Patent ID: 6562383
Filing Date: 2003-05-13
Classification: A23C,A23L

Abstract:
A process for making a flavored cheese, said process comprising:(1) forming a first concentrate mixture containing one, two, or three cheese-flavor concentrates selected from the group consisting of a sulfur-cheddar concentrate, a creamy-buttery concentrate, and a cheesy concentrate and wherein the cheese-flavor concentrate or concentrates in the first concentrate mixture are selected to achieve a desired flavor profile in the flavored cheese; (2) combining a cheese coagulant in a non-coagulating amount with the first concentrate mixture to provide a second concentrate mixture; and (3) removing moisture from the second concentrate mixture to a solids level of less than about 75 percent to form the flavored cheese, wherein the flavored cheese does not require curing; wherein the sulfur-cheddar concentrate is obtained by treating a first milk concentrate with a lactic acid culture at a temperature of about 70 to about 90Â° F. for about 10 to about 24 hours to obtain first mixture having a pH of about 5.4 or less, adding a sulfur-containing substrate to the first mixture to form a second mixture, treating the second mixture with a Brevibacterium culture or a yeast from the genera Debaromyces or Kluyeromyces, whereby the Brevibacterium culture or the yeast converts the sulfur-containing substrate to sulfur-containing flavor compounds, at a temperature of about 65 to about 86Â° F. for about 1 to about 10 days to form a third mixture, and treating the third mixture at a temperature sufficient to inactivate the cultures and enzymes in the third mixture to form the sulfury-cheddar flavor component; wherein the creamy-buttery concentrate is obtained by treating a second milk concentrate with a lactic acid culture at a temperature of about 70 to about 90Â° F. for about 10 to about 24 hours to form a fourth mixture, adding sodium citrate to the fourth mixture to form a fifth mixture, treating the fifth mixture with a diacetyl-producing flavor culture at about 70 to about 90Â° F. for about 1 to about 10 days to form a sixth mixture, and treating the sixth mixture at a temperature sufficient to inactivate the cultures and enzymes in the sixth mixture to form the creamy-buttery flavor component; and wherein the cheesy concentrate is obtained by treating a third milk concentrate with a lipase, a protease, and a peptidase at a temperature of about 60 to about 140Â° F. for about 0.5 to about 10 days to form a seventh mixture and treating the seventh mixture at a temperature sufficient to inactivate enzymes in the seventh mixture to form the cheesy flavor component.