Ingredients ¦ IDM
Figure 1: Representation of a cause-effect diagram for 5 M's in semi-hard cheese production.
January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com · 31
online. By collecting and using this data the dairy industry shows it
can increase efficiency, yield and product quality.
CoaguSens helps improve yield and moisture content in cheese
by monitoring coagulation. In cheese production, many factors influence
the coagulation of milk:
» Milk composition and origin,
» pH,
» temperature,
» heat treatment,
» coagulant and culture activity,
» protein addition,
» seasonal variations, etc.
The real-time data obtained helps to understand and control
the influence of technological parameters on coagulation kinetics
and consequently on yield.
Figure 2 shows how CoaguSens was used to measure the
coagulation kinetics of the same milk under different conditions,
such as pH.
The diagram illustrates how minor changes in these technological
parameters affect the flocculation time of the milk, the
speed of coagulation and the final firmness of the gel. Accurate
and comparable measurement will help to identify the control levers
to manage coagulation.
Variability taken into account and how
to master this
As these factors vary naturally they lead to significant variations
in terms of flocculation time, coagulation rate and the firmness
of the curd. Maintaining a fixed cutting time for the start of whey
removal from the curd does not take into account the natural variability
of coagulation. In practice maintaining a fixed cutting time
results in the curd being cut at varying and uncontrolled firmness,
increasing the variability of both yield and milk component recovery,
as well as cheese moisture.
The measurement with the CoaguSens is carried out in 3 phases
(cf. Figure 3):
Phase 1 - Learning
The aim of this first phase is to understand how variable the current
coagulation and curd firmness are. Food technologists or
cheesemakers operate their production as usual and proceed to
cut the curd according to the standard methods of the plant. The
CoaguSens measuring device is used in parallel to record the coagulation
kinetics and curd firmness.
Phase 2 - Stabilization
The aim of this second phase is to stabilize the curd firmness at
cutting. This is calculated as an average from the batches monitored
in phase 1 and used as a target value for further batches.
This stabilizes the firmness of the curd considerably and influenc
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