METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PASTA FILATA CHEESE

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for the manufacturing of pasta filata cheese, wherein skim milk is first supplied to a transport system having a plurality of separate transport containers, wherein curd is produced from the skim milk in the region of a first process section of the transport system, by the addition of acidification cultures; wherein the curd produced is coagulated in the region of a second process section, wherein the coagulated curd is exposed to an acidification process for an acidification period in the region of a third process section; and wherein the acidified curd is removed from the transport system in an outgoing section at the end of the acidification period and is supplied to a subsequent process step in which the acidified curd is divided into portions. The curd remains in the transport system up to the removal of the curd after the end of the acidification process.

Claims

1.-16. (canceled)

17. A method of manufacturing pasta filata cheese, wherein skim milk is first supplied to a transport system having a plurality of separate transport containers in an incoming section; curd is produced from the skim milk in the region of a first process section of the transport system; the curd produced is coagulated in the region of a second process section of the transport system; the coagulated curd is exposed to an acidification process for an acidification period in the region of a third process section of the transport system; and the acidified curd is removed from the transport system at the end of the acidification period in an outgoing section of the transport system and is supplied to a subsequent process step, wherein the curd remains in the transport system up to the removal of the curd after the end of the acidification process.

18. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the transport system is designed as free of interruption between the incoming section and the outgoing section.

19. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the transport containers are moved in a clocked and/or continuous manner between the sections and/or in the region of the sections.

20. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the transport containers are supplied to a cleaning system in which the transport containers are cleaned after the removal of the curd.

21. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein at least some of the liquid components of the contents of the transport containers are separated after the coagulation of the curd and before the acidification process.

22. The method in accordance with claim 21, wherein the separated liquid components is removed from the transport containers.

23. The method in accordance with claim 21, wherein the contents of two or more transport containers are combined in accordance with requirements after the separation of at least some of the liquid components.

24. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein the contents of two or more transport containers are combined in a transport container of the transport system.

25. The method in accordance with claim 23, wherein transport containers that were emptied as part of the combining of the contents of two or more transport containers are removed from the transport system and are supplied to a cleaning system.

26. The method in accordance with claim 17, wherein the curd produced is transferredbefore or after the coagulation of the curd in the region of the second process sectioninto at least one drainage section respectively arranged in the transport containers to drain whey separating from the curd.

27. The method in accordance with claim 26, wherein the curd remains in the drainage section up to the conclusion of the acidification process in the region of the third process section.

28. The method in accordance with claim 26, wherein whey separating from the curd is actively or passively removed from the drainage section.

29. The method in accordance with claim 28, wherein the separating whey is collected in a collection section of the respective transport container.

30. An apparatus for manufacturing pasta filata cheese, the apparatus comprising a transport system having a plurality of separate transport containers; and wherein the transport system is designed as free of interruption between an incoming section in which skim milk can be received by the transport containers and an outgoing section in which an acidified curd can be removed from the transport containers at the end of an acidification period, in which method said skim milk is first supplied to the incoming section; said curd is produced from the skim milk in the region of a first process section of the transport system; the curd produced is coagulated in the region of a second process section of the transport system; the coagulated curd is exposed to an acidification process for the acidification period in the region of a third process section of the transport system; and the acidified curd is removed and is supplied to a subsequent process step, with the curd remaining in the transport system up to the removal of the curd after the end of the acidification process.

31. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, further comprising an apparatus that is configured for coagulating curd produced from the skim milk in the transport containers.

32. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, further comprising an apparatus that is configured for separating at least some of the liquid components of the contents of the transport container.

33. The apparatus in accordance with claim 32, further comprising an apparatus that is configured to combine the contents of two or more transport containers in one transport container after the separation of at least some of the liquid components.

34. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, further comprising a cleaning apparatus for cleaning the transport containers.

35. The apparatus in accordance with claim 30, wherein at least some of the transport containers each have at least one drainage section.

36. The apparatus in accordance with claim 35, wherein the drainage section comprises at least one element that is insertable into the respective transport container at times, by which drainage section curd can be received for separating whey.

