DSM Food Specialties has announced a new application for its successful granulated protein hydrolysate, MaxiCurd™[1] . Cottage cheese manufacturers can now benefit from the increased yield and curd strengthening properties of MaxiCurd, and still create a product of exceptional texture, flavour and mouthfeel. MaxiCurd also gives manufacturers greater flexibility by enabling the use of regular skimmed milk when supply of fresh milk is limited, and so delivers further cost savings.

MaxiCurd achieves this improved yield by enabling manufacturers to use a higher pasteurisation temperature without comprising the desired quality and eating enjoyment of the cottage cheese. It works by binding with the whey protein-casein complexes during renneting to stabilise the curds and deliver a consistently firm, high quality cottage cheese. Without MaxiCurd the curds are very weak; leading to excessive losses during handling and an overly soft texture in the final product. 

Rutger van Rooijen, New Business Development Manager DSM Food Specialties, comments, “The global economic downturn is putting manufacturers under huge pressure to improve productivity – the international cottage cheese sector is no exception. MaxiCurd is part of our cost savings ingredient solutions – a portfolio of ingredients brought together to meet the current need to balance commercial demands with product quality. Our new online resource, www.dsm-food-saving4u.com, allows manufacturers to evaluate how our ingredients can help maximise their profitability. With MaxiCurd they have the potential to increase cheese yield by as much as 4 %.

“Plus with the supply of fresh milk sometimes difficult, due to fluctuating cost or limited availability for example, MaxiCurd offers the ideal solution.  Cottage cheese manufacturers are generally restricted to skimmed milk powder produced under low pasteurisation conditions and this can only be used at a limited ratio if the quality of the cottage cheese is to be maintained. Using MaxiCurd, however, restores the renneting properties of the skimmed milk powder, enabling the use of cheaper and more widely available skimmed milk powder at a higher ratio.”

MaxiCurd is a ready to use, protein hydrolysate, specifically developed to improve curd strength and increase cheese yield in a range of cheeses. It only needs to be dissolved in water at 40°C (104°F) in a 10 % solution, and is then ready to be added to the pasteurised cheese milk, just like rennet.

[1] MaxiCurd™ is a trademark of Royal DSM N.V.