MODIFIED PROCESS FOR CONTINUOUS YOGURT MANUFACTURE

At the standard manufacture of yoghurt several energy-consuming heatin g and cooling steps are required to obtain the desired product quality . Therefore simplifications without quality loss are worth while. The modified process is organized in such a way that the temperature-time curve only has a single maximum for the whole process. An increase of dry matter by evaporation of yoghurt milk for better yoghurt consisten cy is simultaneously achieved. In this process the initial milk is hol d at 90 - 95 degrees C for several minutes, subsequently heated at 120 - 140 degrees C and hold at his temperature for a few seconds to be a fterwards cooled and concentrated by flash evaporation. The addition o f yoghurt culture follows by using the pressure difference between und erpressure in flash vessel and atmospheric pressure. The aforementione d process aseptically occurs in a continuously operating plant. The he at energy is repeatedly recovered in further process steps as e.g. for concentration of milk and in the air condition system of the incubati on room. Experiments for yoghurt manufacture have been successfully pe rformed.