Pearl sugar; process for preparing pearl sugar
AssigneeTiense Suikerraffinaderij N.V.
InventorsJoerg Bernard, Tillmann Doerr, Eric Borgers, Johan De Soete, Didier Goffin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is pearl sugar, having a biggest dimension between 5.6 and 8.0 mm, and a dissolution time at 20° C. lying between 3 minutes and 8 minutes, or a biggest dimension of smaller than 5.6, and a dissolution time at 20° C. lying between 1 minute and 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The invention further relates to a process for the preparation of pearl sugar, using a sugar-containing raw material which is brought to a moisture content lying between 0.5 and 4.0 wt. %, an average size of between 0.40 and 1.20 mm, and whereby at most 2 wt. % of particles have a size of at most 0.20 mm.
Claims17
A pearl sugar, comprising an agglomerate of sugar crystals of a monosaccharide, a disaccharide or a mixture of a monosaccharide and a disaccharide selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose, isomaltulose, tagatose, trehalulose, trehalose and sucrose, and mixtures thereof, wherein the agglomerate has an irregular shape having a maximum linear dimension of between 5.6 and 8.0 mm, and bulk density of between 600 and 700 kg/m3 wherein the agglomerate further has a pore radius of at least 10 μm and at most 70 μm, a grain density of between 1.20 and 1.35 g/cm3, and a dissolution time in demineralized water at 20° C. of between 3 minutes and 8 minutes and exhibits improved crunch when used in a baked food product.
A pearl sugar comprising an agglomerate of sugar crystals of a monosaccharide, a disaccharide, or a mixture of a monosaccharide and a disaccharide selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose, isomaltulose, tagatose, trehalulose, trehalose and sucrose, and mixtures thereof, wherein the maximum linear size is smaller than 5.6 mm, wherein the agglomerate has a bulk density of between 600 and 700 kg/m3, wherein the agglomerate further has a pore radius of at least 10 μm and at most 70 μm, a grain density of between 1.20 and 1.35 g/cm3, and a dissolution time in demineralized water at 20° C., of between 1 minute and 3 minutes and 30 seconds and exhibits improved crunch when used in a baked food product.
A process for the preparation of a pearl sugar comprising an agglomerate of pearl sugar crystals useful for providing improved crunch to a baked food product comprising the steps of:
- (A) a preparatory step, in which a raw material containing crystals of a monosaccharide, a disaccharide or a mixture of a monosaccharide and a disaccharide selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose, isomaltulose, tagatose, trehalulose, trehalose and sucrose, and mixtures thereof is brought to a moisture content between 0.5 and 4.0 wt. %, whereby the raw material has an average crystal size dimension of between 0.40 and 1.20 mm and contains at most 2 wt. % of crystal particles having a crystal size of at most 0.20 mm;
- (B) a pressing step, wherein the raw material from step (A) is pressed into briquettes;
- (C) a drying step, wherein the briquettes of step (B) are dried;
- (D) a maturation step, wherein the dried briquettes from step (C) are subjected to the action of air having relative humidity between 30 and 70% and a temperature between 15 and 35° C. for a residence time of at least 12 hours;
- and
- (E) a breaking step, wherein the briquettes from step (D) are milled or broken to form particles of agglomerates of said sugar crystals having an irregular shape having a maximum linear dimension of between 5.6 and 8.0 mm and a bulk density of between 600 and 700 kg/m3, and wherein each agglomerate has a pore radius of at least 10 μm and at most 70 μm, a grain density of between 1.20 and 1.35 g/cm3, and a dissolution time in demineralized water at 20° C., of between 3 minutes and 8 minutes, and exhibits crunch;
- and
- (F) optionally a sieving step, wherein the agglomerates of pearl sugar crystals from step (E) is brought to a defined range of agglomerate particle sizes.
A process for the preparation of an agglomerate of pearl sugar crystals formed by the steps of:
- (A) a preparatory step, in which a raw material containing crystals of a monosaccharide and a disaccharide selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose, isomaltulose, tagatose, trehalulose, trehalose and sucrose, and mixtures thereof is brought to a moisture content between 0.5 and 4.0 wt. %, whereby the raw material has an average crystal size dimension of between 0.40 and 1.20 mm and contains at most 2 wt. % of crystal particles having a crystal size of at most 0.20 mm;
- (B) a pressing step, wherein the raw material is pressed into briquettes;
- (C) a drying step, wherein the briquettes are pre-dried;
- (D) a maturation step, wherein the pre-dried briquettes are subjected to the action of air having relative humidity between 30 and 70% and a temperature between 15 and 35° C. for a residence time of at least 12 hours;
- and
- (E) a breaking step, wherein the dried briquettes are milled or broken to form particles of agglomerates of pearl sugar crystals having an irregular shape having a maximum linear dimension, wherein the maximum linear dimension is smaller than 5.6, and wherein each agglomerate has a pore radius of at least 10 μm and at most 70 μm, a grain density of between 1.20 and 1.35 g/cm3, and a bulk density of between 600 and 700 kg/m3, and a dissolution time in demineralized water at 20° C. of between 1 minute and 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and exhibits crunch;
- and
- (F) optionally a sieving step, wherein the agglomerates of pearl sugar crystals from step (E) is brought to a defined range of agglomerate particle sizes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.