The effect of fat content in cheese curds on
their rheological properties was examined using dynamic
shear measurements. Surplus fat addition to milk samples
caused two distinct types of changes in the temperature
dependence of the viscoelastic moduli of resultant curds.
The first was a significant reduction in the moduli over a
wide temperature range, which is attributed to the presence
of liquefied fat globules within the milk protein network.
The second was the excess contribution to the low-temperature
moduli owing to the reinforcing effect of solidified fat
globules. An upward shift in the sol–gel phase transition
temperature driven by an increased fat content was also
observed.