The present invention relates to a method of producing a fat product containing milk fat with a reduced fat content.

The interest in fat products based on milk fat or mixtures of milk fat and vegetable oil is rising. Hitherto one has often started with butter oil possibly mixed with vegetable oil into which fat mixture a water phase is admixed. The water phase may contain casein or caseinate, skim milk powder or milk protein, whey protein and possibly gelatin.

The content of dry solids in the water phase which is mixed with the fat phase has been high in order to bind the water in a sufficient high degree so that the end product, a water-in-oil-emulsion shall be stable and not give off free water.

Processes for production of products with a low fat content starting from butter, have also been presented, in which a water phase is mixed into earlier produced butter. Such processes are described for example in WO 91/07098 and in EP 368805.

During recent times patent applications have been published which describe processes where products containing milk fat are produced starting from cream without any churning step. In EP 376407 there is described a process for producing a fat product from water, melted vegetable oils and cream. Similar processes are also described in EP 385542 and EP 445857. In order to obtain stable emulsions, emulsifiers are

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added to the mixture of cream, vegetable fat and water prior to the phase reversal.

When producing fat products containing only milk fat starting from cream there is sometimes a problem to obtain the desired phase reversal from the oil-in-water emulsion, the cream, to the desired water-in-oil emulsion which is the desired state for the fat product. These problems are more accentuated when the fat content of the fat mixture is low.

The present invention relates to a method to obtain a satisfactory and stable phase reversal when producing a fat product only containing milk fat.

The method according to the invention is mainly charac¬ terized in that cream with a fat content of 40-80 % is mixed with a desired amount of water phase containing stabilizing means, preferably gelatin, salt and aroma substances. The temperature during the mixing step is kept between 50-80°C. After the mixing operation the mixture, an oil-in-water emulsion, is cooled and worked such that phase reversal takes place. A partial stream of phase reversed product, now a water-in-oil emulsion, is returned to the inlet of a first cooling step and mixed with the starting mixture. The obtained end product consists of a stable water-in-oil emulsion. The product has a fat content of 25-60 % and contains only emulsifiers naturally occuring in the cream. The casein content of the product is below 2 %.

When the expression % is mentioned in the description ^~ weight percent is intended, if nothing else is said.

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According to the invention 5-50 %, preferably 5-25 %, of the amount of phase reversed product is returned to the inlet of the first cooling step. A fat mixture with a lower fat content brings about larger problems for the phase reversal and in order to obtain a stable phase reversal a larger amount is recirculated when the fat mixture contains a smaller amount of fat.

The amount of phase reversed product which is returned to the inlet of the first cooling step bears an inverted relation to the fat content in the end product. With a low fat content of the same a higher amount of phase, reversed product is returned, at a higher fat content the amount of recirculated, phase reversed product may be lowered. With a fat content of - 40 % fat in the end product stable conditions are obtained when recircu¬ lating 20-25 % phase reversed product.

The working which the fat mixture is subjected to in order to obtain phase reversal usually comprises an initial cooling in one or several cooling steps to a temperature below 22°C. After that the mixture is worked under a certain time, e.g. 2-10 minutes in one or several working units, at which the fat starts to crystallize and the temperature of the mixture rises somewhat. After this working the product is cooled further. As soon as the phase reversal has started a part of the product is returned. This is suitably carried through in such a way that a partial stream is taken away and returned prior to the passage of the second cooling step. If it is considered suitable phase reversed product may be taken away and returned also after the final cooling step.

The method according to the invention may be practised as follows.

A fat mixture containing

Cream ~ 75 % 21.0 kg

Stabilizing means 1,2 kg

NaCl 0,4 kg

Water ad 40 kg 17,3 kg is produced. The mixing temperature was in the interval 50-60°C.

The mixture was treated in coolers and a working unit to the following temperature after each step.

First cooling step < 18°C

Working unit < 22°C

Second cooling step < 20°C

After the working step 5-25 % of the mixture was returned to the inlet of the first cooling step.