Dairy Products PDF

**Dairy Products** Our objective is to recognize and distinguish dairy products commonly used in the professional kitchen. The last of the four lectures in kitchen stables is all about learning what dairy products are available in the market for use in the professional kitchen. We will discuss wher...

**Dairy Products** Our objective is to recognize and distinguish dairy products commonly used in the professional kitchen. The last of the four lectures in kitchen stables is all about learning what dairy products are available in the market for use in the professional kitchen. We will discuss where they come from, how fresh animal milk is processed to become different products, and what are the different products that contain milk? **Animals with mammary glands or mammals are capable of milk production.** In the food service industry, milk from cows is the most utilized. Other sources of milk are buffalo, sheep, and goats. Milk is processed to make pasteurized milk, cream, sour cream, crème fraîche, yogurt, buttermilk, butter, and cheese. They are used for drinking and for eating, or for cooking. Collectively, we refer to foods that contain milk as dairy products. Dairy products are high in calcium, protein, potassium, and milk is often fortified with vitamins D and A. **To make milk from animals safe for human consumption, they undergo pasteurization or heat treatment to kill pathogens.** Pasteurized milk has been heated to 161° Fahrenheit or 72°C for 15 seconds. Milk that undergoes the process of ultra-pasteurization is heated at the higher temperature of 275° Fahrenheit or 135°C for 4 seconds to kill pathogens. Products that have undergone this process must be refrigerated before and after opening. Ultra-high-temperature pasteurization, on the other hand, is heated at a much higher temperature of 250 to 300° Fahrenheit, but for a shorter period of time, or 2 to 6 seconds. They have a cooked taste, and it\'s better for cooking, not drinking. Once opened, it should be refrigerated. **The primary types of milk products that you will find in stores are:** - **Whole milk:** Or milk that comes from the cow with nothing removed but with the addition of vitamin D. - **Skim or non-fat milk:** Which has most of the fat removed and only 0.5% or less fat is retained. - **Low-fat milk:** With a fat content of 0.5 to 2%. When fat droplets from milk are re-emulsified to prevent cream from separating, the process is called homogenization. This is how commercial milk is made. **Cream** is a liquid milk product with at least 18% fat content. Chefs use cream to give body and flavor to sauces, soups, and desserts. - **Whipping creams** have high fat content from 30 to 40%. - Whipping cream with a fat content of 30 to 35% makes weaker peaks than peaks made by whisking heavy cream with a fat content of 36 to 40%. - Pure or pasteurized cream needs additives to make them whippable. - Here are the guidelines for whipping cream: - Chilling the cream and all equipment prior to whipping helps you achieve peaks faster. - Use powdered sugar to sweeten the whipped cream after whipping. - Do not over-whip or else the cream breaks into butter and whey. - Stop at stiff peaks. - If you would add other ingredients to whip cream, make sure that the cream is under whipped. - The folding action might over-whip the cream. **Fermented milk and cream products:** Fermented or cultured dairy products have active bacteria added to them. The fermentation process leaves a sour taste in the product. Among the fermented dairies are: - **Sour cream:** Which is cream with lactic acid and bacteria added. It is used in baking products such as cheesecakes and biscuits. - **Crème fraîche:** It is an aged cultured cream. Sauces that are made with crème fraîche are very stable. - **Buttermilk:** Is skim milk that has been cultured by bacteria. It is used to make sour cream pancakes and butter for fried chicken. - **Yogurt:** Is made from whole or low-fat milk cultured by special bacteria. It is used to make some types of breads, salad dressing, or garnish for soups. **Here are some milk products with water removed:** - **Evaporated milk:** Has 60% of water removed, and it is canned to prolong its shelf life. - **Condensed milk:** Is evaporated milk with sugar added. - **Dried whole milk:** Has the liquid totally evaporated and turned to powdered form. - **Non-fat dry milk:** Has water and fat removed and eventually turned to powdered form. **Butter** is a dairy product made by churning the fat and protein of milk or