Development of pasta filata style-cheese from dried curd: A process innovation

By making a storable cheese curd, cheese can be produced on demand, and product waste is reduced. Freezing is one possibility for producing storable cheese curd; however, storage in a frozen state is associated with costs. Dried cheese curd could be a viable alternative. Techno-functional properties must be regained when the cheese is produced. This study investigates whether producing pasta filata-style cheese from dried curd is possible. Therefore, two approaches were pursued: i) dried cheese curd was rehydrated and thermomechanically treated without further addition of water (DR) ii) dried cheese curd was thermomechanically treated with hot stretching water without prior rehydration (DHW). A non-dried sample was used as a reference (Ref). It was found that rehydration of 60 min is necessary to absorb the water to produce a pasta filata-style cheese with acceptable/set dry matter. Rehydration time is therefore acceptable on a technical and small scale. Without rehydration (DHW), the dry matter content is high, and cheese yield is low. In addition, there are some losses in fat content due to the drying process, where fat melts and partly exits the cheese curd. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images show that fat globules become larger and agglomerate. The storage modulus at 20 °C (G′_20 C) is highest for DHW, followed by Ref and then DR. Longer treatment times tend to decrease G′_20 °C for DHW. Plasticization is obtained in all cases with a tan δ_max of approximately 1.2–1.4.