Effect of heat treatment, evaporation and spray drying during skim milk powder manufacture on the compositional and processing characteristics of reconstituted skim milk and concentrate

The effects of key manufacturing steps (heat treatment, evaporation and spray drying) during the manufacture of low- and high-heat skim milk powders (SMP) on the physico-chemical and processing characteristics of milk, and concentrates of varying total solids (TS) levels prepared by reconstituting the milk powders, were evaluated. Milk heat treatment had the most pronounced effect, with an increase in severity of heat treatment from 72 °C × 15 s to 120 °C × 120 s, prior to evaporation resulting in higher heat coagulation time (HCT) at pH 6.3–6.6 and ethanol stability (ES) at pH 6.2–6.6, and a marked deterioration of rennet-induced coagulability. Increasing TS of the milk on reconstitution from 9.4 to 25% reduced HCT at pH >6.3 and ES at pH 6.6–7.0, increased ES at pH 6.2–6.4, and led to partial recovery of rennet-coagulability. The results highlight how heat treatment may be used to customise the functionality of SMP to different applications.