BROWNING OF MOZZARELLA-CHEESE DURING HIGH-TEMPERATURE PIZZA BAKING

The objective of this study was to evaluate various properties of low browning Mozzarella cheese. Low moisture, part skim type Mozzarella ch eese was made using strains of Streptococcus spp. and Lactobacillus he lveticus that release inappreciable amounts of galactose into the chee se curd and was compared with high browning cheese made using cultures that release galactose into the curd. Cheese composition differed onl y for galactose content. The browning potentials of the cheeses were s ignificantly different. Pizzas were made using 125 g of each cheese ty pe and evaluated for appearance, texture, and flavor by a consumer pan el. Panelists could distinguish between pizza samples based on color o f the baked pizza, although no differences or preferences based on any of the other criteria were discernible. Both brown and low browned pi zza were acceptable by the panelists, indicating that browning of Mozz arella cheese on pizza was not an undesirable property.