Enhancing puffable food products and for production thereof
AssigneesWynn Starr Flavors, Inc., Morii Foods Co., Ltd.
InventorsKazuaki Morii, Kiyoshi Morii, Simpey Kuramoto, Roland Abate
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a puffable food product suitable for puffing by microwaving, deep fat frying and hot air cooking. The puffable food product can be formed by a method of mixing a starch with water at a temperature and for a time sufficient to at least partially gelatinize the starch, forming the mixture into a sheet and subjecting the sheet to a steam treatment to fully gelatinize the starch. The sheet is then cooled and cut into pellets of a desired shape and the pellets are dried. The inclusion of flavoring or seasonings and the control of pH to improve the puffability is also disclosed.
Claims56
A puffable food product comprising:
- (a) a gelatinized food starch having from about 7.5% to 19% by weight moisture content, a pH between 4 and 7, whey, and less than about 0.1% protein, the dough being free of maltodextrin and leavening.
A mixture for forming a puffable food product, the mixture comprising:
- (a) a fully ungelatinized food starch;
- (b) between about 0.1% to 5% whey;
- (c) a protein content less than 0.1%;
- and
- (d) between 0.1 to 5% weight sugar.
A dough for gelatinization to form a puffable food product, the dough comprising:
- (a) a partially gelatinized potato starch;
- (b) between 0.1 to 5% weight whey;
- and
- (c) an edible acid homogeneously distributed throughout the dough to provide a dough pH less than 7, the dough having less than 1% protein by weight.
A puffable food product comprising:
- (a) fully gelatinized food starch having less than 0.1% protein by weight and a pH less than 6.5.
A mixture for forming a puffable food product, the dough comprising:
- (a) a gelatinizable food starch mixture having less than 0.1% protein by weight, and a pH less than 6.5, and a fully ungelatinized starch.
A method for preparing a puffable food product comprising:
- (a) mixing a gelatinizable starch containing only trace amounts of protein with water at a temperature and for a time sufficient to at least partially gelatinize the starch;
- (b) forming the mixture from step (a) into a sheet and subjecting the sheet to a steam treatment to completely gelatinize the starch;
- (c) cooling the gelatinized starch to below ambient temperature;
- (d) shaping the sheet from step (c) into pellets;
- and
- (e) drying the pellets to a moisture content in the range of from about 7.5% to about 19% by weight of the mixture.
A method for forming a puffable food product particles, comprising:
- (a) partially gelatinizing a mixture of potato starch and water, the mixture having less than 1% protein by weight;
- (b) forming the partially gelatinized mixture into a sheet;
- (c) fully gelatinizing the sheet to an initial moisture content;
- (d) cooling the fully gelatinized sheet below room temperature to a moisture content below the initial moisture content and above 18%;
- and
- (e) subdividing the sheet to form a plurality of particles.
A puffable food product comprising:
- (a) fully gelatinized food starch having a first flavoring disposed within the gelatinized food starch and a second flavoring on a surface of the gelatinized food starch.
A puffable food product comprising:
- (a) a gelatinized mixture of starch, salt and a carbohydrate in the form of a body;
- and
- (b) a flavoring on an external surface of the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.