Apparatus and methods for measuring milk coagulation time and rigidity in the manufacture of fermented dairy products

摘要

Apparatus and methods for measuring milk coagulation time and rigidity in the manufacture of fermented dairy products such as cheese. The apparatus includes a substantially flat, disc-shaped probe which is suspended from a wire into a fermented dairy product-making vessel filled with milk. The probe is reciprocated through a small vertical distance within the coagulating milk in the vessel, and the increasing resistance to the probe communicated through the wire as the milk coagulates is continuously measured. When the measured probe resistance reaches a predetermined value, it is time to cut the curd formed by the coagulating milk. The present invention provides apparatus which can be used on both an industrial scale and a laboratory scale.