STRATEGIES TO CONTROL BLISTERING AND BROWNING IN LOW-MOISTURE PART-SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE BAKED ON PIZZA

Abstract

Most food-service retailers serving pizzas with LMPS Mozzarella cheese utilize forced-air ovens for rapid baking. A forced-air oven is an oven in which hot air is continuously blown on the pizza from above and sometimes below as the pizza travels down a short, timed conveyor. This oven is economically beneficial for retailers due to the quick baking of pizzas. However, this method of baking has some drawbacks. Surface browning of the cheese, a Maillard reaction occurring on the cheese-air interface, is much more prevalent when using forced air ovens due to their high heating rate (Thorton, 2022). Surface browning can be considered a defect, if excessive. Thus, producers and retailers of LMPS Mozzarella are interested in developing strategies to control surface browning on pizzas baked in forced-air ovens.