System and method for producing a dehydrated food product
OwnerJack Mazininventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for preparing a dried food product said process comprising treating a dried food with an aqueous acidulant, in an amount and for a period of time which is sufficient to modify a surface of the food to increase water permeability; dehydrating the acidified food to obtain a desired moisture content with heat; cooling the heated dehydrated acidified food; and infusing the cooled dehydrated acidified food with an infusate.
Claims20
A food product, comprising a dried fruit which has been rehydrated with an aqueous acidulant during agitation, to increase a porosity of a dried fruit skin and remove non-fruit components and dissolve at least a portion of soluble fruit components to produce a rehydrated fruit, which is subsequently dehydrated at a temperature above about 150 F, until a desired moisture content is achieved, to produce a porisified dehydrated fruit, and thereafter cooling to a temperature below about 100 F and infusing with a liquid heat labile infusate which adds at least one flavor or nutritional component to the porosified dehydrated fruit, to produce an infused dried fruit.
A method of forming a food product, comprising:
- rehydrating a dried fruit with an aqueous acidulant during tumbling in a continuous process cascading drum, to increase a porosity of a dried fruit skin and remove non-fruit components and dissolve at least a portion of soluble fruit components to produce a rehydrated fruit;
- draining aqueous acidulent and debris;
- dehydrating the drained rehydrated fruit at a temperature above about 150 F, until a desired moisture content is achieved, to produce a porisified dehydrated fruit;
- cooling the porisified dehydrated fruit to a temperature below about 100 F;
- infusing the cooled porisified dehydrated fruit with a liquid heat labile infusate which adds at least one flavor or nutritional component, to produce an infused dried fruit.
A continuous process for preparing a dried food product said process comprising:
- (a) treating a dried food by submersing at least a portion of the dried food supplied by a first conveyor, in a warm aqueous acidulant in an inclined axis continuous horizontal tumbler system, for a period of time which is sufficient to modify a surface of the food to increase water permeability of a dried food skin and at least partially rehydrate the dried food, while removing a portion of a water soluble sugar component of the dried food near an outer surface which causes stickiness and clumping;
- (b) dehydrating the treated dried food by maintaining the at least partially rehydrated dried food at a temperature above about 150 F withdraw from the inclined axis continuous horizontal tumbler system on a second conveyor system, the at least partially dehydrated treated food having reduced clumping and stickiness with respect to the untreated dried food;
- (c) cooling the dehydrated treated food to a temperature below about 100 F by at least flowing cold air over the at least partially dehydrated dried food on a third conveyor system;
- (d) spray infusing the cooled dehydrated treated food with a heat labile infusate to evenly coat the cooled dehydrated treated food without substantially rehydrating the cooled dehydrated treated food;
- and
- (e) continuously packaging the infused cooled dehydrated treated food in a series of separate vapor barrier packages at a temperature of between a temperature above a freezing point and 50 F,
- wherein the aqueous acidulent flows down an inclined portion of the inclines axis continuous horizontal tumbler in a same flow direction as the dried food, and at least a portion of the aqueous acidulent which has already been used to treat the dried food is captured from a bottom portion of the continuous tumbler, filtered and recycled at a top portion of the continuous tumbler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.