SPREADABLE CHEESE FROM CURD

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of cheese making, in particular to the production of a soft cheese or a spreadable cheese. Provided is a method for preparing a spreadable cheese product, comprising the steps of (a) coagulating wholly or partly the protein of a milk product through the action of rennet or other suitable coagulating agents; (b) partially draining the whey resulting from the coagulation to obtain a cheese curd; (c) preparing a mixture of the cheese curd, water, an amylomaltose-treated starch (ATS) and a pregelatinized starch (PS); (d) heating and shearing the mixture at a temperature between 70 and 80° C.; followed by (e) cooling the mixture under stirring to obtain a spreadable cheese product. Also provided is a spreadable cheese obtainable by the method.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a spreadable cheese product, comprising the steps of (a) coagulating wholly or partly the protein of a milk product through the action of rennet or other suitable coagulating agents; (b) partially draining the whey resulting from the coagulation to obtain a cheese curd; (c) preparing a mixture of the cheese curd, water, an amylomaltose-treated starch (ATS) and a pregelatinized starch (PS); (d) heating and shearing the mixture at a temperature between 70 and 80° C.; followed by (e) cooling the mixture under stirring to obtain a spreadable cheese product.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the milk product is skimmed milk, partly skimmed milk, cream, whey cream or buttermilk, or any combination of these materials.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the milk product is obtained from cow, buffalo, goat or sheep, preferably from cow.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises incubating the milk product with rennet and a food grade acidulant under conditions allowing for casein coagulation.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the ATS and/or PS is derived from maize, wheat, barley, rice, triticale, rice, millet, tapioca, arrow root, banana, potato, sweet potato starches, wrinkled pea starch, mung bean starch, sago starch and yellow pea starch.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the ATS is derived from a blend of amylose-containing starches and amylopectin-rich starches like waxy maize, waxy barley, waxy wheat, waxy rice, amylopectin potato, amylopectin tapioca, amylopectin sweet potato or amylopectin banana starch.

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein PS is native starch or a starch derivative obtained by crosslinking, esterification and/or etherification.

8. Method according to claim 1, wherein PS is a waxy root or tuber starch.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein PS is a waxy potato starch or waxy tapioca starch.

10. Method according to claim 1, wherein PS is a crosslinked and stabilized high amylopectin starch.

11. Method according to claim 1, wherein PS is a non-crosslinked, non-stabilized high amlyopectin starch.

12. Method according to claim 1, wherein the mixture comprises ATS in an amount 2.0-4.5%, preferably 2.5-3% by weight of the mixture.

13. Method according to claim 1, wherein the mixture comprises PS in an amount of 1.0-5.0%, preferably 1.5-3.0%, by weight of the mixture.

14. Method according to claim 1, wherein ATS and PS are used in a relative weight ratio of 10:1 to 1:10.

15. Method according to claim 14, wherein ATS and PS are used in a relative weight ratio of 1:0.5 to 1:2.0, preferably 1:0.75 to 1:1.5.

16. Method according to claim 1, wherein the mixture further comprises one or more salts, preferably sodium chloride, and/or one or more food grade acids, preferably ascorbic acid or lactic acid.

17. Method according to claim 1, wherein the mixture does not contain any additional melting salts.

18. Method according to claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises heating and shearing at a temperature between 71 and 75° C.

19. Method according to claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises the application of steam.

20. A spreadable cheese product obtainable by a method according to claim 1.

21. A composition comprising (i) cheese curd obtained in a process for making a hard-type cheese, (ii) an amylomaltose-treated starch (ATS) and (iii) a pregelatinized starch (PS).

22. Use of a composition according to claim 21 in the manufacture of a spreadable cheese product.

Description

EXPERIMENTAL SECTION

Example 1

[0013] Selection of Useful Starches.

[0014] This example describes the evaluation of a number of different starches for use in the manufacture of a spreadable cheese from a Rennet coagulated cheese curd.

Materials

[0015] Raw cow's milk was obtained from farm Bos (Zuidbroek, the Netherlands) or Schouten (Kantens, the Netherlands). [0016] Cheese culture, type G600.7 and rennet (Kalase, 150 IMCU) were obtained from CSK Food Enrichment (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands) [0017] Lactic acid˜90% [0018] Sodium chloride [0019] Calcium Chloride [0020] Starches used [0021] ATPS: Amylomaltase-treated potato starch by AVEBE. [0022] PAPS: pregelatinized amylopectin potato starch by AVEBE [0023] MAPS: non-pregelatinized crosslinked hydroxypropylated amylopectin potato starch by AVEBE [0024] IMAPS: pregelatinized crosslinked acetylated amylopectin potato starch by AVEBE [0025] MACS: non-pregelatinized crosslinked hydroxypropylated amylopectin corn starch (waxy maize) by Ingredion [0026] MTS: non-pregelatinized crosslinked hydroxypropylated tapioca starch by Ingredion

Curd Preparation

[0027] Raw cow's milk is pasteurized in a double jacket vessel, until a temperature of 72° C. has been reached. Subsequently the milk is cooled to 35° C. [0028] Cheese culture (kg milk×1.25=grams of culture) and rennet (kg milk×0.25=grams of rennet) and calcium chloride are added to the pasteurized milk. [0029] The milk is allowed to curdle for approx. 30 minutes at 35° C. The firmness of the curd is judged by making a small cut in the curd and lifting underneath the cut. A “porcelain break” (clean cut with sharp edges) should be visible. [0030] When the desired firmness is reached, the curd is cut into small squares (<1×1 cm). The curd is stirred for 3 minutes and left to rest for 30 minutes. [0031] The curd is drained, by opening a drain in the vessel (letting the whey out). [0032] Warm water (approx. 35° C., about half of the volume of the original amount of milk) is added to the curd. This is left to rest for 15-20 minutes. The curd is drained again by passing it over a sieve. [0033] The curd is placed in a container in a water bath at 35° C. to culture until a pH of 5.7 is reached. The curd is stored at 4° C.

