Quick cooking barley and process
AssigneeProgressive Foods Inc.
InventorsHong Qi, Constance Mary Phillips, Marshall Vance Eliason
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for processing barley to make a quick-cooking barley product is described. Barley is pearled to remove hulls, and is then precooked to raise the moisture content and gelatinize starch in a single step. The precooked barley is dried in two stages. The first drying stage causes case hardening of the kernel, while the second stage heats moisture trapped within the kernel to cause steam expulsion from the hardened kernel and final drying of the precooked barley. The resulting dried product is a porous kernel that may be shipped, stored, and easily reconstituted by the end user.
Claims12
A method for processing barley to produce a precooked, dried barley product comprising the steps of:
- pearling raw barley;
- soaking and precooking the barley in a single step to gelatinize starch within the barley kernel and raise moisture content of the barley to at least 60%;
- drying the precooked barley at a first temperature of greater than about 160° C. until case hardening of the barley kernel is achieved;
- drying the case hardened barley at a second temperature less than or about 140° C.
A barley product having a bulk density of between 500-600 kg/m3, a moisture content of less than 10%, and which is reconstituted by boiling in water for less than about 20 minutes to produce a cooked barley product similar in texture and appearance to that of dehulled, unprocessed cooked barley of the same variety.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.