Short communication: comparison of covered and uncovered Schreiber test for cheese meltability evaluation.

Schreiber meltability tests were performed on glass Petri dishes, with and without the Petri dish cover placed over the cheese samples, at 100, 150, and 232 degrees C. Meltability of different process cheese and Cheddar cheese samples was determined based on the melt spread distance and area. At the test temperature of 232 degrees C, the covered Schreiber was significantly superior to the uncovered test because of no crust formation, no browning, and a circular melting pattern, which were attributed to the barrier effect of covering the cheese samples (which inhibits moisture loss during the test). The covered Schreiber test data were statistically more robust as measured by the lower average coefficient of variation than the data from the traditional uncovered Schreiber test.