SIMPLE EMPIRICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL METHODS TO DETERMINE OBJECTIVELY THE STRETCHABILITY OF MOZZARELLA CHEESE

The ability of Mozzarella cheese to stretch and form long fibres was evaluated by two simple instrumental tests. The first test, which was basically a tensile test, resembled the way the consumer assesses the stretchability of cheese as a pizza topping. The extensibility measurements of the test correlated well with the sensory stringiness scores. The second, fundamental test was a compressive elongation of the melted cheese. The elongational viscosity of the melted cheese was calculated; this could be used as an index of the ability of the cheese to form strings when it is stretched.