Presented by Jason Pronschinske entitled “Microwave-puffed cheese snacks made from Cheddar cheese”.
ABSTRACT
During heating, most cheeses melt (e.g., Raclette), while some form expanded three-dimensional structures (e.g., bubbles and blisters on a Mozzarella cheese pizza). By manipulating the protein-to-moisture (PN/M) ratio in natural cheese, it could be possible to expand cheese into a shelf-stable puff when heated. Cylinders (9 mm in height × 13 mm diameter) were cut from Cheddar cheese (CC) at 1 wk, 2 wk, 1, 3, and 6 mo of ripening and dried in a Parmesan ripening room to make partially dried cheeses (PDC) with PN/M ratios of 1.5 (31.4% PN, low PN), 2.1 (33.2% PN, medium), and 2.8 (34.5% PN, high). The PDC were puffed in a microwave oven to attain ~0.2 aw. Low PN treatments expanded 228% in volume at 1 wk of ripening, but only 107% after 6 mo of ripening. In contrast, high PN treatments expanded 96% at 1 wk and 72% at 6 mo of ripening. Puffs were compressed using a texture analyzer equipped with an acoustic detector. The number of acoustic peaks (AP) recorded during compression decreased as the PN content of the PDC decreased. Sensory crunchiness (measured on a 15-point quantitative descriptive analysis scale) correlated negatively with AP (r = -0.73; P < 0.05). By reducing the meltability of CC with drying, we demonstrated a novel method to make shelf-stable cheese puffs made solely from natural cheese.
