Patent ID: 6372268
Filing Date: 2002-04-16
Classification: A23C

Abstract:
A method for preparing mozzarella cheese from dry dairy ingredients, said method comprising:(1) mixing water and a dairy fat to form a first blend; (2) adding a lactic acid-producing culture to the first blend to form a second blend; (3) mixing a dry dairy ingredient with the second blend to form a cultured dough, 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, 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; (4) incubating the cultured dough at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a pH of about 5.2 to about 5.8; (5) mechanically working and cooking the cultured dough from step (4) in a cooker at a temperature of about 150 to about 175Â° F. and under relatively low shear conditions to form the mozzarella cheese; and (6) collecting the mozzarella cheese, â€ƒwherein the process does not include the formation of whey, wherein the mozzarella cheese does not contain significant levels of added emulsifying salts, and wherein the mozzarella cheese has texture and organoleptic properties comparable to a natural mozzarella cheese prepared in a conventional mozzarella process.