Effect of Some Manufacturing Variables on the Leakage Defect of Blue Cheese1,2

Abstract

Effect of certain manufacturing variables on the leakage (water-exuding defect of 60-day-old Blue cheese was examined by a split-plot experimental design. The variables on a pilot-plant scale were starter culture, the treatment of cream or milk for whitening, amounts and types of nonfat dry milk fortification of vat milk, amount of salt added to the curd at hooping, temperature during overnight drainage in hoops, and type of coating used over the cheese during curing. Chemical analyses of cheeses for pH, salt, milk fat, and proteolysis index were made after 24 hr and (or) 60 days after manufacture. Flavor evaluations were made after 60 days.Statistical analyses of the data showed that the starter culture, rate of salt addition, temperature of overnight drainage, and the whitening treatment for the cream were highly significant in influencing the leakage tendency of 60-day-old Blue cheese. No statistical correlation, however, was obtained between any of the manufacturing variables and the flavor scores of cheeses.