US 5,895,671 AGranted

Cheese culture medium and method for preparing no fat and low fat cheese products

AssigneeConAgra, Inc.

InventorsAnthony M. Adamany, Thomas M. Henry, Deborah P. Moore, Craig S. Filkouski

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for preparing a no fat or low fat cheese product from a culture medium prepared by combining from about 50 to about 94 wt. % whole milk, from about 0 to about 45 wt. % water, and from about 0.2 to about 1 wt. % of at least one food grade, polyanionic gum. The culture medium is inoculated with at least one lactic acid- or heteroacid producing bacterium to form a cultured mixture. The cultured mixture is then combined in a vat with skim or low fat milk to form a cultured milk. The cultured milk is ripened, sufficient rennet added to form a coagulum, the coagulum cut to form curd in a whey solution, and the curd cooked while in the whey solution. The cooked curd is transferred to a means for draining the whey solution where the whey is separated from the curd and the curd salted. After salting, the curd is further processed to produce a no fat or low fat cheese.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A method for preparing a no fat cheese product comprising the steps of:

preparing a culture medium by combining:
from about 50 to about 94 wt. % whole milk, based on the weight of the culture medium,
from about 0 to about 45 wt. % water, based on the weight of the culture medium, and
from about 0.2 to about 1 wt. % of at least one food grade, polyanionic gum selected from the group comprising agar, xanthan, alginate, guar, carrageenan, and cellulose gels, based on the weight of the culture medium, to form a culture medium;
pasteurizing the culture medium;
cooling the pasteurized culture medium to a temperature suitable for the growth of acid-producing bacteria;
inoculating the culture medium with at least one acid-producing bacteria selected from the group consisting of S. cremoris, S. lactis, S. citrovorous, S. paracitrovorus, S. thermophillus, S. durans, S. diacetilactis, S. faecalis, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. brevis, L. casei, L. delbruekii, L. fermenti, L. heleveticus, L. lactis, L. plantarum, L. thermophillus, Leuconsostoc eitrovorum, Leuconsostoc mesenteroides, Bacteriumlinesn, Micrococcus caseolyticus, Pediococcus cerevisiae, Pseudomonas fraga and propionibacterium species;
developing and then cooling the thus formed mixture, to form a cultured mixture having a pH of from about 4.8 to about 4.6;
forming cultured milk by mixing in a vat from about 3 to about 8 wt. % milk, based on the weight of the cultured milk, cultured mixture with standardized and pasteurized skim milk, the cultured milk having a butterfat content of from about 0.1 to about 0.5%, based on the weight of the cultured milk;
ripening the cultured milk;
adding sufficient rennet to the ripened milk to form a coagulum;
cutting the coagulum to form curd in a whey solution;
cooking the curd while in the whey solution;
transferring the curd in the whey solution to a means for draining the whey solution and then draining the whey solution from the curd;
salting the curd;
and
further processing the salted curd to produce a no fat cheese having the body, texture, and flavor similar to its full fat counterpart.

14 more elements

A method for preparing a no fat cheese product comprising the steps of:

preparing a culture medium by
combining
from about 55 to about 65 wt. % whole milk, based on the weight of the culture medium, the whole milk having a butterfat content of from about 3.0 to about 4.5 wt. %, based on the weight of the whole milk,
from about 35 to about 45 wt. % water, based on the weight of the culture medium,
from about 0.3 to about 0.5 wt. % of at least one food grade, polyanionic gum selected from the group comprising agar, xanthan, alginate, guar, carrageenan, and cellulose gels, based on the weight of the culture medium, to form a culture medium,
from about 2 to about 3 wt. %, based on the weight of the culture medium, of a modified food starch,
from about 0.25 to about 0.5 wt. %, based on the weight of the culture medium, of at least one emulsifying salt selected from sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate or mixtures thereof, and
from about 2 to about 3 wt. %, based on the weight of the culture medium, of at least one nutrient source for lactic acid-producing bacteria selected from yeast extract, yeast autolysate, solubilized yeast, food yeast, enzyme hydrolyzed casein, sodium phosphates, magnesium sulphate or mixtures thereof,
pasteurizing the culture medium;
cooling the pasteurized culture medium to a temperature suitable for the growth of acid-producing bacteria;
inoculating the culture medium with at least one acid-producing bacteria selected from the group consisting of S. cremoris, S. lactis, S. citrovorous, S. paracitrovorus, S. thermophillus, S. durans, S. diacetilactis, S. faecalis, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. brevis, L. casei, L. delbruekii, L. fermenti, L. heleveticus, L. lactis, L. plantarum, L. thermophillus, Leuconsostoc eitrovorum, Leuconsostoc mesenteroides, Bacteriumlinesn, Micrococcus caseolyticus, Pediococcus cerevisiae, Pseudomonas fraga and propionibacterium species;
developing and then cooling the thus formed mixture, to form a cultured mixture having a pH of from about 4.8 to about 4.6;
forming cultured milk by mixing in a vat from about 5 to about 7 wt. % milk, based on the weight of the cultured milk, with standardized and pasteurized skim milk, the cultured milk having a butterfat content of from about 0.2 to about 0.3%, based on the weight of the cultured milk;
ripening the cultured milk;
adding sufficient rennet to the ripened milk to form a coagulum;
cutting the coagulum to form curd in a whey solution;
cooking the curd while in the whey solution;
drawing up to about 35 wt. % of the whey solution from the vat, based on the total weight of the whey solution in the vat;
transferring the curd and the remaining whey solution to a means for draining the whey solution and then draining the remaining whey solution from the curd;
salting the curd, when the curd has a pH of 5.6 or greater;
and
futher processing the salted curd to produce a no fat cheese having the body, texture, and flavor similar to its full fat counterpart.

19 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/664,435Filed 18 Jun 1996
Granted: 20 Apr 1999
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

A23C 19/032
Making cheese curd: characterised by the use of specific microorganisms, or enzymes of microbial origin
A23C 19/0323
Characterised by the use of specific microorganisms, or enzymes of microbial origin: using only lactic acid bacteria, e.g. Pediococcus and…
A23C 19/054
Treating milk before coagulation; Separating whey from curd: using additives other than acidifying agents, NaCl, CaCl2, dairy products, proteins,…
A23C 19/0682
Particular types of cheese: mould-ripened or bacterial surface ripened cheeses