Method of manufacture of natural cheese

Abstract

A method for incorporating concentrated milkfat into milk to form a concentrated milkfat/milk blend is provided. The concentrated milkfat/milk blend can be used in the preparation of natural cheese. The method provides a cost effective procedure for blending concentrated milk fat and milk without the use of added stabilizers. Fat in the concentrated milkfat/milk blend does not separate during additional processing required in producing a natural cheese from the concentrated milkfat/milk blend. In this process, a reduced-fat milk is blended with concentrated milkfat at a temperature sufficient to melt the concentrated milkfat to form a slurry. The slurry is homogenized, preferably using an in-line jet homogenizer at a pressure of about 90 to about 225 psig or a piston type homogenizer operated at a pressure of about 500 to about 1500 psig, to obtain the concentrated milkfat/milk blend with an average fat particle size of about 1.0 to about 10 microns and a fat particle size distribution such that at least about 90 percent of the fat particles have a particle size of about 1.0 to about 10 microns. The concentrated milkfat/milk blend can be used to prepared natural cheese using conventional cheese-making techniques.

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