Process for producing cream cheese
The present disclosure relates to a process for producing cream cheese using a specific combination of milk and milk fractions. It further relates to cream cheese which is characterized by a unique combination of levels of minerals, lactose and protein and which may be obtained by the process of the present disclosure.
1. A process for producing cream cheese comprising the steps of:
separating skim milk by means of microfiltration to produce a casein-enriched milk fraction and a whey protein fraction,
preparing a milk blend,
subjecting the milk blend to fermentation to form a fermented milk blend,
separating the fermented milk blend into a curd fraction and a liquid fraction, or further processing the fermented milk blend, without separation, as a curd fraction, and
preparing cream cheese from the curd fraction,
wherein the casein-enriched milk fraction is used in the preparation of the milk blend and microparticulated whey protein concentrate is added as a liquid dairy component to the curd fraction.
2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the milk blend comprises milk, cream and the casein-enriched milk fraction.
3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the milk blend is fermented with lactic acid bacteria.
4. The process according to claim 1 , comprising a step of adding one or more further cream cheese ingredients to the curd fraction.
5. The process according to claim 1 , comprising a step of homogenizing the curd fraction.
6. The process according to claim 5 , comprising a texturizing step following the homogenizing step.
7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid fraction is a whey fraction and the process comprises the steps of separating the whey fraction into a whey protein concentrate fraction and a lactose/minerals fraction, subjecting the whey protein concentrate fraction to microparticulation and adding the microparticulated whey protein concentrate fraction to the curd fraction.
8. The process according to claim 7 , comprising the steps of separating the lactose/minerals fraction into a lactose fraction and a minerals fraction and adding to the curd one or both of the lactose fraction and the minerals fraction, either fully or in part.
9. The process according to claim 7 , comprising the steps of concentrating the lactose/minerals fraction into a concentrated lactose/minerals fraction and adding to the curd the concentrated lactose/minerals fraction, either fully or in part.
10. The process according to claim 1 , comprising the step of adding one or both of cream and sour cream as cream cheese ingredient to the curd.
11. A process for preparing a food product comprising cream cheese and one or more additional food product components, said process comprising the steps of producing cream cheese in accordance with claim 1 and combining the cream cheese thus produced with the one or more additional food product components.
12. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the milk is pasteurized milk.
13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the separation of the fermented milk blend into the curd fraction and the liquid fraction is effected by means of ultrafiltration or centrifugation.
14. The process according to claim 7 , wherein the separation of the whey fraction into the whey protein concentrate fraction and the lactose/minerals fraction is effected by means of ultrafiltration.
15. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the separation of the lactose/minerals fraction into the lactose fraction and the minerals fraction is effected by means of a sequence of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis or nanofiltration and evaporation.
16. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the concentration of the lactose/minerals fraction into the concentrated lactose/minerals fraction is effected by means of reverse osmosis or evaporation.
17. A process for producing cream cheese comprising the steps of:
separating skim milk by means of microfiltration to produce a casein-enriched milk fraction and a whey protein fraction,
preparing a milk blend,
subjecting the milk blend to fermentation to form a fermented milk blend,
separating the fermented milk blend into a curd fraction and a liquid fraction, or further processing the fermented milk blend, without separation, as a curd fraction, and
preparing cream cheese from the curd fraction,
wherein the casein-enriched milk fraction is used in the preparation of the milk blend and microparticulated whey protein concentrate is added as a liquid dairy component to the curd fraction,
wherein the cream cheese has a (calcium+phosphorus)/casein weight ratio of ≧0.05, a whey protein/true protein weight ratio of ≧0.25, a potassium content of ≧140 mg/100 g, and a lactose content of ≧3.5 g/100 g.
18. A process for producing cream cheese comprising the steps of:
separating skim milk by means of microfiltration to produce a casein-enriched milk fraction and a whey protein fraction,
preparing a milk blend,
subjecting the milk blend to fermentation to form a fermented milk blend,
separating the fermented milk blend into a curd fraction and a liquid fraction, and
preparing cream cheese from the curd fraction,
wherein the casein-enriched milk fraction is used in the preparation of the milk blend and microparticulated whey protein concentrate is added as a liquid dairy component to the curd fraction.