Description

[0026] The invention will be described in the following purely by way of example with reference to advantageous embodiments and to the enclosed drawing. There are shown, schematically in each case,

[0027] FIG. 1 an embodiment of a transport container of an apparatus in accordance with the invention for carrying out a method in accordance with the invention for manufacturing pasta filata cheese;

[0028] FIG. 2 an embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention for carrying out a method in accordance with the invention for manufacturing pasta filata cheese; and

[0029] FIG. 3 a further embodiment of a transport container with an inserted drainage section.

[0030] FIG. 1 shows the view of a transport container 12 of an apparatus in accordance with the invention for carrying out a method in accordance with the invention for manufacturing pasta filata cheese. In this embodiment, the transport container is configured as a basin 12 that can be produced from plastic, for example. The basin 12 comprises an upwardly open tub at whose lower ends rollers are attached by means of which the basin 12 can be moved along rail-like transport paths 16 (see FIG. 2). The capacity of the basin 12 is here typically between 100 and 1000 liters.

[0031] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an apparatus 10 in accordance with the invention for carrying out a method in accordance with the invention for manufacturing pasta filata cheese. The apparatus 10 comprises a transport system 14 that supplies the basins 12 to different process sections one after the other by a continuous feed. The transport system 14 comprises a plurality of basins 12 that are substantially the same in this embodiment and that are moved along transport paths 16 in a clocked and/or continuous manner. The transport system 14 can for this purpose, for example, have a sprocket drive or chain drive (neither shown) that is connected to the basins 12 (releasably as required) and can thus effect the feed. Other drive systems can also be used.

[0032] The transport system 14 is controlled by a higher ranking control device (not shown) that controls the clocking and/or the speed of the feed of the transport containers in accordance with the demands of the respective process sections.

[0033] The apparatus 10 with the transport system 14 is configured as a closed circuit in which major process steps are carried out that are necessary for the manufacture of pasta filata cheese. For this purpose, the basins 12 are first supplied to an incoming section 18 and are then transported by the transport system 14 to and through all the process sections 20, 22, 24, 26 before they are emptied at an outgoing section 30. The basins 12 are subsequently supplied to the incoming section 18 again.

[0034] Skim milk is supplied to the basins 12 one after the other at the incoming section 18, e.g. by means of lines, not shown. If a basin 12 is filled with skim milk, the basin 12 is pushed along the transport path 16 by the transport system 14 by a distance that substantially corresponds to at least a length of the basin 12viewed in the transport direction. At the same time, an empty basin 12 is supplied to the incoming section 18 by the transport system 14 to also fill it with skim milk.

[0035] In the region of the incoming section 18, or after it, acidification cultures and/or rennet is added to the skim milk in the basins 12 in a first process section 20 to stimulate the production of curd in the basins 12.

[0036] A basin 12 having a content of 1000 liters is filled in 80 seconds, for example, corresponding to a filling rate of the apparatus 10 of 45 basins per hour. The supplied quantity of 45,000 liters of skim milk per hour here corresponds to a manufacturing quantity of 5000 kg pasta filata cheese per hour. Other process parameters (e.g. quantities of milk or cheese, filling rates, capacities, and number of basins, . . . ) are, however, also easily conceivable.

[0037] As many basins 12 as desired can be filled one after the other with skim milk by this clocked feed, with a limitation only being given by the space available for the apparatus 10 in a production hall. Different kinds of shapes of the transport paths 16 are conceivable here, for example rectangular as in the described embodiment, but also serpentine, whereby a particularly compact design of the apparatus 10 or of the transport system 14 can be achieved.

[0038] Starting from the incoming section 18 or from the first process section 20, the basins 12 are supplied to a second process section 22 in which the curd produced in the basins 12 is coagulated. This can in particular take place by cutting, stirring and/or heating, with corresponding apparatus such as stirrers, heating units, etc. being provided in the second process section 22. The feed of the basins 12 in the second process section 22 takes place with a clock rate adapted to the coagulation process and/or at a (more or less) continuous feed speed.

[0039] After the second process section 22, the coagulation of the curd, approximately 90% of the volume in the basin 12 is present in liquid form as free whey. To separate a large part of this free whey from the best components of a basin filling, the basins 12 are supplied to a third process section 24. The free whey is there removed to a larger part by suction from the basins 12, with care being taken that the curd remains in the basin 12 i.e. is held back by suitable means such as screens. The separated whey, unlike the curd, is removed from the transport system and thus from the manufacturing process and can be supplied to a further processing.

