The manufacture of imitation cheese in a Farinograph was interrupted at various times and the casein matrix formed and the free liquid were collected and analysed During manufacture a torque profile was generated which showed three distinctive stages an initial torque peak peak-1 followed by a trough and finally a second peak-2 Analyses provided quantitative and qualitative evidence that the initial manufacturing stage (peak-1) was concerned with water uptake and the formation of a hydrated casein matrix as similar to 75% of the added water was absorbed Thy was followed by a fat emulsification phase (trough) and once sufficiently emulsified by the incorporation of the fat to form a homogeneous cheese mass at peak-2 A similar approach showed that the effect of emulsifying salts reduction was to retard casein hydration reflected in an increase in peak-1 torque and led to a prolonged mixing time to sufficiently emulsify fat and allow its incorporation (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved