Recovery of Milk Solids in Direct Acidification and Traditional Procedures of Manufacturing Pizza Cheese1,2

Abstract

Recovery of milk fat and solids-not-fat (SNF) was compared in the manufacture of Pizza cheese by three procedures: the traditional procedure (TP), direct acidification with continuous agitation during coagulation of milk (DACA), and by direct acidification and cutting after coagulation (DAC). When homogenized milk (35.2 kg/cm2) was used, 92.6, 88.9, and 89.8% of the milk fat and 34.2, 33.6, and 33.1% of the SNF were recovered in cheese made by the TP, DAC, and DACA methods, respectively. Recovery of fat and SNF was lower for all methods when nonhomogenized milk was used. The per cent of milk fat lost in the whey was similar when cheese was made from homogenized milk by the TP and DACA methods. Higher fat losses during molding and stretching of curd caused lower recovery of fat in the final cheese made by the DACA method.