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INTRODUCTION When looking at Pizzas, one topping you'll find on most every pizza is Mozzarella Cheese. In the following we will try and give you all the necessary information to assist in your pursuit of one of the largest segments of the food service industry. The pizza market which accounts for more than 10% of the total industry. PART SKIM VS. WHOLE MILK When determining whether to use part skim or whole milk mozzarella operators should decide what they are looking for in terms of characteristics. The characteristics such as stretch, toughness, oiliness, flavor profile, browning and yield/coverage. In general, PART SKIM (2% Butter Fat) MOZZARELLA CHEESE, also referred to as 2% Mozzarella, will offer:* Greater StretchIn General, WHOLE MILK (2.6% Butter Fat) MOZZARELLA CHEESE, also referred to as 3% Mozzarella, will offer: AGING MOZZARELLA Mozzarella is correctly viewed as a cheese that requires aging. Newly manufactured mozzarella is unacceptable as a pizza ingredient because it melts to tough, very elastic and somewhat granular consistency with poor water holding capacity and limited stretch. However, with too much aging the cheese becomes excessively soft and fluid when melted and is no longer acceptable for pizza. Mozzarella needs approximately ten days to develop its flavor profile. From the tenth day of its 30 day life, mozzarella should have its optimum flavor profile, meltability and workability. After the first 30 days of life the cheese will begin loosing these qualities, however, flavor profile normally holds true to form. Variables to this process can be caused by the product specs being out of order or poor handling during the life of the cheese. PRICING MOZZARELLA Mozzarella cheese pricing is based on the Block Market. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange daily buy and sell quantities of Cheddar Barrels or Cheddar Blocks in a central and orderly fashion. The average market price for the week is what the industry uses as a base point for pricing the following week. It is here, where every week, they establish the Barrel Market and the Block Market. You can find out the daily market pricing by clicking on the "Market Update" link. The following categories are based on the preceding markets: Barrel MarketFORMS OF MOZZARELLA Mozzarella comes in a variety of forms. * 5-6 lb. LoavesGLOSSARY OF TERMS Aging: Often referred to as curing or ripening, aging is the process of holding cheeses in carefully controlled environments to allow the development of micro-organisms which usually accentuate the basic cheese flavors. Butterfat: A term used to describe the fat content of milk. Mozzarella: A fresh cheese with a bland, slightly nutlike flavor. It has a low melting point and becomes very elastic which makes it a major ingredient for pizza and other Italian dishes. Oily: A descriptive term that may refer to texture, aroma and flavor. Cheese held out of refrigeration for extended periods may also appear oily. Part-Skim: A term used to denote the manufacture of a cheese, such as Mozzarella, with partly skimmed milk. This yields a lower-fat cheese that may have desirable properties compared to the full-fat cheeses. Part-Skim Cheese: Cheese made entirely or partly from milk that has some of the fat skimmed (removed). Can be as low as 1% butterfat as in skim milk. Skimmed Milk: The milk which remains after all or part of the cream containing the fat has been removed. Whole Milk: Milk that is neither skimmed nor enriched with extra cream. Whole Milk Cheese: Cheese made from full fat milk. |
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F & A Cheese Corporation P. O. Box 19127 2040 Main Street, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92623-9127 (800) 634-4109 |