Dairy Mineral-Fortified Liquid Dairy Products And Methods Of Making

Abstract

Disclosed are dairy products fortified with dairy minerals and methods of making the dairy products. The fortified dairy products exhibit enhanced fresh dairy flavor notes. In one aspect, the fortified dairy product is a concentrated dairy liquid. In another aspect, the fortified dairy product is a cheese product, such as cream cheese, processed cheese, or cultured cheese.

1 - 33 . (canceled) 
     
     
         34 . A method of making a concentrated dairy liquid, the method comprising:
 pasteurizing a dairy cream;   concentrating the pasteurized cream to obtain a concentrated cream retentate;   adding a blend of dairy minerals to the concentrated cream retentate;   homogenizing the concentrated cream retentate including the dairy minerals to form a homogenized cream retentate; and   heating the homogenized cream retentate to obtain a concentrated dairy liquid having a F o  value of at least 5, the concentrated dairy liquid having a protein to fat ratio of from about 0.4 to about 0.7 and lactose in an amount of up to 1.5 percent,   wherein the dairy minerals are included in an amount effective to provide at least two of the following mineral to protein ratios in the concentrated dairy liquid:   about 0.017 mg to about 0.0264 mg potassium per mg protein;   about 0.008 mg to about 0.0226 mg magnesium per mg protein;   about 0.122 mg to about 0.3516 mg calcium per mg protein; and   about 0.199 mg to about 0.5394 mg phosphate per mg protein.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising diluting the cream with water after the pasteurizing. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the ratio of the water to the cream is from about 2:1 to about 4:1. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein concentrating includes providing the concentrated cream retentate including about 2.0 to about 3.0 percent protein. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the concentrated dairy liquid includes about 1.3 to about 2 percent protein. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the concentrated dairy liquid includes about 20 to about 30 percent fat. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the added dairy minerals are added in an amount of about 0.15 to about 1.5 percent by weight of the concentrated cream retentate. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the dairy minerals are added in an amount of about 0.5 to about 0.75 percent by weight of the concentrated cream retentate. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the concentrated dairy liquid includes about 35 to about 65 percent total solids. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the dairy minerals are included in an amount effective to provide at least three of the following mineral to protein ratios in the concentrated dairy liquid:
 about 0.017 mg to about 0.0264 mg potassium per mg protein;   about 0.008 mg to about 0.0226 mg magnesium per mg protein;   about 0.122 mg to about 0.3516 mg calcium per mg protein; and   about 0.199 mg to about 0.5394 mg phosphate per mg protein.   
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the dairy minerals are included in an amount effective to provide the following mineral to protein ratios in the concentrated dairy liquid:
 about 0.017 mg to about 0.0264 mg potassium per mg protein;   about 0.008 mg to about 0.0226 mg magnesium per mg protein;   about 0.122 mg to about 0.3516 mg calcium per mg protein; and   about 0.199 mg to about 0.5394 mg phosphate per mg protein.