Sour aftertaste O Sweet aftertaste P Salty aftertaste Q Cream/butter aftertaste R Bitter aftertaste

(62) The sensorial parameters shown in FIG. 5 are:

(63) TABLE-US-00010 A Yellow appearance B Rough surface appearance C Shiny appearance D Firm texture by hand E Rough texture by hand F Sticky texture by hand G Spreadable texture by hand H Moist texture by mouth I Firm texture by mouth J Creamy texture by mouth K Light texture by mouth L Sticky texture by mouth M Meltable texture by mouth N Astringent texture by mouth O Fatty texture by mouth P Mealy texture by mouth Q Dull texture by mouth R Fatty aftersensation S Dry aftersensation

(64) The sensorial profiles of all tested prototypes are very close to the tested reference regarding aroma, flavour and aftertaste. Differences were observed in dairy sour aroma, total sour and lemon sour flavour. Bitterness was rated equal in all samples.

(65) All tested prototypes are very close to tested reference regarding appearance, texture and mouthfeel.

(66) All tested prototypes were perceived slightly higher in mealiness. Additionally there is some variability in rough texture by hand.

(67) Accordingly, the samples produced by the present method are comparable in aroma, flavour, aftertaste, appearance, texture and mouthfeel with respect to conventional cream cheese without requiring a whey separation step.

(68) All percentages herein are by weight unless otherwise stated.

(69) The foregoing detailed description has been provided by way of explanation and illustration, and is not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Many variations in the presently preferred embodiments illustrated herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, and remain within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.