cream that consists of 80% butterfat. - **Sweet or unsalted butter** is preferred by chefs because they start off with a clean canvas when cooking, adding seasoning or flavoring will be at the chef\'s control. - **Clarified butter** has water and milk solids removed. This is used for sauce making or frying. - **Margarine** is made from vegetable and animal fats to resemble the taste of butter. **Cheese** is a dairy product made by separating milk solids from whey. An enzyme called rennet is introduced to curdle the milk. The curds are then processed, cured, or aged in a variety of ways. The maturity of cheese is super-slow ripening. This is where all the magic of transformation of curds to create wonderful flavors, texture, and a room of different cheeses. This process may take weeks to several years. **Cheeses are classified in six varieties:** Some are classified according to firmness, while others by the presence of blue veins, and some from goat\'s milk being the base of the cheese. The six classifications are: unripened, soft-ripened, semi-soft, hard, blue-veined, and goat\'s milk. - **Unripened cheeses** are young, soft cheeses and have not had time to develop the rind. They taste mild, mildly sweet or salty to neutral, which makes these cheeses very pleasant to eat. Some examples of unripened cheeses are cottage cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, mozzarella di Bufala, cream cheese, and feta. - **Cottage cheese** is a fresh cheese with a very mild flavor. Its texture is loose because it has been drained, but not pressed. - **Ricotta** is an Italian cheese made from sheep, cow, or Italian buffalo milk. It tastes slightly sweet and the texture is slightly grainy. - **Cream cheese** is a mild-tasting fresh cheese made from cow\'s milk and cream. - **Feta** is a brined, cured white cheese from Greece. It is made from goat\'s milk or a combination of sheep and goat\'s milk. The texture is crumbly. - **Mozzarella:** Has a soft, stringy texture, making it the ideal cheese for pizza. - **Mozzarella di Bufala:** Is an Italian cheese made from the Mediterranean buffalo\'s milk. It is softer and creamier and more expensive than the regular mozzarella that is made from cow\'s milk. - While in production, the curd is cooled and stretched, making the cheese stringy. - **Soft-ripened cheeses** are a little more firm and compact than unripened cheeses. They have an average of 1 to 6 months of aging. Examples of soft-ripened cheeses are Brie de Meaux and Fontina from Italy, Port Salut and Pont l\'Evêque and Livarot from France, and Munster from England. - **Semi-soft cheeses** have ripened, an edible mold where the ripening starts when young. They are firm with less flavor, as they age, they develop more flavor and become more creamy. However, when over-ripe, they develop a chewed-in aroma or odor. Examples of these cheeses are Brie, Camembert, Roquefort from France, and Limburger from Germany. - **Hard cheeses** are cured cheeses with firm textures and varying degrees of softness, mildness, or sharpness depending on their age. Examples are the English Cheddar, the Swiss Gruyère and Emmental, the Dutch Gouda, and the Italian Provolone. - **Cheddar** is widely used for cooking. Its flavor ranges from mild to sharp. - **Gruyère and Emmental:** Have a nutty taste and a rubbery texture, and are used for fondues, sauces, and gratins. - **Gouda:** Is ripened in a red rind. It is hard in texture with a mellow, nutty flavor. - **Provolone:** Can range from mild to spicy depending on age. - **Parmigiano-Reggiano:** Is known to be the king of all cheeses. Or an Italian hard-grating cheese with a grainy mouthfeel. It has been aged for at least two years. This is the true Parmesan cheese. - **Blue-veined cheeses** are made with cultures of the mold Penicillium, giving it spots of blue or green veins throughout the cheese. These veins carry a distinct moldy aroma and taste, which some people have a hard time appreciating. Examples of blue-veined cheese are Roquefort from France, Cabrales from Spain, Stilton from England, and Gorgonzola from Italy. - **Goat\'s milk cheeses:** As the name implies, these are cheeses made from goat\'s milk. Fresh goat cheeses have the mildest flavor, soft, dried texture, and their distinctly peppery and slightly acidic taste make them popular. - **Processed cheeses:** Are a food product made from cheese and other milk and fermented dairy ingredients, mixed with emulsifiers and then poured into molds to set. They are inexpensive and abundant in grocery stores.