Pizza cheese
Processed pizza cheese is manufactured to produce optimal qualities in browning, melting, stretchiness and fat and moisture content.
Several studies and experiments have analyzed the impact of vegetable oil, manufacturing and culture processes,[3] denatured whey proteins[4][5] and other changes to create ideal and economical pizza cheeses.
The trend of steadily-increasing production and consumption of mozzarella and pizza cheese continued into the first decade of the 21st century in the United States.
[1] Low-moisture Mozzarella was first manufactured in dairy factories in the Midwestern United States, and was originally called "pizza cheese".
[28] Each year in the United States, 700 million frozen pizzas are sold, three-quarters of which contain cheese substitutes.
[33] Casein-based Mozzarella-like imitation processed cheeses prepared using rennet are also used as a Mozzarella substitute on frozen pizzas.
[33] During packaging, these types of pizza cheeses are then quick-cooled to avoid browning of the product, which can occur via the Maillard reaction.
[33] Manufacturers and academics have conducted studies and experiments in an effort to improve the stretchiness, melting characteristics, browning, fat content and water retention of pizza cheese.
[35][36][37] A study by Rudan and Barbano found that the addition of a thin layer of vegetable oil atop low- and reduced-fat pizza cheese increased meltability and reduced browning and dehydration when the product was cooked, but the texture remained overly chewy and tough.
[28] A study by Perry et al. found various methods to heighten the melt of low-fat pizza cheese by increasing its moisture, including the use of pre-acidification, fat-replacers, and exopolysaccharide starter cultures as well as higher pasteurization temperatures.
[39] An experiment published in the International Journal of Dairy Technology suggested that the level of galactose, a monosaccharide sugar that is less sweet than glucose and fructose, can be reduced using different culture techniques.
[4] Some consumers prefer pizza cheese with less browning, which can be achieved using low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella with a low galactose content.
[40][nb 1] Some varieties derived from skim mozzarella variants were designed not to require aging or the use of fermentation starter.
[1] Cheddar may be used more in the Eastern and Southern regions of the U.S.[1] Provel cheese is typically used in the preparation of St. Louis-style pizza in the U.S.[52]
