Cast Cheeses

Whatever the type of yellow cast cheese, APVhas a process solution to suit the individual requirements of each. For example, Gouda and Danbo are some of the best known cheeses within this group, however, many national and local variants exist.

Many of these can be substituted by yellow cast cheese. Yellow cast cheese is a fully concentrated cheese, cast direct in the mould. This production includes the following steps:

Pretreatment
The cheese milk is treated in the traditional way, with separation and fat standardisation, after which it is pasteurised. After the pasteurisation, it can be cooled to 4 ° C for storage, or just to thermisation temperature before it is pumped to the ultrafiltration plant.

Ultrafiltration
The milk is ultrafiltrated at 50 °C to the required level of dry matter, approx. 48-50%. At the same time concentration is performed, a diafiltration is carried out in order to obtain the correct acidification and the correct level of final pH.

Post-treatment
The concentrate is pasteurised and cooled to the acidification temperature. Then, culture, rennet, and other possible additives are dosed and mixed in-line.

Curd production
Immediately after the mixing-in of rennet, the retentate is filled directly into special moulds by means of a patented filling unit. The retentate coagulates in these special moulds and rests for a further period in order to obtain the correct form stability.

Final treatment
The cheeses are removed from the moulds and rest for a further period. The rest of the process, with salting, storing and packing, is carried out in the traditional way and with traditional equipment.

Advantages

• higher yield, approx. 20-30%
• simple continuous process
• uniform, high product quality
• considerable reduction in the consumption of rennet
• very flexible plant
• reduced levels of manpower

APVdelivers complete ultrafiltration process line for yellow cast cheese, from milk reception to packing of the final product. Complete process know-how is always delivered with the plant. Whatever the product, APVhas experience in supplying equipment for the complete range of end-products and has the necessary in-depth process knowledge to obtain the desired quality.