Jacketed Kneading Chamber for Low Moisture Filata Cheese
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing processes for producing pasta filata cheese require additional water or steam, which can affect the cheese's moisture content and texture, and there is a need for a method to prepare low moisture filata cheese without contacting the cheese curd with water or water-containing materials.
Innovation Solution
A continuous process using a jacketed kneading chamber with hollow augers, where heated fluid is passed through the chamber and augers to knead and melt the cheese curd without adding extra liquid, maintaining temperatures between 140° F and 170° F and rotating the augers at 6-11 revolutions per minute to produce low moisture filata cheese with a water content of 46-53%.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If hot water or steam is added to heat the cheese curd during kneading, then the cheese curd reaches the desired temperature for plasticity, but the moisture content of the cheese increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a water-soluble polymer coating on the cheese curd particles as an intermediary layer. This coating allows heat transfer from the aqueous medium to the cheese curd while preventing direct water absorption, thus maintaining temperature control without increasing moisture content
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct thermal contact (mechanical mixing with hot water) with indirect heating through a polymer coating barrier. The coating acts as a thermal interface that enables heat transfer while blocking water penetration, substituting the direct mechanical-thermal contact system with a protected indirect system
2Ease of operation
If additional water is added during the kneading process to facilitate mixing, then the cheese becomes more pliable and easier to work, but the final product has higher moisture content than desired
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical-chemical parameters of the cheese curd surface by coating it with a water-soluble polymer. This modification allows the cheese to achieve desired pliability through the polymer's viscoelastic properties rather than through added water, thus improving ease of operation without increasing moisture content
3Temperature
If brine solution is used to chill and float the cheese blocks, then the cheese is cooled and salted, but additional water is added to the filata cheese
Solution Approach 1:
The polymer coating serves as a protective intermediary barrier during the brine chilling process. It allows the cheese blocks to be chilled in brine solution and floated for salt distribution while preventing excessive water absorption from the brine, thus achieving temperature reduction and saltation without proportionally increasing water content
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for the production of low moisture filata cheese without adding extra water, maintaining the desired texture and reducing moisture content, while ensuring the cheese is heated and kneaded efficiently, resulting in a product with improved stability and quality.
Implementation Method 1
passing a heated fluid through the jacket of the kneading chamber and through the hollow auger members
Implementation Method 2
passing a heated fluid through the jacket of the kneading chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A continuous process for preparing low moisture filata cheese directly from cheese curd includes the following steps: (a) providing a jacketed kneading chamber with a hollow interior, with the chamber having inlet and outlet openings and a pair of hollow auger members rotatably mounted therein between the inlet and outlet openings; (b) passing a heated fluid through the jacket of the kneading chamber and through the hollow auger members; (c) supplying cheese curd with no additional liquid to the hollow interior of the jacketed kneading chamber via the inlet opening therein; (d) rotating the pair of hollow auger members to knead and melt the cheese curd, thereby producing a low moisture filata cheese while transporting the low moisture filata cheese from the inlet opening to the outlet opening of the jacketed kneading chamber; (e) removing the low moisture filata cheese from the jacketed kneading chamber via the outlet opening.