[0040] After the separation of at least the larger part of the free whey, the curd of two or more basins 12 is combined in one basin 12, with the contents of basins 12, for example, being able to be combined in one basin 12 by means of a lifting and tiling apparatus 25. The emptied basins 12 are supplied to a cleaning process of a fifth process section 28 over a transport path 16a of the transport system 14.

[0041] While the first, second, and third process sections 20, 22, 24 can be subsumed under the term curd preparation, the fourth process section 26 serves for the curd maturation (acidification) in which the pH of the curd is continuously lowered until it reaches a range desired for pasta filata cheese. In this fourth process section 26, the curd remains in the basins 12 for approximately 120 to 150 minutes, with the time duration or the dwell time or reaction time being influenced by factors such as the acidification cultures used, the properties of the skim milk, the temperature, and similar. A monitoring of the pH can therefore be provided to correspondingly decrease or increase the dwell time or to able to adapt other parameters.

[0042] In the fourth process section 26, the basins 12 rest within the transport system 14 or are moved by the transport system 14 along a transport path 16b at a comparatively low speed (clocked or continuous). This path 16b effects a buffering of the basins 12 to provide sufficient time for the acidification of the curd. In the example shown, it includes parallel branches that are joined together again, which has proved to be space-saving. A buffering of the basins 12 can also be provided at other points of the path 16 as required.

[0043] Provision can additionally be made that the fourth process section 28 has an apparatus for stirring the curd in the basins 12 at one or more points to keep the curd directly in movement and to achieve a sufficient mixing of the curd in the basins 12.

[0044] After the end of the curd maturation in the fourth process section 26, the basins 12 are supplied by the transport system 14 to the outgoing section 30 where the acidified curd is removed from the basins 12 to be divided into portions and/or cut into strips in a sixth process section 32directly following in the present embodiment.

[0045] The emptied basins 12 are supplied to the fifth process section 28 where the basins 12 are cleaned by the cleaning system. The cleaning of the emptied basins 12 is integrated in the transport system in the present embodiment, i.e. the cleaning takes place during ongoing operation of the apparatus 10. An interruption of the production to clean the basins 12 is therefore not necessary.

[0046] After cleaning has taken place, the basins 12 are again supplied to the incoming section 18 over the transport system 14 to be able to receive skim milk in a new production cycle.

[0047] The skim milk or the curd produced therefrom thus remains in the system 14, in particular also during the curd maturation, between the sections 18 and 30. An optimized process management is ensured by the method in accordance with the invention and by the apparatus in accordance with the invention that represents a continuous tracking of the process sections in a similar sequence having similar devices and tools and that increases the consistency and reproducibility of the manufacturing process.

[0048] As was initially explained, the curd producedmarked by reference symbol K in FIG. 3can be arranged at times, preferably up to the end of the curd maturation, in a drainage section of the basins 12 to be able to drain off whey separating from the curd. In the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3, the drainage portion is a basket 34 that can be inserted into one of the basins 12. The basket 34 has perforations in at least a bottom section and the whey separating from the curd can exit downwardly from the basket 34 through them. The separating and downwardly dripping whey (shown schematically as arrows) is collected in a collection region 36 in the bottom region of the basin 12. The collected wheymarked by reference symbol M in FIG. 3can be supplied to a further processing.

[0049] To remove the curd, in particular also after the end of the curd maturation, the basket 34 is removed and/or the basin 12 is tilted with the basket 34 that in this case is preferably (releasably) fastened to the basin 12. The basket 34 can subsequently be cleaned, optionally together with the basin 12 or separately.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0050] 10 apparatus for manufacturing pasta filata cheese

[0051] 12 basin

[0052] 14 transport system

[0053] 16 transport path

[0054] 16a transport path

[0055] 16b transport path

[0056] 18 incoming section

[0057] 20 first process section

[0058] 22 second process section

[0059] 24 third process section

[0060] 25 lifting and tilting apparatus

[0061] 26 fourth process section

[0062] 28 fifth process section

[0063] 30 outgoing section

[0064] 32 sixth process section

[0065] 34 drainage basket

[0066] 36 collection region

[0067] K curd

[0068] M whey