Cultured dairy products and methods of manufacture

Provided is a process for the manufacture of a cultured dairy product containing cultured and non-cultured dairy ingredients, said process comprising (1) providing a first mixture of dairy ingredients having a first amount of dairy protein; (2) homogenizing and pasteurizing the first mixture to form a homogenized and pasteurized first mixture; (3) cooling the homogenized and pasteurized first mixture to about 20 C° to about 40 C° to form a cooled first mixture; (4) adding a lactic acid-producing bacterial culture to the cooled first mixture, after cooling to form a culture containing first mixture; (5) culturing the culture-containing first mixture at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a pH-stable cultured first mixture, wherein the stable pH is in the range of about 3.5 to about 5.5; (6) providing a second mixture of dairy ingredients having a second amount of dairy protein, salts, and gums; (7) adding the second mixture to the pH-stable cultured first mixture to form a third mixture; and (8) heating and homogenizing the third mixture at a temperature and for a time sufficient to obtain a cultured dairy product containing cultured and non-cultured dairy ingredients, having a total amount of dairy protein; wherein the first amount of dairy protein is about 10 to about 40 percent and the second amount of dairy protein is about 60 to about 90 percent, based on the total amount of dairy protein, wherein the cultured dairy product has a whey protein to casein ratio from 42:58 to 45:55, and wherein the process does not include a whey-separation step.