Pizza cheese is a type of pasteurized cheese with a semi-solid texture that is usually white in color and is elastic due to heat. Pizza cheese is prepared with emulsifiers, salt and other additives. Factors such as rheological properties, including melting and tensile quality, determine the quality of this cheese. Pizza cheese is classified in the category of cheeses with high humidity (45-55%).
Pizza cheese has the same amount of protein as regular cheeses, because when milk is coagulated, most of the protein remains in the clot, and what goes into the whey contains more salts, sugar, and a small amount of protein. Therefore, it can be said that the amount of protein in pizza cheese is equal to that of breakfast cheeses. However, the amount of fat is slightly different from that of breakfast cheese, and the amount depends on the type of milk that is used in the preparation of pizza cheese.
Types of pizza cheese
Today, there are two types of pizza cheese called Pastafilata cheese (mozzarella) and processed pizza cheese, which have different production stages. Finally, both types of cheese are cut into noodles and slices.
Mozzarella Cheese
Mozzarella cheese belongs to the family of Pastafilata cheeses. The origin of this type of cheese goes back to southern Italy. Mozzarella cheese is produced in two types: low-moisture mozzarella cheese (mostly used as pizza cheese), and high-moisture mozzarella cheese (HMM), which is eaten fresh. Mozzarella cheese with low moisture is the most widely used type of pizza cheese that has a soft and elastic texture. Mozzarella cheeses melt due to heat and release fat while gaining elasticity.
This type of cheese has a white or yellowish white color with unique elastic properties (yellow color is due to animal nutrition and beta-carotene is responsible for it. Beta-carotene is a fat-soluble yellow pigment and an antioxidant found in plants. Becomes). There are two basic ways to make mozzarella: direct acidification of milk to form a clot, and the method of adding starter culture / yeast.
In the second method, after regulating the fat, removing the contaminants in the milk and standardizing, the milk is pasteurized or sterilized. Then bring the milk to a temperature of 432 ° C and after adding mozzarella culture starter, calcium chloride and yeast, after a while, the clot is cut with special knives. The clots are transferred to the trolls after initial dewatering and crushing, and finally, after sizing and flipping the clot molds, they are directed to the strings. It should be noted that the pH and temperature control of boiling water is very important.
In addition, temperature stress (excessive temperature rise or fall) should be avoided separately because it reduces the elasticity of the cheese during the baking process in the oven, dehydration and lack of adhesion of food to the cheese on the pizza bread. Finally, the prepared pizza cheese is poured into a mold (molding) and dehydrated and molded, then transferred to the refrigerator.
The quality and fat content of milk as a raw material has a tremendous impact on the flavor of mozzarella cheese; For this reason, fresh and high-fat milk is often used. The amount of water and fat remaining in pizza cheese are two factors that affect its flavor. The percentage of residual moisture is inversely related to the flavor of pizza cheese, so that the lower the percentage of residual moisture, the better the flavor of pizza cheese. According to the Iranian standard, the maximum allowable moisture for mozzarella cheese is equal to about 61% and the allowable fat content in dry matter for high-fat cheeses is more than 30%. Thus, cheeses that have a moisture content of about 50% and a fat content of more than 40% are considered high quality pizza cheeses. It should be noted that mozzarella cheese has a very different taste from processed pizza cheese due to the lack of additives and production method.
Mozzarella Production Process
Processed pizza cheese
Processed cheese, compared to natural cheese, is a new product which originated at the beginning of the twentieth century. Spoilage of cheese exported to distant places was the motive behind the trials to improve the shelf-life of cheese. Some of these trials succeeded in prolonging the keeping quality of soft or even semihard cheese by applying heat treatment, but the situation was not the same for hard cheese, due to shrinkage of the cheese protein by heat and separation of the water and fat phases. In 1912–13, the Swiss workers, Walter Gerber and Fritz Settler, solved these problems by heating hard cheese to which sodium citrate was added. This treatment was the real invention of processed cheese. Later, phosphate salts were introduced as emulsifying salts, and the development of the processed cheese industry continued and different patents were granted.
Processed cheese is made by further processing of finished cheese, usually a blend of hard rennet varieties with different aromas and degrees of maturity. There are two types of this cheese:
- Cheese blocks with a firm consistency, high acidity and relatively low moisture content.
- Cheese spreads with a soft consistency, low acidity and high moisture content.
Various flavourings can be added. Varieties with a smoked flavour can also be included under this heading.
Manufacture
The manufacturing process begins with scraping and washing the cheese, which is then ground. In large factories the shredded cheese is melted continuously and in smaller plants it is transferred to cookers, of which there are several types.
Firstly water, salt and emulsifier/stabiliser are mixed into the cheese. The mixture is heated to 70 – 95°C, or even higher (depending on the type of processed cheese), in steam-jacketed cookers and by direct steam injection to speed up the cooking time, 4 – 5 min. for block cheese and 10 – 15 min. for spreads. It is kept constantly agitated during heating to avoid scorching. The process usually takes place under vacuum, which offers advantages from the point of view of heating and emulsification. It removes undesirable odours and flavours and makes it easier to regulate the moisture content. The capacity of a batch cooker is about 75 kg. The pH of processed cheese should be 5.6 – 5.9 for spreads and 5.4 – 5.6 for types to be sliced. Variations in the pH of the raw material are adjusted by mixing cheese of different pH and adding emulsifiers/stabilisers to adjust the pH. The emulsifiers/stabilisers also bind calcium. This is necessary to stabilise the cheese so that it will not release moisture or fat. The processed cheese is then discharged from the cooker into a stainless steel container which is transported to the packing station and emptied into the feed hoppers of the packing machines. The latter are usually fully automatic and can produce packages of different weights and shapes. Normally the cheese is hot-packed at cooking temperature. The spreadable type of processed cheese should be cooled as rapidly as possible and should therefore pass through a cooling tunnel after packing. Rapid cooling improves the spreading properties. The cheese block on the other hand should be slowly cooled. After moulding the cheese is left at ambient temperature.
Pizza Cheese Production Process
This type of cheese exists in both industrial and traditional forms and is used as a topping on food in various forms such as noodles, slices, etc. This cheese shows its elastic and sticky effect in the process of preparing pizza by melting on the surface of this food.
The most important factor in the quality of processed cheese is the type of raw cheese used. The most important things to consider when choosing a natural cheese are: the type of cheese, the taste, the degree of ripeness, the consistency, the texture and the acidity. It should be noted that damaged cheeses can also be used to produce processed cheeses because some of the disadvantages of raw cheese can be covered with the help of heat treatment. Of course, care must be taken not to use cheeses with high microbial contamination.
Reducing the cost of refrigeration during storage and transportation, less changes in appearance during long storage, and the ability to package in different sizes are among the most important advantages of processed cheeses compared to natural cheeses.
