Manufacturing camel cheese: the experience of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Unlike other dairy products, camel cheese processing is recent. Thanks to recombinant camel chymosin, camel cheese making is easier. In Saudi Arabia, camel cheese making was developed for last 4 years in the Camel project (FAO project). Our cheeses are made with fresh milk strictly controlled for their microbiological quality (coliform, total flora). The milk composition is known, all samples being analyzed with Milkoscan-FOSS FT1 ©. Different starters are used from Coquard © (France) according to the type of cheese expected. All along the process, the pH is checked (draining, moulding, pressing, salting). The composition of the whey is also determined. At the end of the process, after salting, dry matter and final pH are measured as well as the total yield. Cheese of Haloumi type are pasteurized in their whey and packaged under vacuum. Some cheeses are ripening in special cave for few weeks (Mozzarella, Feta) or months (Camembert, Saint- Paulin). The cheese yield is depending of the cheese type but occurs between 8 and 12%. Sensory tests are performed. These cheeses are available on the market. Different experiments are performed in order to test the effect of different starters. (Résumé d'auteur