The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 19, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2000
John Richard Sadowsky, IV, Chicago, IL (US);
Sandra A. Trop, Palos Park, IL (US);
Scott T. Ostergaard, Racine, WI (US);
Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc., Northfield, IL (US);
Abstract
A method for incorporating concentrated milkfat into milk to form a concentrated milkfat/milk blend is provided. The concentrated milkfat/milk blend can be used in the preparation of natural cheese. The method provides a cost effective procedure for blending concentrated milk fat and milk without the use of added stabilizers. Fat in the concentrated milkfat/milk blend does not separate during additional processing required in producing a natural cheese from the concentrated milkfat/milk blend. In this process, a reduced-fat milk is blended with concentrated milkfat at a temperature sufficient to melt the concentrated milkfat to form a slurry. The slurry is homogenized, preferably using an in-line jet homogenizer at a pressure of about 90 to about 225 psig or a piston type homogenizer operated at a pressure of about 500 to about 1500 psig, to obtain the concentrated milkfat/milk blend with an average fat particle size of about 1.0 to about 10 microns and a fat particle size distribution such that at least about 90 percent of the fat particles have a particle size of about 1.0 to about 10 microns. The concentrated milkfat/milk blend can be used to prepared natural cheese using conventional cheese-making techniques.