摘要 |
<p>A two stage, on-demand, commercially-viable method for producing process cheese or process cheese-type products by the direct conversion of milk is provided. This method does not require fermentation, enzymatic treatment, and/or intermediate steps of forming and separating curds and whey. In the first stage, a powdered milk protein concentrate (16) is formed by ultrafiltering liquid milk (10), preferably skim milk, and then spray drying the concentrated ultrafiltered milk. The powdered milk protein concentrate (16), which is storage-stable, may be converted to process cheese or process cheese-type product (42) immediately or may be stored for later conversion. The powdered milk protein concentrate (16) can be used to produce fat-free, reduced- or low-fat, and/or full-fat cheeses (42) having similar organoleptic properties to cheeses prepared from conventional curds and whey processes. The present two stage process is especially adapted for semi-continuous or continuous manufacture of process cheese-type products. The present two stage process is especially adapted for on-demand manufacture of process cheese or process cheese-type product (42) since the milk protein concentrate (16) can be stored for later conversion to cheese product. By converting the milk (10) to a storage-stable milk protein concentrate, the manufacturing of cheese products (42) is uncoupled from, and is independent of, the milk supply. <IMAGE></p> |