Measurements/Calculations

[0034] As whey separation from curd continues during storage, the ration between curd particles (white gummy lumps) and whey (clear yellowish liquid) is determined, to be sure to use the correct amounts each time. [0035] Water is added to the curd/whey mixture, to imitate steam injection which will occur in certain equipment (e.g. Stephan UM130). [0036] Cream can be added to the recipe, to increase the fat content of the final product. Without additional cream, the fat content is approx. 13%. [0037] The moisture content of the curd particles is determined by using a moisture balance at 140° C. Dry matter of the final products is 35%-45% [0038] Lactic acid is used to lower the pH of the spreadable cheese to approx. 4.5. [0039] Salt (sodium chloride) is added.

Spreadable Cheese Preparation

[0040] Curd and whey (in the correct ratio) are put in the bowl of a Stephan cooker (type UM5) and mixed for 5 minutes at 2000 rpm. [0041] Starch additives are added in dry form and mixed for another 5 minutes at 2000 rpm. [0042] Using a hot water bath, the double jacket bowl of the Stephan cooker is heated. Product is mixed at 2000 RPM. [0043] When the mixture has reached 60° C., lactic acid is added, in such amount that the final pH of the product will be around 4.7. The mixture is further heated until the product has reached 72° C. [0044] The product is transferred into small sample containers and stored refrigerated.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Starch additive Results None (negative Phase separation, no acceptable product reference) MAPS (2 to 5%) Thick, unworkable paste during process MACS (3.25 to 3.75%) Thick, unworkable paste during process MTS (3.25 to 3.50%) Thick, unworkable paste during process ATPS (2 to 2.5%) Grainy, crumbly texture with no coherent cheese entity PAPS (2 to 5%) Thin, liquid texture, no acceptable product ATPS (2 to 3%) + Good consistency, good spread ability PAPS (2 to 3%) ATPS (2 to 3%) + Good consistency, good spreadability IMAPS (1.5 to 3%)
In view of the results shown in Table 1, in can be concluded that a combination of an amylomaltose-treated starch and a pregelatinized starch, is advantageously used in the manufacture of a spreadable cheese product. In contrast, amylomaltose-treated starch alone, or the pregelatinized starch alone, or the non-pregelatinized, so-called “cook-up” starches that are typically used for creating stable structures in dairy applications, are not suitable.

Example 2

[0045] Method for the Manufacture of a Spreadable Cheese.

[0046] This example describes one way of carrying out the present invention using a specific combination of starches to aid in the processing of a cheese curd intended for making a hard cheese into a spreadable cheese.

Materials & Method

[0047] Curd (from a process for hard cheese) was obtained from Cheese Farm Karwij in Rolde, The Netherlands.
800 g of curd, (37.7% of non-water components), 25.9 g of ATPS, 34.5 g of PAPS, 3.45 g of NaCl, 320 g of water and 7.05 g of ascorbic acid were placed in a high speed mixer (Thermomix). The pH was 5.15. The mixer was started at 600 rpm (speed 9). The mixture was heated until 72.5° C., which was maintained for 1 minute. The mixture was cooled with stirring and cooled until 40 ° C. Then the mixture was filled in containers for refrigeration. After one night the samples were tested and judged on creaminess. The resulting product was perceived as a spreadable cheese, with a good consistency and spreadability
The above experiment was essentially repeated with a curd of 35% dry matter (860 g) to which was added 25.9 g of ATPS, 34.5 g of IMAPS, 3.5 g of NaCl, 7.05 g of ascorbic acid and 300 g of water. IMAPS is a pregelatinized crosslinked/stabilized amylopectin potato starch.
The result was similar to the cream cheese obtained with ATPS and PAPS described herein above, demonstrating the structuring effect of amylomaltose-treated starch in combination with either native or derivatized pregelatinized starch. In contrast, an experiment with only ATPS failed because of a grainy, crumbly, texture with no coherent cheese entity.

Example 3

[0048] Spreadable Cheese

An exemplary spreadable cheese product has the following composition

TABLE-US-00002 Ingredients % Curd/whey 89.78 Water 4.42 PAPS 2.70 ATPS 2.20 Salt 0.50 Lactic acid 0.40

[0049] Spreadable cheese has approx. 40% solids and 13% fat.

Example 4

[0050] Different Combinations of ATS and PS

TABLE-US-00003 Combinations of starch additives Ratio ATPS/ PAPS (%) ATPS (%) PAPS Results 2.60 2.30 1:1.13 Good product, firms during shelf life, getting more crumbly 2.55 2.20 1:1.16 Good consistency, good spreadability 2.70 2.20 1:1.23 Good consistency, good spreadability 2.85 2.10 1:1.36 Good consistency, good spreadability, firms during shelf life Ratio ATPS/ IMAPS (%) ATPS (%) IMAPS Results 1.80 2.20 1:0.82 Good consistency, good spreadability 2.30 2.20 1:1.05 Slightly too firm consistency, reasonable spreadability 2.70 2.20 1:1.23 Slightly too firm consistency, reasonable spreadability