Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.

Kraft Foods, Inc.

William Zaikos

David W Mehnert

Bruce Edward Campbell

Mark Kijowski

Clinton Kent

Hiren H Thakar

Mohamed Saad Kettani

Jochen Klaus Pfeifer

Joy Lee

Wendy Munz

Amanda Young

Michael Robert Fournier

Mark Gurevich

Rashida Uchefuna Byrd

Tim Nellenback

Rashad Bahrani

Christopher Burl Smith

Joy Elaine Lee

Rashida Byrd

The present invention provides processes for making a stable cheese product supplemented with functionally enhanced whey protein. In a preferred embodiment of these methods, the cheese product is cream cheese. The added whey protein is functionally enhanced by exposing cheese curds or dairy liquids containing the whey protein to controlled heat treatment and/or treatment at high shear rates. The invention further provides a stable cheese product that is characteristic of a particular variety of cheese and that is supplemented with functionally enhanced whey protein. In a preferred embodiment, the supplemented cheese product is cream cheese.

Process for incorporating whey protein into cheese

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

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Chicago, IL, United States of America

William Zaikos