Author Topic: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!  (Read 1805 times)

amiriliano

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Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« on: May 11, 2016, 01:40:35 PM »
Hi all-

Had a new cheese tested (Tomme style) for moisture and fat. Legally, moisture has to be less than 30% and 50% or greater

The results are:
Moisture: 30%
Fat: 35%

I started out with 4% whole milk and now I'm trying to figure out how much cream to add to the batch to increase that fat value to 50%

Would appreciate any input!

Thanks,

E

jwalker

  • Guest
Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2016, 05:56:46 PM »
I'm thinking there are factors other than just adding more fat to the original ingredients , more stirring would equal less moisture in finished product , would it not ?

Would that not affect the finished product , less moisture = more solids = more protein & fat ?

Acidification times would also affect the amount of fat retained in the curd as well , I think.

Sweet whey contains more milk fat than acid whey, with 1 cup of sweet whey offering nearly 1 g of fat compared with less than 0.25 g in acid whey.

I'm guessing adding more fat , as in whole cream would bring the total fat up , but there may be other factors at play as well that will change the result.

amiriliano

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Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2016, 08:35:01 PM »
I'm sure you're right. The test, as I understand it, measure fat in a dehydrated sample. So it reflects the % fat as a proportion of a solid matrix.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2016, 05:41:58 PM »
Legally??? Why? According to whom?

amiriliano

  • Guest
Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2016, 06:20:21 PM »
FDA Sailor

Sec. 133.150 Hard cheeses.
(a) The cheeses for which definitions and standards of identity are prescribed by this section are hard cheeses for which specifically applicable definitions and standards of identity are not prescribed by other sections of this part. They are made from milk and the other ingredients specified in this section, by the procedure set forth in paragraph (b) of this section. They contain not more than 39 percent of moisture, and their solids contain not less than 50 percent of milkfat, as determined by the methods prescribed in 133.5 (a), (b), and (d). If the milk used is not pasteurized, the cheese so made is cured at a temperature of not less than 35 deg. F for not less than 60 days.

They refuse to approve the label for it unless it meets these criteria

amiriliano

  • Guest
Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2016, 06:20:51 PM »
I should clarify: "they" is Pennsylvania Dept of Agriculture not FDA

Kern

  • Guest
Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2016, 11:06:59 PM »
It seems to me to calculate the amount of cream you need to add depends on the fat content of the cream, moisture content of the cheese, and yield (weight of finished cheese per gallon of 4% milk.  Theoretically, 4% fat content milk contains 0.344 pounds of fat (8.6 #/gallon times 0.04).  You need more than this.  The calculation of the fat percentage would be the weight of the fat divided by [the weight of the cheese times (1-moisture content as a decimal fraction)].  Since you're low on fat you can calculate the amount of fat to add as follows:  [0.344 + x] (x is the amount of fat to add) divided by the denominator above with the answer set equal to .5 or above.  Then you solve for x and convert this to "whole" cream by knowing the fat content of the cream.  This method won't be perfect because adding the cream will increase the yield thus increasing the denominator.

Another way to approximate this would be to think about the problem this way:  If 0.344 pounds of fat gives a 35% fat content then each 1% of fat content is about 0.01 pounds of fat.  To go above 50% you need to get above 0.50 pounds of fat so you need to add about 0.16 pounds of fat per gallon of milk.  Convert this back to cream by the fat content of the cream and you'll have a good starting point answer in the amount of cream per gallon of 4% milk.  In the end you won't get your label without testing.

amiriliano

  • Guest
Re: Help me figure out this milk fat problem, please!!!
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2016, 01:48:22 PM »
Kern- very helpful. Thank you.