Effects of pre-cooked cheeses of different emulsifying conditions on mechanical properties and microstructure of processed cheese

•The addition of PCLS and PCHS had no obvious impact on the fat globules and protein network of processed cheeses.•The addition of PCLL and PCHL caused the protein network of processed cheeses to become fine-stranded.•Especially, the addition of PCHL caused the fat globules of processed cheese to become smaller. The effect of pre-cooked cheeses of different emulsifying conditions on the viscosities, mechanical properties, fat globules, and microstructure of processed cheese was investigated, and changes in protein network relating to the creaming effect and the occurrence of yielding point were discussed. The addition of pre-cooked cheeses with a short stirring time had no obvious impact on the fat globules and protein network. The random network brought low viscosities and a gradual increase in the fracture stress/strain curve. The addition of pre-cooked cheeses with the long stirring time caused protein network to become fine-stranded. The fine-stranded network caused creaming effect, and brought yielding points in the mechanical properties. The pre-cooked cheese with the small fat globules also caused fat globules to become smaller, and give the processed cheese more firmness. This study provides a potential solution to control the functional properties of processed cheese by using a variety of pre-cooked cheeses.