Application of ultrafiltered sweet buttermilk in the manufacture of reduced fat process cheese

Reduced fat Cheddar cheeses, manufactured from pasteurized-milk or from pasteurized milk supplemented with 5% ultrafiltered sweet buttermilk, were used to manufacture reduced fat process cheeses (48% moisture, 14.8% fat). A 1:1 blend of 8- and 16-wk-old reduced fat Cheddar cheese and disodium phosphate and trisodium citrate (1:1 blend) at 0.60, 1.25, or 2.00% (wt/wt) were used for each cheese treatment. Process cheeses with added buttermilk had lower fat contents than did the controls (14.48% vs. 15.10%) and had harder bodies because of compositional differences between Cheddar cheeses. Ash and pH were not affected by buttermilk but increased with emulsifying salts. Hardness decreased with emulsifying salts. At similar levels of emulsifying salts process cheeses made with added buttermilk had lower free oil and meltability than did control cheeses but had higher apparent viscosity. Meltability increased in cheeses containing buttermilk by increasing emulsifying salts up to 1.25%. Microstructure studies revealed after dispersion of fat in reduced fat process cheeses from the buttermilk treatment at 0.50 and 1.25% emulsifying salts.