Dairy Ingredients for Food Processing

344 Chapter 13

curd is allowed to rest for 15 minutes, fol-

lowing by cooking at 53 ° C (127 ° F) 2 hours

with gentle stirring. Whey separates during

cooking and the curd becomes fi rmer. The

cooked curd is then washed several times to

remove lactic acid and cool the curd. After

draining, the washed curd is blended with

pasteurized homogenized cream, and the

cottage cheese is packed and stored (Walstra

et al. 2006 ).

Direct acidifi cation of the milk with inor-

ganic or organic acid is an alternative to

starter culture acidifi cation. Acid anhydrides

Cottage Cheese Manufacture

The traditional short - set manufacturing pro-
cess of cottage cheese is as shown in Figure
13.2. Pasteurized skim milk is heated to 32 ° C
(58 ° F) and mixed with starter culture and
rennet. The starter culture is a non - gas - form-
ing culture to prevent the cut curd from fl oat-
ing. The rennet can be incorporated at the
same time as the culture or after 1 to 1.5
hours of incubation with starter. The formed
curd is then cut into cubes, rather than stirred,
when the pH reaches 4.6 to 4.8. The cubed

Figure 13.2. Flow process chart for cottage cheese manufacture. Adapted from Walstra et al. (2006).

Resting

15 min

Cooking (2h

53°C)

Storing

(4°C)

Draining

(15 min)

Separating

Pasteurizing

(15min 73°C)

Separating

Homogenizing

(30°C 12MPa)

Clotting

(5h 32°C)

Cutting

(pH 4.8)

Packaging

Washing

(15min → 30°C)

Milk

Whey

Water

Pasteurizing

(15s 90°C)

Blending

(1 : 3)

Starter

5%

Rennet

2 ml/1000 l

Skim

Milk

Curd

Cream

16% fat

Water

10 ppm Cl

Salt

(thickening

Agent)

Homogenized

Cream

Washing

(15min → 30°C)

Washing

(15min → 4°C)