Liquid drainage and firmness in full-fat, lowfat, and fat-free cottage cheese

Four different cottage cheese curds, as well as one full-fat (FFD), two lowfat (LF), and two fat-free (NF) dressings, were used to study liquid drainage and firmness of the products. After 10 hr at 4 degrees C, the volume of drained liquid after 1 and 7 days, was: FFD 77 to 38 mL, LF 59 to 2 mL and NF 48 to 12 mL. Residual curd firmness was generally FFD LF NF. Both curd and dressing properties affected liquid drainage and firmness, indicating that using the same curd in the three cottage cheese varieties would likely result in variety differences in quality attributes