INFLUENCE OF COOKING PROCEDURES ON PROPERTIES OF COTTAGE CHEESE CURD

Cheese was made by the direct acid set method in laboratory-size batches with careful control of processing variables. Total solids in unwashed curd increased linearly with heating time (between 20 and 142 min) and temperature (between 42 and 64 C). Total solids in unwashed and washed curd at a given heating temperature increased with heating rate (between .18 and .50 C/min). Heating rate influenced the relation between percent total solids in unwashed and washed curd. In comparison with a low heating rate (.18 C/min), higher heating rates (.30 and .50 C/min) yielded a firmer washed curd when the sample was taken at the same heating temperature and also with the same percent total solids, within ranges used commercially. Healing time (between 5 and 30 min) and time of holding curd in whey (between 0 and 40 min) at cooking temperature did not influence total solids of unwashed curd. Increasing the rate of agitation increased total solids in the curd, breakage of curd particles, and amount of sedimentable solids in the whey. Cooking conditions are critical in determining total solids in cottage cheese curd, and they influence other curd properties such as firmness and size distribution. © 1979, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.