Preparation of process cheese

Claim 2

A process as set forth in claim 1 wherein reworked pasteurized cheese forms at least a portion of the intimate mixture prior to pasteurization.

Claim 3

A process as set forth in claim 3 wherein said reworked pasteurized cheese constitutes from about 5 percent to about 40 percent by weight, based on the total weight of natural and reworked process cheese.

Claim 4

The process as set forth in claim 4 wherein the proteolytic enzyme is produced by an organism selected from the group consisting of various strains of Aspergillus flavus-oryzae, various strains of Endothia paracitica, various strains of Mucor pusillus Lindt, various strains of Fomes pinicola and various strains of Fomitopsis pinicola, and is present in an amount to provide about one to about 2,500 casein units of activity per gram of the emulsifying agent.

Claim 5

A process according to claim 5 wherein said emulsifying agent is selected from the group consisting of monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, calcium citrate, sodium potassium tartrate, sodium tartrate and mixtures thereof, said emulsifying agent being present in an amount of from about 1 percent to about 3 percent by weight, based on the weight of the final cheese product.

Claim 6

In a process for the preparation of pasteurized process cheese wherein an intimate mixture containing natural cheese, reworked process cheese, water and a fat casein emulsifying agent is pasteurized by heating and is subsequently allowed to cool, the improvement which comprises adding, by intimate mixing a proteolytic enzyme selected from the group consisting of various strains of Aspergillus flavus-oryzae, various strains of Endothia paracitica, various strains of Mucor pusillus Lindt, various strains of Fomes pinicola and various strains of Fomitopsis pinicola to said mixture prior to said heating step, said enzyme being added in an amount of from about one to 8,000 casein units of activity per gram of the emulsifying agent, said emulsifying agent being present in an amount of from about 1 percent to about 3 percent by weight, based on the weight of the final cheese product, the rework cheese being present in an amount of about 5 percent to 90 percent by weight, based on the total weight of the natural and reworked process cheese, and wherein the proteolytic enzyme is in contact with said mixture for about 45 seconds to about 600 seconds prior to heating.

Claim 7

A process for preparing pasteurized process cheese which comprises the steps of (1) forming an intimate admixture containing natural cheese, water, an emulsifying agent and a proteolytic enzyme, said emulsifying agent being selected from the group consisting of monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium citrate, potassium citraTe, calcium citrate, sodium potassium tartrate, sodium tartrate and mixtures thereof, and being present in an amount of from about 1 to about 3 percent by weight, based on the weight of the final cheese product; said proteolytic enzyme being produced by a microorganism selected from the group consisting of various strains of Aspergillus flavus-oryzae, various strains of Endothia paracitica, various strains of Mucor pusillus Lindt, various strains of Fomes pinicola and various strains of Fomitopsis pinicola, said enzyme being present in an amount to provide about one unit of activity to about 8,000 units of activity per gram of the emulsifying agent, (2) after a time interval of from about 45 seconds to about 600 seconds following the addition of said enzyme, heating said mixture to a temperature of at least 150* F. and maintaining said mixture above 150* F. for a sufficient period of time to emulsify and pasteurize the admixture to form a pasteurized process cheese melt, and (3) subsequently casting the pasteurized process cheese melt to form a solidified product with a water content of from about 10 percent to about 65 percent by weight, based on the total weight of the solidified product.

Claim 8

A process according to claim 8 wherein reworked pasteurized cheese constitutes from about 5 percent to about 40 percent by weight, based on the combined total weight of the natural and reworked process cheese.

Claim 9

A process according to claim 9 wherein the heating step is conducted at an atmospheric temperature of from about 150* F. to about 250* F. for a period of from about 30 seconds to about 60 minutes.

Claim 10

A process according to claim 10 wherein the proteolytic enzyme is produced by Aspergillus flavus-oryzae having an activity of about 100,000 casein units to about 150,000 casein units per gram of the enzyme and said enzyme being present in said intimate mixture in an amount of from about 200 casein units to about 2,500 casein units per gram of the emulsifying agent.

Claim 11

A process according to claim 10 wherein a mixture consisting essentially of the proteolytic enzyme and emulsifying agent is added.

Claim 12

The product produced by the process set forth in claim 1.

Claim 13

The product produced by the process set forth in claim 3.