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AssigneeStiching Bedrijven Van Het Nederlands Instituut Voor Zuivelonderzoek
InventorsFransiscus M. Driessen, Jacobus J. Stadhouders, Jacob Ubbels
Estimating the term…
Yogurt and other fermented milk products are prepared in a continuous process in which a continuous stream of milk is added to a fermenting mixture of milk and a starter in a prefermenting tank. The pH of the mixture in the prefermenting tank is maintained above the value at which stirring of the mixture will cause syneresis to occur in the final product. A portion of the prefermented mixture is passed into a coagulating tank in which further fermentation and coagulation can take place. In the coagulating tank, the mixture, when its pH surpasses the acidity at which stirring will no longer cause syneresis, is subjected to shearing forces and thereafter filled into containers to produce the final product.
An apparatus for the continuous preparation of yoghurt comprising a pre-fermenting tank, means for adding milk to a fermenting mixture of milk and starter in said pre-fermenting tank, a coagulation tank having an inlet end and an outlet end, means for transferring the fermenting mixture from said prefermenting tank into said coagulating tank in which further fermentation and coagulation take place, means for cooling the fermenting mixture during passage into said coagulating tank, means positioned at said inlet end of said coagulating tank for distributing the fermenting mixture into said coagulating tank, means for generating shear forces positioned near said outlet end of said coagulating tank, said shear forces generating means including a preforated plate and means for translating said performated plate longitudinally relative to said coagulating tank, and means positioned downstream of said shear forces generating means at the outlet end of said coagulating tank for discharging the resulting product.
An apparatus for the continuous preparation of yoghurt comprising a pre-fermenting tank, means for adding milk to a fermenting mixture of milk and starter in said pre-fermenting tank, a coagulation tank having an inlet end and an outlet end, means for transferring the fermenting mixture from said pre-fermenting tank into said coagulating tank in which further fermentation and coagulation take place, means for cooling the fermenting mixture during passage into said coagulating tank, means positioned at said inlet end of said coagulating tank for distributing the fermenting mixture into said coagulating tank, said distributing means including disc means and means for rotating said disc means at high speed to atomize the fermenting mixture, means for generating shear forces positioned near said outlet end of said coagulating tank, and means positioned downstream of said shear forces generating means at the outlet end of said coagulating tank for discharging the resulting product.
An apparatus for the continuous preparation of yoghurt comprising a pre-fermenting tank, means for adding milk to a fermenting mixture of milk and starter in said pre-fermenting tank, a coagulation tank having an inlet end and an outlet end, means for transferring the fermenting mixture from said pre-fermenting tank into said coagulating tank in which further fermentation and coagulation take place, means for cooling the fermenting mixture during passage into said coagulating tank, means positioned at said inlet end of said coagulating tank for distributing the fermenting mixture into said coagulating tank, means for generating shear forces positioned near said outlet end of said coagulating tank, said shear forces generating means including a mobile plate having perforations evenly distributed over its entire surface the area of which amounts to at most 20% of the entire area of the plate, and discharge pipe means downstream of said shear forces generating means at said outlet of said coagulating tank for discharging the resulting product.
An apparatus for the continuous preparation of yoghurt comprising a pre-fermenting tank, means for adding milk to a fermenting mixture of milk and starter in said pre-fermenting tank, a coagulation tank having an inlet end and an outlet end, means for transferring the fermenting mixture from said pre-fermenting tank into said coagulating tank in which further fermentation and coagulation take place, means for cooling the fermenting mixture during passage into said coagulating tank, means positioned at said inlet end of said coagulating tank for spraying the fermenting mixture into said coagulating tank whereby the fermenting mixture flows through said coagulating and coagulates and forms a gel structure, means for stirring the gel structure near said outlet end of said coagulating tank to form a smooth consistency and discharge pipe means downstream of said stirring means at said outlet of said coagulating tank for filling containers with the resulting product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.