GELCOOK – The mechanism behind formation of cookable milk gels

Consumers are presently focusing on alternatives to meat, which can be served as part of a main meal. An already existing alternative is paneer, a South Asian dairy product produced by combined heat treatment and acidification. This combined processing promises in terms of producing milk-based alternatives to meat as it appears to enable creation of a good texture that it stable to most cooking techniques. However, there is a lack of basic understanding of the stability and microstructure of paneer and similar products. The purpose of the GELCOOK project is to understand the mechanisms for how a combination of heat treatment and acidification can ensure dairy products with good stability and the possibility of use as an alternative to meat.

By: Grith Mortensen

Initially, the basic aspects of combined heat treatment and acidification of milk are investigated. This is done to clarify what effect the combination of acidification and heat treatment (at 80 degrees) has on protein denaturation and gelation. Following, the scientist will investigate how processing affects the microstructure of cooking stable milk gels. The sensory properties of the milk gels and their functionality are then assessed in relation to further preparations in the kitchen. In this phase, the product's durability and quality are also tested. Finally, the possibilities for scaling up the processes from laboratory scale to pilot scale are investigated.

The GELCOOK-project is an Indian-Danish collaboration, involving University of Copenhagen and the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in India as well as Arla Foods. The project will provide knowledge that can be used by the dairy companies to develop new, cookable milk gels functioning as attractive meat alternatives.