Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.

Kraft Foods, Inc.

Kraft Foods Global Brands LLC

Mohamed Saad Kettani

David W Mehnert

Mark Kijowski

William Zaikos

Hiren H Thakar

Sandra Ann Trop

Wendy Munz

Mark Gurevich

Michael Robert Fournier

Amanda Young

David Webb Mehnert

William J Zaikos

The present invention is directed to an improved process of producing natural mozzarella cheese. The process starts with a liquid dairy substrate that is cultured and coagulated. The resulting curd is cut and salted. The resulting curd (i.e., base curd) may be frozen or refrigerated and stored until needed. Once needed, the stored base curd is ground and treated in a blender where it is partially standardized to form a &ldquo;partially standardized base curd.&rdquo; The partially standardized base curd is then cooked in a cooker or cooker/stretcher (preferably in a lay-down cooker) where standardization is completed by the addition of a cultured or uncultured skim milk retentate. No emulsifying salts are used in the cooker/stretcher. The cheese mass is then rapidly cooled to produce the mozzarella cheese. The conventional brine cooling step normally used in mozzarella cheese production is not used in the present invention. In an especially preferred embodiment, starch is also added to the standardized, cooked, stretched mozzarella prior to the cooling step. Such starch is typically added at a level of up to about 10 percent of the finished product and, more preferably, at a level of about 0.1 to about 2 percent. The added starch serves to bind the moisture in the product and results in a firmer cheese which is easier to shred.

Process for mozzarella cheese

The present invention is directed to methods for utilizing, frozen concentrated milkfat to manufacture cream cheese. Generally in accordance with the method, frozen concentrated milkfat which has been stored in a solid state is comminuted and mixed with a dairy fluid prior to melting of the milkfat, and the frozen concentrated milkfat is melted while in contact with the dairy fluid to provide a cream cheese mix, which is subsequently fermented, separated from whey and packaged to provide a cream cheese product with excellent keeping quality without oxidized off flavors.

Method of manufacture of cream cheese products

Growing community of inventors

Schaumburg, IL, United States of America

Mohamed Saad Kettani