AERATED CHEESE AND METHOD
Aerated cheeses and methods of making aerated cheeses. Aerated cheese is formed of a solidified aerated molten cheese mixture. The cheese is prepared by aerating a molten cheese mixture with a gas in a high shear, aeration device to form an aerated molten cheese mixture and then cooling the mixture to form the aerated cheese.
1 . A process for making an aerated cheese, comprising the steps of:
aerating a molten cheese mixture with a gas in a high shear, aeration device to form an aerated molten cheese mixture;
cooling the aerated molten cheese mixture to solidify the mixture and form the aerated cheese.
2 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
shredding the aerated cheese.
3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in the solidified aerated cheese having less than about 50% gas content by total volume.
4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in the solidified aerated cheese having from about 1% to about 50% gas content by total volume.
5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in the solidified aerated cheese having from about 1% to about 40% gas content by total volume.
6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in a solidified aerated cheese having from about 1% to about 30% gas content by total volume.
7 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in a solidified aerated cheese having from about 5% to about 30% gas content by total volume.
8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step results in a solidified aerated cheese having from about 5% to about 20% gas content by total volume.
9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the aeration step is carried out with a pin-type aerator at a gas flow rate sufficient to provide the aerated cheese with a gas content of from about 5% to about 50% gas by total volume.
10 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of preparing the molten cheese mixture prior to the aeration step; and adding an oil portion to the mixture in the aeration device.
11 . A cheese, comprising a solidified aerated molten cheese mixture.
12 . The cheese of claim 11 , wherein the cheese has a bulk density of about 0.7 grams/cc and about 1.10 grams/cc.
13 . The cheese of claim 11 , wherein the cheese does not flow at room temperature when placed on a surface with no external forces applied.
14 . The cheese of claim 11 , wherein the cheese softens at baking temperatures.
15 . The cheese of claim 11 , wherein the cheese is in the form of cheese shreds and the cheese shreds have a length and a plurality of cross-sectional dimensions and a plurality of gas bubbles that are of a size not larger than ½ of the narrowest cross-sectional dimension.
16 . The cheese of claims 11 , wherein the cheese has a gas content of no more than 50% by total volume.
17 . The cheese of claims 11 , wherein the cheese has a gas content from about 1% to about 50% by total volume.
18 . The cheese of claims 11 , wherein the cheese has a gas content from about 1% to about 40% by total volume.
19 . The cheese of claims 11 , wherein the cheese has a gas content from about 1% to about 30% or about 1% to about 20% or about 5% to about 20% by total volume.
20 . An aerated cheese comprising a solidified aerated molten cheese mixture, wherein the cheese has a gas content of about 20% to about 1% by total volume of the cheese, a bulk density of about 0.7 grams/cc to about 1.10 grams/cc and an average void size in the range of about 1500 microns to about 0.1 microns.