Traditional Dairy Products

Module 9. Paneer

Lesson 21
PANEER-PRODUCT DESCRIPTION-STANDARDS-METHOD OF MANUFACTURE

21.1 Product description

Paneer is a heat-acid coagulated milk product obtained by coagulating standardized milk with the permitted acids at specified temperature. The resultant coagulum is filtered and pressed to get the sliceable curd mass. Paneer has a firm, close, cohesive and spongy body and smooth texture. It is mainly prepared from buffalo milk and used for large number of culinary dishes. Though originally it was localized in Northern part of India but now it is preferred almost all parts of the country. Paneer is generally sold as blocks or slices, it is also referred as Indian fresh cheese. It is reported that about 5% of the milk produced in India is converted into paneer and paneer production is growing annually at the rate of 13%.

21.2 Chemistry of Milk Coagulation During Paneer Production

The phenomenon of coagulation involves formation of large structural aggregates and network of protein in which milk fat globules gets embedded. Acid and heat treatment causes the physical and chemical changes in casein. Heating causes interaction of ß-lactoglobulin with ĸ-casein and the complex formed between ß-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin. Acidification initiates the progressive removal of tri-calcium phosphate from the surface of the casein and it gets converted into mono-calcium phosphate. Further calcium is progressively removed from calcium hydrogen caseinate to form soluble calcium salt and casein. Colloidal dispersion of discrete casein micelles changes into large structural aggregates of casein. Under such a circumstance dispersion is no longer stable, casein gets precipitated and forms coagulum. Fat is embedded in the casein network.

21.3 Legal Standards

21.3.1 FSSR - 2011 standards of paneer

Paneer means the product obtained from the cow or buffalo milk or a combination thereof by precipitation with sour milk, lactic acid, or citric acid. It shall not contain more than 70% moisture and milk fat content shall not be less than 50% of the dry matter. Milk solids may also be used in the preparation of paneer. Low fat paneer shall contain not more than 70% moisture and not more than 15% milk fat on dry matter basis. Microbial standards suggested by FSSR-2011 and BIS are given in Table 21.1 and Table 21.2 respectively.

Table 21.1 FSSR - 2011 standards for microbial quality of paneer




Table 21.2 BIS standards for paneer

21.4 Method of Manufacture

21.4.1 Traditional method of manufacture

Fig. 21.1 Flowchart depicting traditional method of paneer manufacturing

Buffalo milk is boiled in a bigger iron vessel and a small portion of this is transferred to a smaller vessel. The coagulant (usually sour whey) is added to hot milk and stirred with a ladle till coagulation is completed. The contents of the vessel are emptied over a piece of coarse cloth to drain off whey. The whole process is repeated till all the milk is coagulated. The curd is collected after draining the whey and pressed to remove more whey. Finally, product is then dipped in chilled water.

21.4.2 Industrial method for paneer making

Fig. 21.2 Flowchart depicting industrial method of paneer manufacturing

Buffalo milk is standardized to 4.5% fat and 8.5% SNF (standardize the buffalo milk to a fat: SNF ratio of 1:1.65). Milk is heated to 90°C without holding (or 82°C with 5 min holding) in a jacketed vat and cooled down to 70°C. Coagulation is done at about 70°C by slowly adding 1% citric acid solution(70°C) with constant stirring till a clean whey is separated at (pH 5.30 to 5.35) and coagulum is allowed to settle for 5 min and drained off the whey. The curd so obtained is filled into hoops lined with muslin or cheese cloth. Pressure is applied on top of the hoop at a rate of 0.5 to 1kg/cm². The pressed blocks of paneer are removed from the hoops and immersed in pasteurized chilled water for 2-3 hr. The chilled paneer is then removed from water to drain out. Finally paneer blocks are wrapped in parchment paper / polyethylene bags and placed in cold room at about 5 to 10°C.

21.4.3 Paneer from cow milk

Cow milk yields an inferior product in terms of body and texture. It is criticized to be too soft, weak and fragile and unsuitable for frying and cooking. Buffalo milk contains considerably higher level of casein and minerals particularly calcium and phosphorous, which tends to produce hard and rubbery body while cow milk produces soft and mellow characteristics. By replacing one third of buffalo milk with cow milk, a good quality paneer can be made. Buffalo milk paneer retains higher fat, protein and ash content and lactose as compared to cow milk paneer. To make paneer exclusively from cow milk, certain modifications in the conventional procedure have to be made. Addition of calcium chloride at the rate of 0.08 to 0.1% to milk helps in getting a compact, sliceable, firm and cohesive body and closely knit texture. A higher temperature of coagulation (85°-90°C) with coagulation of milk at pH 5.20 to 5.25 helps in producing good quality paneer from cow milk. However, at this pH of coagulation, moisture, yield and solids recovery are less.