Cultured Dairy Products

From milk receiving up to the filling machines, Tetra Pak provides solutions for every step of the way through a typical dairy. Tetra Pak has a large experience in providing optimized solutions for all the building blocks of a dairy plant. This experience allows processors to lower operational costs and build processing plants that meet strict environmental and safety standards.

High-temperature, short time (HTST) pasteurization is applied on liquid milk for consumption. For yogurt production, optimum results are achieved by heat treatment at 194-203 degrees fahrenheit (90-95 degrees celcius) for 5 minutes. The heat treatment will improve the milk properties as a substrate for the bacteria culture. As well, it makes the coagulum of the finished yogurt very firm, reducing the risk of whey separation.

Homogenization is an essential step in yogurt making. It prevents the cream from separating during the incubation period and assures a uniform distribution of the milk fat. Homogenization also improves the stability and the consistency of the finished product.

Tetra Pak offers unique solutions for yogurt production. Among many others, some important features are:

• Optimized energy recovery
• A unique spiral holding tube concept
• Gentle mechanical treatment
• Minimum product losses through smart control and pipe design
• Milk solids recovery whenever possible, through plant optimization and concentration through filtration
• Optimized CIP time, balanced with the highest level of hygiene
• Appropriate sizing of incubation and buffer tanks for process optimization

A number of essential options need to be reviewed for each process and pasteurizing step. Among them, for instance:

• Blending techniques such as high shear mixers for powder incorporation
• Water pasteurization
• Optimized yogurt cooling at low shear rate, keeping the best product texture
• Fruit dosing
• Hygienic culture inoculation