Impact of processing conditions on microstructure, texture and chemical properties of model cheese from sheep milk

•Cutting and cooking settings affect cheese microstructure and texture properties.•A higher cooking temperature raised free fat formation and reduced cheese porosity.•The hardness and chewiness of cheese increased with higher cooking temperature.•A bigger curd grain size increased the globular fat volume in cheese microstructure.•A smaller curd grain size enhanced the fat loss and decreased cheese yield. Cutting and cooking settings have a strong effect on curd particle features, whey syneresis and cheese properties. In the present study, the impact of curd grain size and cooking temperature on the microstructure, texture and composition of cheese, whey losses and cheese yield was studied with specific focus on sheep milk. Cooking temperature especially affected cheese microstructure, texture and composition, while cutting process was largely responsible for fat losses in the whey. Additionally, cheese yield increased with a bigger curd grain size and lower cooking temperatures. Higher cooking temperatures reduced the moisture content of the curd grains and cheese and lead to cheeses with reduced porosity and more free fat in their structure, resulting in harder and chewier cheeses. Interactions between the microstructural arrangement of fat and textural parameters were also observed. These results contribute with new data on the relationships between curd grain size and cooking conditions on the microstructure and physico-chemical properties of cheese. In addition, reducing the compound losses in whey would have a direct effect on the improvement of processing, cheese quality and yield, and the ulterior by product management.