Wheyless process for the production of mozzarella string cheese using dry dairy ingredients

摘要

Disclosed is a method for preparing mozzarella string cheese from dry dairy ingredients, the method comprising: (1) mixing water and a dairy fat to form a first blend; (2) adding a proteolytic enzyme to the first blend; (3) adding a lactic acid-producing culture to the first blend to form a second blend; (4) mixing a dry dairy ingredient with the second blend to form a cultured dairy blend, wherein the dry dairy ingredient comprises a milk protein concentrate or a blend of the milk protein concentrate and up to about 50 percent of a second dry dairy ingredient selected from the group consisting of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, rennet casein, acid casein, nonfat dry milk, proteinaceous dairy material, and mixtures thereof, and wherein the milk protein concentrate has a solubility of greater than about 50 percent and a whey protein content of less than about 15 percent; (5) incubating the cultured dairy blend at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a pH of about 4.8 to less than 5.2; (6) mechanically working and cooking the cultured dairy blend from step (5) in a cooker at a temperature ofabout 150 to about 175°F and under relatively low shear conditions; (7) forming the dairy blend under relatively low shear conditions to form the mozzarella string cheese; and (8) collecting the mozzarella string cheese, wherein the process does not include the formation of whey, wherein the mozzarella string cheese does not contain significant levels of added emulsifying salts, and wherein the mozzarella string cheese has texture and organoleptic properties comparable to a natural mozzarella string cheese prepared in a conventional mozzarella process.