CREAM

Cream??????
• Cream may be defined as that portion of milk which is
rich in milk fat or that portion of milk into which fat has
been gathered and which contains a large portion of milk
fat, or when milk fat is concentrated into a fraction of the
original milk, that portion is known as cream’.
• In India, as per the PFA rules (1976), cream, excluding
sterilized cream, is the product of cow or buffalo milk or a
combination thereof, which contains not less than 25 %
milk fat.
• Cream is rich in energy giving fat and fat-soluble vitamins
A, D, E, and K, the contents of which depends on the fat
level in cream.
 Composition of cream

• Water: 45.45 - 68.2%

• Fat: 25 - 60%
• Protein:1.69 - 2.54%
• Lactose: 2.47 - 3.71%
• Ash: 0.37 - 0.56%
• Total solids : 31.8 -54.55%
• Solids not fat : 4.55 - 6.80%
 Manufacture of cream

• I. Gravity method
• II. Centrifugal method
 I. Gravity method

• When the milk is allowed to stand undisturbed for some

time, there is a tendency for the fat to rise to the top due to
difference in the specific gravity of fat and the rest of the
components.
• But the gravity method being very slow, no longer
commercially used for the separation of cream.
 II. Centrifugal method

• Centrifugal cream separators are similar to milk clarifiers

in that they consist of a stack of conical discs housed in a
separator bowl and rotated at high speed by an electric
motor.
• The separator is a unit, which removes most of the milk fat
from milk by centrifugal force.
• Its principal components are power source, a separator
bowl, a set of gears and shafts, a product inlet and a
product outlet for cream and skim milk.
• The separator bowl consists of an outer shell within which
are a large number of cone shaped discs constructed so
that between each pair is a very small space of not more
than 0.5 mm.
Characteristics of gravity and centrifugal cream methods
Gravity Centrifugal
Particulars methods methods
Nature of force causing separation Gravitational centrifugal
Practically
Speed of separation Extremely slow
instant
Direction of movement of fat and
Vertical Horizontal
skim milk particles
Bacteriological quality of cream and
Low High
skim milk
(18-85) can be
Fat percentage of cream (0-25)
controlled
Fat percentage of skim milk 0.2 or above 0.1 or less
Scale of operation Small Large
Not more than
Fat percentage recovered in cream 99-99.5%
90
 Uses of Cream
• The cream can be used for direct consumption in the form
of table or whipping or coffee cream. It can be incorporated
in the production of special dishes.
• Its utility in the production of plastic, frozen and sour
cream is noteworthy. Cream acts as a raw material in the
production of butter, ice cream, butter oil and ghee, an
indigenous dairy product.
• Cream also finds a place in the creaming of cottage
cheese.