| 摘要 |
<p>The method and apparatus for continually molding, chilling and cutting cheese of the present invention utilizes an elongate molding tube (34) having an inlet end (34a) and an outlet end (34b), and a pump/movement mechanism (18) for forcing cheese curd into the inlet end of the elongate molding tube (34). A cooling mechanism (38) is disposed in communication with the elongate molding tube (34) to chill the molding tube and thereby chill the cheese as it passes through the molding tube so that cheese passing out of the outlet end of the elongate molding tube (34) may be cut to the desired size and packaged, aged, etc.. The cooling mechanism (38) forms a cooling gradient within the molding tube (34), such that warmer temperature coolant is used about the inlet end of the molding tube (34) than about the outlet end. The cooling gradient is applied in such a manner to provide a more uniform cooling in the cheese, and thereby achieve a superior end product.</p> |
