Isothermal preparation of chocolate products
AssigneeNestec S.A.
InventorMalcolm R. Mackey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Chocolate products are formed by feeding solid set chocolate to an extruder and passing the chocolate through the extruder at a temperature below the pour point of the chocolate to deform and extrude the chocolate.
Claims24
A process for forming chocolate products comprising feeding solid set chocolate into an extruder having a zone of convergence and an extrusion die outlet and passing the chocolate under pressure and at a temperature below its pour point temperature through the extruder to and through the zone of convergence and the outlet to deform, plasticize and extrude a plasticized chocolate extrudate from the outlet so that the chocolate deformed, plasticized and extruded has a temperature below the pour point temperature of the set chocolate and so that, at a temperature which approximates the temperature of the extrudate upon issuance from the outlet, the extrudate maintains plasticity for from 5 minutes up to 4 hours prior to hardening.
A process for forming chocolate products comprising feeding solid set chocolate into an extruder having a zone of convergence and an extrusion die outlet and passing the chocolate under pressure through the extruder to and through the zone of convergence and the outlet at a temperature below its pour point temperature to deform, plasticize and extrude a flow of plasticized chocolate from the outlet so that the chocolate deformed, plasticized and extruded has a temperature below the pour point temperature of the chocolate, and at a temperature below the pour point temperature of the set chocolate, separating the chocolate flow to a plurality of separate flows, reducing a cross-section size of each separate flow to obtain flows having reduced cross-section, passing each reduced cross-section flow into a separate mold, filling each mold and then, releasing each filled mold from extrusion pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.