Effect of Container Materials on Temperature Profiles of Large Blocks of Swiss and Cheddar Cheese

¹ Galloway West Co., Galloway West Technical Center, Fond du Lac, WI 54935
² Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan 84322

Temperature profiles in 290-kg blocks of stirred-curd Cheddar cheese cooled in stainless steel and plywood hoops were compared, as were temperature profiles in 66-kg blocks of Swiss cheese cooled in plastic and cardboard-pressboard boxes. Cooling rate in 290-kg stirred-curd Cheddar cheese blocks appeared to be affected by position in the block, physical effects of pressing and vacuum treatment, type of hoop material, heat generation by metabolism of starter culture bacteria, and latent heat of fusion of milk fat. It took 12 d for the center of the 290-kg cheese block in the stainless steel hoop and 14.75 d for the center of the 290-kg cheese block in the plywood hoop to cool from the 32°C hoop-filling temperature to the 2.2°C refrigerator temperature. Position cooling rate after the warm room treatment in 66-kg blocks of Swiss cheese appeared to be affected by position in the block, type of box material, and proximity of other blocks in the stack. It took 100 h for the center of the 66-kg cheese block in the plastic box and 140 h for the block in the cardboard-pressboard box to cool from 25.3 to 2.2°C.

Key Words: temperature • cooling • Cheddar cheese • Swiss cheese

Submitted on March 20, 1992
Accepted on June 2, 1992

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