Extra Thin Tortilla and Method of Making
AssigneeGeneral Mills, Inc.
InventorsCarina Claudia Cammarota, Jose Daniel Estrada Andino, Lindsey Golinski, Yoon Lai Hor, Mikel Lizarraga Cabañas, Anabel Ovejas, Asier Ruiz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Thin, strong tortillas are formed from a dough containing a wheat component, that includes gluten in an amount of about 1.5% to about 10% by dry weight of the dough, and a tapioca starch in an amount of about 2.5% to about 25% by dry weight of the dough. With this formulation, a tortilla can be formed to be less than 1.2 mm in thickness, yet have toughness comparable to thicker, commercially available tortillas.
Claims21
A packaged, ready-to-eat (RTE) tortilla, comprising:
- a. a wheat component in an amount of about 55% to about 75% by dry weight of the tortilla, including a gluten content of about 1.5% to about 10% by dry weight of the tortilla;
- b. tapioca starch in an amount of about 2.5% to about 25% by dry weight of the tortilla;
- c. a fat content of about 3.5% to about 14% by dry weight of the tortilla;
- d. a glycerol content of about 4% to about 9% by dry weight of the tortilla;
- e. a thickness of about 0.5 mm to less than 1.2 mm;
- f. a toughness over thickness value of at least 500 g/mm;
- g. a water activity of less than 0.90;
- and
- h. a shelf life of at least 3 months.
A method of making a ready-to-eat (RTE) tortilla, comprising:
- a. combining ingredients to make a dough, the dough including:
- 1) a wheat component in an amount of about 55% to about 75% by dry weight of the dough, including a gluten content of about 1.5% to about 10% by dry weight of the dough;
- 2) tapioca starch in an amount of about 2.5% to about 25% by dry weight of the dough;
- 3) a fat content of about 3.5% to about 14% by dry weight of the dough;
- 4) a glycerol content of about 4% to about 9% by dry weight of the dough;
- and
- 5) a moisture content of about 30% to about 50% by weight of the dough;
- b. forming the dough into an uncooked tortilla having a thickness of about 0.5 mm to less than 1.2 mm;
- c. cooking the uncooked tortilla to a moisture content of from about 20% to about 30% to form the RTE tortilla, where the RTE tortilla has water activity of less than 0.9, a thickness of about 0.5 mm to less than 1.2 mm, and a toughness over thickness value of at least 500 g/mm.
(canceled)
A method of preserving a packaged, ready-to-eat (RTE) tortilla, comprising:
- a. combining ingredients to make a tortilla dough that contains no artificial preservative or natural preservative;
- b. adjusting the dough to a pH of at least 9;
- c. forming the dough into an uncooked tortilla;
- c. cooking the uncooked tortilla to form the RTE tortilla, where the RTE tortilla has water activity of about 0.86 to less than 0.97 and a shelf life of at least 3 months.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.