Cheese and Whey - Other varieties
Processing applications for other cheese varieties
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese is a creamy, granular fresh cheese with a mild flavour. It is drained, but not pressed, so some whey remains and the individual curds remain loose. Seen as a healthy snack, cottage cheese is commonly consumed with salad or bread.
In production, the challenge is to get an approximately even granule size. The curd is fragile and has to be treated gently. It is therefore only 'cut' once into approximately 6 x 6 mm cubes, before being paddled for about eight hours to release the whey and give the cheese its characteristic granular consistency. The particles are then robust enough to be rinsed in cold water to remove any residual lactose and acid.
Cream, fermented cream, or some other type of 'dressing' is added to the curd particles to make the final product. For differentiation, producers sometimes add other ingredients like vegetables, fruit, shrimps, shellfish, honey, jam or cereals.
We offer the equipment you need to produce cottage cheese gently and successfully. Our production method employs enclosed cheese vats. This controlled environment gives you a higher yield.
White cheese
Our best-practice lines for white cheese (feta-type cheese) cover two different technologies: Ultrafiltration and recombination of ingredients.
Ultrafiltration is a way of continuously concentrating milk. The product is pushed through filters at high pressure. This gives a concentrated volume which is typically 5 times less than the milk volume. The main advantage with ultrafiltration is the high product yield. Casein, fat and whey proteins are retained in the cheese.
Recombination is an alternative to using fresh milk. The ingredients – milk powder, sources of fat and other ingredients – are recombined using a high shear mixer.
Once the cheese milk is prepared, the product is pasteurized, homogenized and acidified. Rennet is added in line at the filling machine. White cheese is filled into the package as liquid and coagulates inside the package.
Tetra Pak is home to cutting-edge expertise and state-of-the-art technologies for ultrafiltration and recombination of ingredients. Our portfolio includes dedicated lines for making BAF and GDL white cheese.
