Methods of Manufacture and Factors Affecting Quality of Products

The manufacture of khoa, rabri and basundi is largely in the hands of private traders(halwais). They use highly primitive techniques essentially based on their experience.The scale of production is too small, each batch comprising of about 4-5 litres of milk. The equipment used for manufacture of these heat-desiccated dairy products are made up of iron or cast iron or mild steel. The conventional methods used by halwais for the manufacture of khoa, rabri and basundi though are simple and cost affective, they suffer from several inherent limitations. Some of these are given as below:

• Wide variations in chemical, microbial and sensory qualities from batch to batch.
• Small scale batch processes unsuitable for commercial adoption
• Low heat transfer coefficients causing equipment to be bulky
• Unsanitary operation due to open atmospheric desiccation
• Excessive strain and fatigue on the operator
• Poor packaging
• Limited shelf life of the product

Now, the technology of these products has been standardized. In case of khoa,continuous khoa making units have also been developed, and are presently being used by many organized dairies as well as by some large private traders.