TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the production of pasta filata cheese products such as mozzarella and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

In the field of food industry, it is well known the request of producing mozzarella cheese industrially using machineries and apparatuses allowing the automation, as much as possible, . of the productive process. These machineries and apparatuses must have an assembly easily and completely washable in such a way to guarantee a perfect hygiene. These suitably packaged cheese products are directly delivered to the consumer, or used by pizza-restaurants and for making pizza, or converted or used by other industries to make different speciality.

The method currently used for making pasta filata cheese products includes firstly the introduction, into a special basin or coagulation apparatus, of the milk heated to the temperature of about 35-38°C according to the type of pasta filata cheese product to be produced and to the milk features, together with suitable amounts of ferments and/or acidifying agents and rennet (phase identified with 1 in the block diagram of figure 1) .

The aforesaid liquid phase is kept inside the basin or the coagulation apparatus for a time period ranging from 15 to 30 minutes from the rennet introduction, so obtaining a gel, also called clot, of suitable consistency (phase 2) .

Inside the same basin or coagulation apparatus, the obtained gel is then cut in cubes or granules, commonly called curd, which are maintained in suspension in the residual liquid, commonly called serum, by stirring the mass (phase 3) .

The curd mixture mixed with serum is then moved to one or more basins of maturation and/or drainage, or into an automated maturation and/or drainage system, where the curd, with or without part of the serum remaining after processing, but however without stirring the mass, remains from few minutes to some hours, accordingly to the technology and to the acidification system used for the process. Some systems use the same basin or the coagulation apparatus for the maturation and/or drainage phase (phase 4) .

Whatever the system used for the maturation and/or drainage is, the curd is completely split and dripped from the serum, except the typical remains of serum inside the mass of curd, by means of different drainage systems however providing the almost full separation of the serum from the curd mass which regroups into a single block since it is left without serum.

Even if the curd is kept inside the serum, as a consequence of the lack of stirring, the curd

granules, having greater specific weight than the serum, precipitate onto the basin bottom so regrouping into a single block which must be drained almost fully from the serum, to be removed from the basin (phase 5) .

In automatic or manual way, depending on the used system, the single block of curd inside the basin is cut again in smaller blocks of suitable sizes in such a way for feeding the machineries in the following phases, but however weighting many kilograms (phase 6) .

The curd blocks are removed from the basin or from the maturation and/or drainage system and are automatically or manually transported (phase 7) to a machine commonly called ^• curd-cutter or dough-cutter, which minces the curd in slices or bits weighting few grams (phase 8) and are then heated with warm water, kneaded and spun for obtaining pasta filata, by means of special machineries (phase 9) .

The pasta filata is then formed in pieces having the shape and weight desired by the maker (phase 10) .

The so obtained pasta filata cheese is then cooled inside special basins (phase 11) and therefore opportunely packaged (phase 12) . Some pasta filata cheese products, particularly those designed for maturing, after cooling the products are submitted to salting inside special basins and then are introduced into the maturing cells.

The above-mentioned method involves repeated cuts of

the curd caused by its regrouping during the phase following the split of the curd from the serum.

Such repeated cuts of the curd cause the crumbling of the latter and, especially during the cutting phase into slices or mincing before spinning, a curd part is thinly crumbled and almost pulverised. Such thin crumbs are dissolved inside water without collecting them into the dough of the pasta filata mass, causing in such a way a continuous loss of the substances forming the curd and therefore a production decrement.

When maturation and/or drainage basins, of conventional static or wheel type, are used such method involves a notable waste of skilled labour, firstly for cutting blocks of the curd and then for the subsequent manual transfer of the blocks to the curd-cutter or dough-cutter machine, serving the spinning machine. It is also evident the high possibility of product pollution caused by both the block handling and the curd contact with the external environment of the making place thereof. Besides it is required wide rooms both for placing and moving the basins containing the curd and such basins must always been washed manually at the process end.

Using a maturation and/or drainage system of automatised type, a series of basins or small basin or different type containers are used, which have sizes and are of suitable amount according to the used making technology and to the productive capability. Said basins or containers receive -the serum/curd mixture from the basin or coagulation

apparatus, then providing the serum maturation and/or drainage, the cut of curd blocks and the block transport to the curd-cutter or dough-cutter machines, which are used by the spinning machine. All this is carried out in more or less mechanized and automatised way.

Some maturation and/or drainage systems of mechanized type can use, for receiving the serum and curd mixture, small basin or containers having small capacity in such a way to avoid the following cut of the curd in blocks . Also in this case however the curd regroups in a single block inside the small basin or container and it is therefore needed a subsequent cutting phase, using the curd-cutter or dough-cutter machine, before feeding the spinning machine. Moreover this system -requires a rather complex apparatus of mechanical type for transporting, handling and emptying an high amount of small basin or containers.

Using any of the maturation and/or drainage system of mechanized type, it is evident and known to use, for its realization, rather complex and bulky apparatuses and equipments, having direct and indirect high costs, concerning their purchase, the successive maintenance, the taken rooms, the required consumption and operating costs.

