High solids concentrated dairy liquids
The methods and products disclosed herein relate to high solids concentrated dairy liquids that remain retort and shelf stable for an extended shelf life at ambient conditions with substantially no negative flavor notes typically found in the prior retorted dairy liquids. In one aspect, the stable concentrated dairy liquids have up to about 50 percent total solids, and in some approaches, between about 38 and about 50 percent total solids. In another aspect, the high solids concentrated dairy liquids may also include increased levels of sugar relative to the dairy solids and/or increased levels of sugar relative to the protein and fat to aid in achieving stability.
1. A retort stable dairy concentrate comprising:
about 38 to about 50 percent total solids including dairy solids, protein, sugar, and fat, about 0.2 to about 0.6 percent buffering salt, the buffering salt including about 25 to about 50 percent disodium phosphate and about 50 to about 75 percent monosodium phosphate, wherein a ratio of protein to fat is about 0.5 to about 0.9, and wherein a ratio of protein-to-buffering salt is about 40 to about 60;
the dairy solids in an amount from about 10 percent to about 26 percent;
the sugar in an amount from about 10 percent to about 30 percent; and
the amount of sugar relative to the amount of dairy solids is at least about 1:1 to about 3.5:1, such that the dairy concentrate exhibits a phase transmission separation rate from about 0.5 to about 33 TpH.
2. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 1 , wherein the phase transmission separation rate decreases as the amount of sugar relative to the dairy solids increases.
3. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 1 , wherein the phase transmission separation is less than a phase transmission separation rate of a dairy concentrate with less than about 38 percent total solids.
4. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 1 , wherein the amount of sugar is about 20 to about 30 percent.
5. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 1 , further comprising an amount of lactose ranging from about 0.25 to about 2 percent.
6. A high total solids, retort-stable dairy concentrate comprising:
about 38 to about 50 percent total solids including dairy solids, protein, sugar, and fat;
about 0.2 to about 0.6 percent buffering salt, the buffering salt including about 25 to about 50 percent disodium phosphate and about 50 to about 75 percent monosodium phosphate;
the dairy solids in an amount from about 10 percent to about 26 percent;
the sugar in an amount from about 10 percent to about 30 percent;
a protein-to-buffering salt ratio from about 40 to about 60;
a protein-to-fat ratio from about 0.07 to about 0.9; and
a ratio of the amount of sugar relative to the protein-to-fat ratio is such that the dairy concentrate exhibits a decreasing phase separation rate (TpH) as the ratio of the amount of sugar relative to the ratio of protein-to-fat decreases characterized by the expression TpH=−0.0017ratio 2 −1.0259ratio−12.951 such that the dairy concentrate remains a homogeneous fluid upon experiencing retort conditions.
7. The retort stable dairy concentration of claim 6 , wherein the protein-to-fat relationship is from about 0.5 to about 0.9.
8. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 6 , wherein the amount of sugar is about 20 to about 30 percent.
9. A high total solids, retort-stable dairy concentrate comprising:
about 38 to about 50 percent total solids including dairy solids, protein, sugar, and fat wherein a ratio of protein to fat is about 0.5 to about 0.9;
the dairy solids in an amount from about 10 percent to about 30 percent including about 1 to about 11 percent dairy protein and about 0.25 to about 2 percent lactose;
the sugar in an amount from about 10 to about 30 percent;
about 0.2 to about 0.6 percent buffering salt, the buffering salt including about 25 to about 50 percent disodium phosphate and about 50 to about 75 percent monosodium phosphate;
a ratio of protein to buffering salt from about 40 to about 60; and
a phase separation rate of about 10 TpH or less such that the dairy concentrate remains a homogeneous fluid upon experiencing retort conditions including being heated to a temperature between about 250° F. to about 254° F. for about 5 to about 8.5 minutes.
10. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 9 , wherein the buffering salt is selected from the group consisting of monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, trisodium citrate, and blend thereof.
11. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 1 , further comprising a buffering salt comprising a 50/50 blend of monosodium phosphate and disodium phosphate.
12. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 6 , further comprising a buffering salt comprising a 50/50 blend of monosodium phosphate and disodium phosphate.
13. The retort stable dairy concentrate of claim 9 , further comprising a buffering salt comprising a 50/50 blend of monosodium phosphate and disodium phosphate.