Dehydrated refried bean product and methods of manufacture
OwnerMark H. Sterner, Mark M. Sterner +1inventors
InventorsMark H. Sterner, Mark M. Sterner, Ronald S. O. Zane
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Processes for producing a dried leguminosae to form an instantly reconstitutable product having the appearance texture and consistency of conventionally prepared commestibles are disclosed. In the production of these commestibles, the leguminosae are cooked in a manner to maintain the skin generally intact and subsequently non-comminutively pressed to minimize grittiness and graininess of the resultant product. The pressed product is of sufficient thickness to facilitate rapid dehydration and rapid reconstitution to provide a resultant reconstituted product which assimilates the organoleptic characteristics of conventionally prepared non-dehydrated product.
Claims24
A process for producing an instantly reconstitutable leguminous commestible to form a reconstituted food product having the characteristic flavor, texture, and color of conventionally prepared leguminous commestibles comprising the steps:
- cooking a leguminous commestible in a rotating pressure vessel having a predetermined amount of water for a period of time and at a temperature and pressure sufficient to render the leguminous commestible soft and palatable yet leaving the structural integrity of the leguminous commestible largely in tact;
- removing any excess water from said cooked leguminous commestible;
- non-comminutively pressing said leguminous commestible to possess a thickness between 0.005 to 0.200 inches;
- and
- dehydrating said pressed leguminous commestible to a moisture content of approximately seven to ten percent to form a reconstitutable leguminous commestible, said reconstitutable leguminous commestible being instantly reconstitutable with water to form a product containing particulate matter and having the flavor, texture, and color characteristics substantially simulative of conventionally prepared leguminous commestible.
A process for producing an instantly reconstitutable leguminous commestible comprising the steps of:
- cleaning a quantity of raw leguminosae;
- washing said leguminosae in a quantity of water;
- coarsely splitting said leguminosae;
- cooking said leguminosae in a rotating pressure vessel by introducing steam therein and exhausting air and vapors therefrom as required to maintain a predetermined pressure level within said vessel, said vessel being periodically, incrimentally rotated about at least one axis at a rate sufficient to achieve even cooking of said leguminosae contained therein;
- removing any excess water from said leguminosae;
- and,
- non-comminutively pressing said leguminosae into a thin configuration having a thickness of approximately 0.005 to 0.200 inches;
- dehydrating said leguminosae to a moisture content of approximately seven to ten percent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.