Moreover, these mechanized systems cannot be easily washed in effective, quick and complete way, because of their mechanical complexity even if they are of the automatized type. Accordingly they are a continuous potential source of pollution during production. Also the washing costs are very high

because of the high consumption of cleansing and disinfectant substances.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to carry out a method allowing the production of pasta filata cheese products in fully automatized way, without using manpower, neither for handling the curd nor for controlling the system, this method being carried out using equipments with very simple mechanical fixtures, being cheap, needing easy and fast maintenance, having low consumption and operating costs, very limited overall dimension, automatically washable in easy and complete way, obtaining a perfect hygiene during production and increasing the productivity.

Said aim is reached accordingly with the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention will be better understood in the following specification, showing an implementation of the method in object, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the known phases for making the pasta filata cheese products, such as mozzarella;

- Figure 2 shows a similar block diagram of the cheese production phases according to the method in object .

BEST MODES OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Having reference to the Figure 2, such method firstly includes the insertion, into a suitable basin or coagulation apparatus, of the milk together with a suitable amount of ferments and/or acidifying agents and rennet (phase A) . The milk is heated to a temperature ranging from 35°C to 38°C, depending on the kind of the pasta filata cheese to be made and on the milk features. In the known method, the liquid phase is maintained inside the basin or the coagulation apparatus from 15 to 30 minutes from the rennet input, so obtaining a suitable firm gel, also called clot, that is then cut in small cubes or granules, commonly called curd (phases B and C) .

The curd so obtained is continuously and incessantly kept in suspension in the serum by stirring the curd/serum mixture until reaching the maturation and/or waiting to pass said curd/serum mixture to the subsequent phases (phase D) .

Such keeping in suspension phase of the curd granules in the serum can be directly carried out into the basin or coagulation apparatus or into a tank or a closed container in which the curd/serum mixture flows through a pipeline, by gravity or with a pumping system, waiting its transfer to the following phases in order to allow the immediate reutilization of the basin or coagulation apparatus.

Such maturation phase occurs within a time period from 0 to 5 hours depending on acidification/fermentation activity of the ferments and/or acidifying agents added to milk together with

rennet in correspondence of the liquid phase (phase A) .

If in this liquid phase (phase A) only the ferments, besides the rennet, are added to milk, the acidification period of the maturation phase ranges from 1 to 5 hours according to the ferment used.

If only the acidifying agents, besides the rennet, are added to milk, then no maturation phase is needed because none period is necessary to reach the maturation of the solid phase.

If a mixture of ferments and acidifying agents, besides the rennet, is also added to milk, said time period ranges from few minutes to about 2 hours according to the relative quantitative proportion and to the fermentation activity of the used elements .

The curd granules continually maintained in suspension in the serum are then conveyed through a pipeline, by gravity or with a pumping system, from the basin or coagulation apparatus, or from the above-mentioned tank or container, to a drainage system, carried out in different ways, which splits the curd granules from the serum (phase E) .

The above-mentioned drainage system is mounted near or above the spinning machine in such a way that the curd granules, just separated from the serum, feed immediately, directly and continuously the spinning machine where the granules are then heated with warm water, kneaded and spun (phase F) .

After the spinning phase, the pasta filata is formed, cooled and packaged (phases G, H and I) , exactly as in the common method.

In a variant of the disclosed method, after the separation of the curd granules from the serum (phase E) , the granules are dripped, washed, dried and packaged (phases El, E2, E3, E4 outlined in Figure 2) . The obtained granules can be used directly on the pizza or other specialities, or the granules can also be preserved in refrigerators for a subsequent production of mozzarella and similar cheeses.

In this last case, the milk coagulation phase (phase B) is independent from the production of mozzarella or similar cheeses (phases F-I) because such phases can be completed in subsequent but not necessarily contiguous periods. Likewise, also the production place of the mozzarella or similar cheeses is independent from the curd production place, because the latter, if necessary, can be easily carried from its production place to the mozzarella or similar cheese production place.

The disclosed method allows to make pasta filata cheese products such as mozzarella and the like with a manufacturing process that, by excluding many phases of the productive process, can be totally closed and automatized, with clear simplification of the production fixtures; such fixtures require low maintenance, have extremely reduced overall dimensions, relatively low costs, very low consumption and operating costs and are easily and perfectly washable in automatic way.

The disclosed method allows an increase of the production performance because the curd granules, that directly feed the spinning machine, have got their own relatively strong structure and can be spun with warm water without loss of crumbs or curd dust, while in the traditional method such a loss derives from the cutting operation.

A particularly unexpected result of the method in object is to get the solid phase maturation, or better the maturation of the curd granules, stirring the liquid mass in which the granules themselves are dispersed. Therefore said maturation is simply carried out, in absolutely homogeneous way and generally in shorter periods. The maturation can be easily valued by continuously measuring the pH value of the mass and it is easily possible slowing down or speeding up maturation by homogeneously cooling or heating the whole serum/curd mixture.

This fact obviously allows to get greater productivity than the traditional methods, sensibly lower costs and greater proceeds due to the increase of production performance.

It should be noted that the smaller imposed treatments determine an improvement of the final product organoleptic properties.