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US 5,350,592 AGranted
Method of stabilizing vegetable products in a retort-processed cheese and vegetable product
AssigneeRecot, Inc.
InventorsDavid F. Duval, Kim C. Kruhmar, Charles E. Ratcliff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of preparing a stable cheese and vegetable-containing product includes contacting relatively acidic (e.g. canned, drummed or jarred) vegetables with a buffer solution to equilibrate the vegetable matter at a pH which is compatible with the dairy proteins present in the cheese. The cheese base preferably has low total solids, low cheese and low reducing sugar contents, and thus can successfully be packaged and preserved via the retort process.
Claims19
A method for producing a stable cheese-based mixture containing vegetable matter comprising:
- (a) contacting acidic vegetable matter with a buffer solution and allowing the vegetable matter to equilibrate with the buffer so as to provide a pH-adjusted vegetable matter having a pH of about 5.5 or higher;
- (b) mixing the pH-adjusted vegetable matter with a retort-stable low cheese content, low acid cheese base composition comprising about 5.0% to about 25% by weight of natural cheese, the remainder of the cheese base composition comprising starch, fat and water, said cheese base composition comprising less than about 1% by weight of reducing sugar and less than 40% by weight of total solids and being formulated without added gums, whereby said cheese base composition, when packaged in sealed glass jars, is stable to retort heating at a temperature about 250.degree. F.;
- and (c) heat sterilizing the mixture of cheese base composition and pH-adjusted vegetable matter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.