VIABILIDADE NO PROCESSO DE PRODUÇÃO DE MISTURA EM PÓ DE BASE LÁCTEA MATURADA PARA QUEIJOS FUNDIDOS

Abstract

Processed or melted cheese is a product obtained from the mixture of cheese, water and flux salts, which undergoes a heat treatment, generally its packaging still occurs at temperatures above room temperature. The quality of the processed cheeses is related to several factors, among them the quality of the raw materials and the technological conditions. The use of cheeses that at some point in the manufacturing process are defective, but suitable microbiologically, can be the driving force to develop innovative products. Thus, the motivation of this work was focused on the possible use of cheeses that are not acceptable to the consumer market by small and medium sized dairies. In this way, the objective of this work was to evaluate the technical feasibility of obtaining a cheese - based powder mixture for the production of cheeses from the kingdom and provolone cheeses. For this, it was necessary to obtain a powder cheese with free flow, that is, without free surface fat and agglomerated particles. For that, the impact of drying temperature and particle size to be dried on the physical-chemical properties of dry cheeses was evaluated. In a second step, different proportions of the dried cheese were mixed with the other dry ingredients of the cheese and cheese was produced based on cheese from the kingdom or provolone by developing the process so as to fully melt the dried particles. Finally these melted cheeses were evaluated rheologically and compared to commercial cheeses. Generally, provolone cheese samples released more fat during the particle reduction and drying processes, as well as being easier to moisturize and melt the dough in the processing of the cheeses. The best conditions for the production of powdered mixture for cheese melted from matured cheeses were: reduction of particle size in orifice drain of 4 mm in diameter, drying at 30 oC, melting of the mass with steam injection for at least 8 minutes and formulation of the melted cheese without addition of cream and containing only the powder mixture. It is possible to conclude that the object of study of this work is very practical to be carried out and quite feasible in the industrial view, allowing the use of products outside the marketing margin and the inclusion of small companies in this market of melted cheese. The work also shows a direction where it is possible to develop several melted cheeses either with a unique flavor and a mix of powders, since the industry that opts only for the purchases of powder mix or pure powder cuts several