Abstract: A method of making blocks of pasta filata cheese, by laminating ribbons of cheese to a desired thickness, and cutting the ribbons to length. A plastic ribbon of hot, pasta filata cheese is extruded onto a conveyor. While on the conveyor, the ribbon is chilled by either brine, cold water, or super chilled air. Heat is removed from the ribbon, only until the ribbon has set up, and is self supporting. The set up ribbon is stacked on other ribbon while the ribbon is being transported. The stacked ribbons laminate at the ribbon to ribbon contact surfaces. Lengths of the laminated ribbon are cut into blocks.

Abstract: A device for extruding cheese pieces; warm plastic cheese is extruded into a bore; a piston seals one end of the bore and a cheese working plate seals the other end; a mold is positioned below the bore, the mold top in sliding engagement with the cheese working plate, the mold bottom in sliding engagement with a mold support plate; holes in the cheese working plate, in the mold and in the support plate, align with the bore; the piston is forced through the bore, forcing the cheese in the bore, at high pressure, through the holes in the working plate, filling the mold holes with cheese; when the mold holes have filled, continued pressure by the piston forces a small amount of cheese out of the mold holes into small weeper holes; the piston is withdrawn to the top of the bore and the bore refilled with cheese; the filled mold is reciprocated under an ejector which forces the formed pieces out of the mold, into moving brine; in the best method, two molds are reciprocated between two bores and a single centrally

Abstract: A device and method for forming pieces of cheese weighing several ounces or less while retaining the skin normally formed on the cheese piece in the cooling process, and at the same time obtaining a desired internal structure. Warm plastic cheese is extruded into a first mold having a sliding low friction end cap, by means of a screw extruder, at 1000 pounds per square inch; the first mold is then positioned over a second mold having a plurality of forming chambers formed therethrough, the second mold is made of UHMW and the volume of the second mold is slightly less than the volume of the first mold. Pressure at 3000 pounds per square inch is applied to the mold end cap while the cheese in the first mold is still plastic, forcing the cheese into the forming chambers; the cheese pieces formed are retained in the forming chamber until a skin is formed and then they are ejected into a brining tank.