Design and manufacturing of cheese drying machine

In this thesis, drying process was carried out for Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ) Farm Akçakatik cheese in a newly designed and manufactured cheese dryer. Akçakatik and Keş cheeses are among the projects carried out to support rural development and transform traditional products into industrial products at the dairy facility located at the MAKÜ Dairy Products and Technologies Application and Research Center, but drying processes cannot be carried out in these products on an industrial scale. This cheese group is obtained by drying in a cool place for at least 3 months after production. For other foods to be dried, such as these cheeses, drying systems are needed in which various parameters such as temperature, humidity, time and air velocity are optimized. The drying test of Maku Farm Akçakatik cheese was carried out in the designed cheese drying machine for 3 days, 3 hours a day at 25°C, 1,5 m/s air speed and the humidity level was 20%. When the titration acidity of the samples was examined during the drying process, it was observed that the acidity development continued with the drying of the product at a value close to room temperature. It was observed that the cheese lost its water rapidly during the applied process stages and the dry matter ratio reached 62.55% from 34.44%. The oil rate of the trial samples varied between 18-19.5%. The most important reason for this change is that the cheese loses its moisture due to evaporation and the component ratios change depending on the moisture loss. According to the oil content calculated on the dry matter, the oil content of the samples in the dry matter decreased from 52.26% to 31.17%. As can be understood from the literature, the dry matter values of the samples obtained in the study are quite close to those of cheeses that have matured for at least 2-3 months. For this reason, it can be said that there is rapid moisture loss from the product and the dry matter values reach the desired level in a short time. It is thought that with the changes to be made in the cheese drying machine design, energy efficiency can be contributed, as well as product quality improvements with different measurement parameters.