Use of cheese on a pizza is the form in which most mozzarella cheese is consumed and so pizza consumption is strongly related to market demand for mozzarella cheese. Different pizza operators often have different expectations for how mozzarella cheese should perform when baked on a pizza. This project looks at the three major ways that determine mozzarella cheese functionality: (1) the starter cultures that are used, (2) some underlying compositional factors (fat content of the cheese and calcium content).
For the work being performed by this student, cheese will be made in the Utah State University Creamery using 1200lb. of milk in an enclosed vat. Curd will be cooked/stretched using a single screw cooker. These cheeses will then be tested using a variety of methods during seven weeks of storage to see how well the cheese can be shredded, how well it melts and the amount of stretch it retains, as well as baking on a pizza to characterize its browning and blister formation.
