Effects of different dairy ingredients on the rheological behaviour and stability of hot cheese emulsions

The influence of sodium caseinate (SC), butter milk powder (BMP) and their combinations on particle size, rheological properties, emulsion stability and microstructure of hot cheese emulsions made from mixtures of Cheddar and soft white cheese was studied. All emulsions exhibited shear-thinning flow behaviour and increasing SC concentration (1-4%) led to an increase in particle size and a decrease in apparent viscosity. In contrast, increasing BMP concentration caused significant decrease in particle size and slightly reduced the apparent viscosity. Stability against creaming and precipitation increased with increasing concentration of SC, whereas BMP destabilised the emulsions resulting in extensive precipitation. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images showed that SC exerted markedly better emulsification ability than BMP. Emulsions containing equal amounts of SC and BMP presented better stability against creaming and precipitation and this could be developed into a novel strategy to replace emulsifying salts in production of cheese powder.