Food products and systems and methods of making same
Food products and systems and methods for their production involve microfiltration (“MF”) of fluid skim to form a MF retentate, combining the MF retentate with cream and subjecting the combination to ultrafiltration (“UF”) to form a UF retentate. Prior to UF, the composition is formed of non-acidified components. Following UF, the UF retentate is acidified and forms a food product including a high solids content. The solids content may be further increased using evaporation. The resulting cheese or cheese base contains a lower whey protein ratio in a fat:casein:whey protein ratio compared to systems and methods that do not employ MF.
1. A method for the production of a food product, the method comprising the steps of:
subjecting a combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to ultrafiltration to remove moisture and increase total solids, wherein the cream and the skim milk microfiltration retentate are non-acidified such that the ultrafiltration forms a non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate;
acidifying the non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate to form an acidified ultrafiltration retentate; and
adding the acidified ultrafiltration retentate to a wiped film evaporator to adjust a moisture content of the acidified ultrafiltration retentate and form the food product.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the step of adding the acidified ultrafiltration retentate to the wiped film evaporator, further comprising a step of homogenizing the acidified ultrafiltration retentate with a shear pump.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the food product is blended with at least one additive selected from the group consisting of: dairy powders, milk fat, bacterial cultures, emulsifiers, and water.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cream is derived from a same volume of whole milk from which the skim milk microfiltration retentate is derived.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the food product comprises a natural cheese, a process cheese or an enzyme modified cheese.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the step of subjecting the combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to ultrafiltration, further comprising a step of subjecting the skim milk microfiltration retentate to diafiltration.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein after the step of subjecting the combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to ultrafiltration, further comprising a step of subjecting the combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to diafiltration.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein ultrafiltration is performed using a membrane molecular weight cut-off of about 10 kilodalton.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising blending one or more of a salt, an acid, or a culture with the non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the food product contains a total solids content of about 45 to about 80 wt %.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the food product contains a fat content of about 25 to about 65 wt % on a dry basis.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the food product contains a serum protein content of about 0.9 to about 6 wt %.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate is constantly circulated to prevent gelation.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein as the non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate is constantly circulated, further comprising a step of adding one or more additives selected from the group consisting of: salt, water, fat, protein, and sugar.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
reserving a portion of the microfiltration retentate from ultrafiltration; and
adding the reserved portion to the non-acidified ultrafiltration retentate.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the reserved portion of the microfiltration retentate contains a total solids content of about 10 to about 12 wt %.
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of cooking the food product.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the step of subjecting the combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to ultrafiltration, further comprising a step of subjecting a volume of fluid skim milk from which the skim milk microfiltration retentate is derived to diafiltration.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to the step of subjecting the combination of cream and skim milk microfiltration retentate to ultrafiltration, further comprising a step of cooling the microfiltration retentate to a temperature of about 40° F. to about 60° F.