Dairy food gel production

A process of modulating texture of a mixture of one or more ingredients, wherein at least one ingredient is a milk protein concentrate (MPC) or dairy food gel ingredient comprising an MPC, wherein the MPC is selected from a fermented MPC (fMPC), calcium reduced MPC (cMPC), and a fermented calcium reduced MPC (fcMPC), and wherein the method comprises the steps of:

• selecting process conditions comprising predetermined parameters selected from liquid content, process temperature, and process duration;
• processing the ingredients according to the selected process conditions to form a dairy food gel product having predetermined texture based on the selected process conditions;
• and
• obtaining the dairy food gel product.

A fermented and calcium depleted milk protein concentrate (fcMPC) ingredient, wherein the fcMPC comprises:

• a fat content of between 0 to about 60% w/w;
• a calcium content of between about 20 to about 400 mmol/kg;
• and
• a cationic balance of between about 1 to about 100.