Manufacturing Outlines and Applications of Selected Cheese Varieties 301Figure 11.6. Manufacturing outline for process cheese.
Natural Cheese
Other Ingredients
•Dairy protein ingredients•Dairy fat ingredients
•Water
•Salt
•Flavoring agents•Coloring agents
•Acidifying agents
•Preservatives•Hydrocolloids/GumsEmulsifying Salts
GrindingBlendingProcessingFormingLoaf Slice-on-slice Individually wrapped slice Sauce/DipsPackagingCoolingStorageStage 1Stage 2Natural Cheese
Other Ingredients
•Dairy protein ingredients•Dairy fat ingredients
•Water
•Salt
•Flavoring agents•Coloring agents
•Acidifying agents
•Preservatives•Hydrocolloids/GumsEmulsifying Salts
GrindingBlendingProcessingFormingLoaf Slice-on-slice Individually wrapped slice Sauce/DipsPackagingCoolingStorageNatural Cheese
Other Ingredients
•Dairy protein ingredients•Dairy fat ingredients
•Water
•Salt
•Flavoring agents•Coloring agents
•Acidifying agents
•Preservatives•Hydrocolloids/GumsEmulsifying Salts
GrindingBlendingProcessingFormingLoaf Slice-on-slice Individually wrapped slice Sauce/DipsPackagingCoolingStorageStage 1Stage 2The fi rst stage involves selecting and
grinding one or more natural cheeses, mainly
on the basis of their age, pH, and fl avor.
This is followed by selecting the appropriate
type and amount of emulsifying salts as
described by the CFR (FDA 2008a). Other
optional ingredients are selected to balance
the target values for moisture, fat, salt,
and pH of the fi nal process cheese. All of
the ingredients are then blended together to
form a homogeneous pre - blend that is sub-
jected to the second stage of process cheese
manufacture.
Different process cheese manufacturers in
the United States have different formula-
tions, depending on ingredient availability as
well as the type and the nature of the end use
application for their products. Typical formu-
lations for PC, PCF, and PCS are indicated
in Table 11.13.
The second stage involves cooking
(heating and mixing) the pre - blend prepared
in the stage one to pasteurize it and form a
uniform molten emulsion. This is followed
by forming, packaging, cooling, and storage
of the molten emulsifi ed product to produce
the fi nal process cheese (Figure 11.6 ).
Process cheese manufacturers use a
variety of cookers with different designs and
operating conditions to manufacture process
cheese. The cookers are designed for either
batch or continuous production. They have
various types of mixing and agitation systems
as well as heating mechanisms (indirect
heating or direct steam injection). Two
common types of batch cookers are single or
twin screw augers (Blentech Cooker,
Blentech Corporation, Rohnert Park, CA)
and high - speed cutting blade type cookers
(Stephan Cooker, Sympak Inc., Mundelein,
IL). The Rota Therm ® continuous cooker
(Gold Peg International Pty Ltd., Victoria,
Australia) is gaining popularity in the process
cheese industry for continuous process
cheese manufacture. The most common
method of heating in process cheese cookers