Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Soup – sauce – gravy or base
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-14
2003-03-11
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Soup, sauce, gravy or base
Reexamination Certificate
active
06531175
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a béchamel-type sauce having improved properties such as freeze-thaw resistance.
BACKGROUND ART
It is a well known tradition to produce béchamel-type sauces. Larousse Gastronomique, published by Larousse in 1996, describes the preparation of a béchamel-type sauce in which butter is melted over a low heat and then flour is added while stirring vigorously in order to obtain a smooth colorless mixture. Milk is then poured into the mixture while whipping so as to avoid forming lumps. The béchamel sauce thus formed is seasoned with salt and pepper and then passed through a conical tammy strainer so that it has a really smooth texture.
In addition, Patent JP 61,173,758 describes the preparation of a roux in which the fat and a fatty acid sucroester are mixed with starch, so as to lower the gel temperature of the starch when making the roux.
Such sauces often have a texture which is rough on the palate and, during storage, undergoes significant change in their physical structure and in their organoleptic properties. These changes may be irreversible.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a béchamel sauce which exhibits greater shear and freeze-thaw stability, has a shiny appearance and a homogeneous, smooth and creamy texture.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a classical béchamel sauce having less than a 10% variation in viscosity, measured at 10 s
−1
, either for two separate shear treatments or before and after at least one freeze-thaw cycle. The viscosity may be measured at two different rotation speeds that vary by at least about 80 revolutions per minute and the viscosity variation may be maintained for measurements made both before and after freeze-thaw cycles. The viscosity may be determined for shear treatments at a rotation speed of 150 revolutions per minute and 300 revolutions per minute. The viscosity may be determined after a freeze-thaw cycle wherein the béchamel sauce is frozen at −30° C. for at least 3 hours and thawed at 20-30° C. for 2-8 hours.
The classical béchamel sauce of the invention has a water content of about 68 to 95% by weight and includes about 0.3 to 1.6% by weight of salt; about 1.6 to 10% by weight of fat; about 0.1 to 10% by weight of milk; about 0.2 to 6% by weight of modified starch; about 2.7 to 10% by weight of flour; and about 0.3 to 2%, by weight of the flour, of an emulsifier. The fat may be sunflower oil, soybean oil, olive oil, groundnut oil, palm oil, rapeseed oil, butter, margarine, or a mixture thereof.
The modified starch may be modified potato starch, corn starch, wheat starch, tapioca starch, or a mixture thereof. The flour may be soft wheat flour, hard wheat flour, rice flour, corn flour, or a mixture thereof. The emulsifier may be lecithin, a stearoyl lactylate, a monoglyceride, a diacetyl tartaric acid ester of monoglycerides, or a mixture thereof. The classical béchamel sauce may further include a coloring, a cheese, a herb, a spice, or mixtures thereof. The classical bechamel sauce has a smooth, creamy texture and a shiny appearance.
The invention is also directed to a ready cooked meal comprising the classical béchamel sauce of the invention. The meal may be a lasagne dish, a meat dish, or a fish dish.
The invention is also directed to a method of making a béchamel sauce. The method includes the steps of mixing water, salt, fat, milk, modified starch, flour, and an emulsifier to provide a mixture; heating the mixture to provide a sauce; and cooling the sauce to provide a béchamel sauce having less than a 10% variation in viscosity, measured at 10 s
−1
, either for two separate shear treatments or before and after at least one freeze-thaw cycle. The mixture may be heated from about 90° to 100° C. for about 3 to 10 minutes. In one embodiment the mixture is heated in a scraped-surface heat exchanger for about 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce may be cooled in a scraped-surface heat exchanger having an internal diameter of about 120 to 180 mm and scraper blades rotating at a speed of about 100 to 300 rpm. The sauce has a water content of about 68 to 95% by weight; and includes about 0.3 to 1.6% by weight of salt; about 1.6 to 10% by weight of fat; about 0.1 to 10% by weight of milk; about 0.2 to 6% by weight of modified starch; about 2.7 to 10% by weight of flour; and about 0.3 to 2%, by weight of the flour, of an emulsifier.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The invention is directed to a béchamel sauce that exhibits less than a 10% variation in viscosity, measured at 10 s
−1
, either for two separate shear treatments at different rotational speeds or before and after one or more freeze-thaw cycles. Preferably, this small variation is maintained both before and after the freeze-thaw cycles(s).
In the present description, the expression “béchamel sauce” is used to denote, in particular, both white sauces and other sauces based on flour, oil or fat, and water, with or without the addition of powdered milk. Preferably the béchamel sauce is a “classical béchamel sauce.” The expression “classical béchamel sauce”, as used herein means a béchamel sauce prepared by melting butter over low heat, then adding flour while stirring vigorously to provide a smooth substantially colorless mixture, and then adding milk to the mixture while whipping to avoid forming lumps. The resulting classical béchamel sauce may optionally be seasoned, for example, with salt and pepper and may optionally be passed through a strainer, such as, for example, a conical tammy strainer to provide a sauce with an even smoother texture. Larousse Gastronomique, published by Larousse in 1996 describes the preparation of a classical béchamel sauce.
The béchamel sauce of the invention may have, for example, a water content of about 68 to 95% by weight and comprise about 0.3 to 1.6% by weight of salt, about 1.6 to 10% by weight of fat, about 0.1 to 10% by weight of milk, about 0.2 to 6% by weight of modified starch, and about 2.7 to 10% by weight of flour.
Preferably, the béchamel sauce according to the present invention comprises an emulsifier in an amount of about 0.3 to 2 percent by weight based on the amount of flour. Representative emulsifiers include, but are not limited to, lecithin, a stearoyl lactylate, a monoglyceride or a diacetyl tartaric acid ester of monoglycerides (DATEM), for example. The béchamel sauce according to the present invention exhibit less than a 10% variation in viscosity measured at 10 s
−1
, for two separate shear treatments and/or after one or more freeze-thaw cycles. In other words the béchamel sauce exhibits shear and/or freeze-thaw stability.
The béchamel sauce can be prepared by mixing all the ingredients in a conventional mixer found in the food industry, heating and cooking at a temperature of about 90-100° C. for about 3-10 minutes, and cooling to room temperature.
The heating and cooking may be carried out in a double-walled vessel with a stirrer for about 5-10 minutes, or preferably, as a result of the shear stability of the sauce, in a scraped-surface heat exchanger for about 3-4 minutes, for example.
The cooling may be carried out by leaving the sauce to stand at room temperature and pressure, or under vacuum, or preferably, as a result of the shear stability of the sauce, in a scraped-surface heat exchanger, for example.
During cooling, the sauce is typically subjected to the shear caused by the about 100-330 rpm rotation of the two rotor blades or scraper blades in the scraped-surface heat exchanger which has an internal diameter of about 120 to 180 mm.
The viscosity of the béchamel-type sauce according to the present invention can be measured in a Rheometrics Fluids Spectrometer RFS II viscometer sold by Rheometrics Scientific, Espace Descartes, 7, rue Albert Einstein, F-77420 CHAMP SUR MARNE.
Surprisingly, it has been found that the béchamel sauce according to the invention exhibits greater stability on cooling after cooking in that the viscosity varies by less than 1
Brongniart Laurence
Ferrari-Philippe Fabiana
Hendricks Keith
Nestec S.A.
Winston & Strawn
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