Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coated – fluid encapsulated – laminated solid... – Dry flake – dry granular – or dry particulate material
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-06
2001-07-17
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coated, fluid encapsulated, laminated solid...
Dry flake, dry granular, or dry particulate material
C426S092000, C426S096000, C426S100000, C426S291000, C426S293000, C426S303000, C426S304000, C426S643000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06261614
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a frozen food product and a method of manufacturing it.
It is known to coat food portions, such as fillets of fish or meat portions, with a relatively thick coating (several millimeters) of batter and crumb material, such as breadcrumbs. The coating is then typically “fixed” for example by frying, before the product is frozen. The resulting product is acceptable to the consumer as an easily cooked meal. However, the coating masks the natural appearance of food portions from which the product is made.
JP 62048342 provides an example of a product which has a fixed batter/crumb coating which is achieved by exposing the coated food material to conditions of heated steam and dry heat until the core temperature reaches greater than or equal to 80° C. Whereafter the coated food material is covered with oil and frozen.
A thick crumb/batter coating makes the product relatively straightforward for the consumer to cook, however the applicants have identified a desire to reduce the dominance of the coating layer in such food products so that the natural appearance and flavours of the food portions concerned can be more readily appreciated.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,370 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,172 describe typical conventional batter coated products wherein the composition of the batter allows consumer preparation without any further addition of oil.
In seeking to produce lightly coated food products that retain a more natural appearance and flavour it is desirable to produce particulate-coated products that do not involve the application of a conventional batter.
The relatively straight forward consumer cooking requirements of thick crumb/batter coated products can be contrasted with those of lightly coated food portions sought by the present invention which typically require more attention during consumer preparation, for example in selecting the quantity of oil for cooking and more generally in the care required when cooking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,603 describes a process for preparing coated comestibles for microwave cooking. This product would not be suitable for frying without additional oil, as it does not contain sufficient oil. A frozen food portion is first of all coated with oil and then with a crisp, relatively dry particulate. This particulate is not itself coated with further oil. There is no stated intention to have as much as 10 wt% based upon the whole product of oil/fat.
EP-A-0091497 (Frisco-Findus) discloses a process for preparing a coated frozen fish product wherein a frozen fish piece is initially battered, then breaded a first time, thereafter coated with an edible fat in liquid form and finally breaded a second time before being frozen. The resulting product is not suitable for cooking by frying. Although oil contents of up to 15% by weight based upon the final product are in theory possible, all of the examples show oil contents below 10% by weight. Further, the coating is not itself suitable for cooking by frying, as not all of the breadcrumbs are completely covered in oil. It is not in fact the intention to ensure that an adequate amount of oil is retained on the fish piece, as excess oil is blown off after the oil application step.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lightly coated frozen food product and method for manufacturing it, which product is relatively simple to cook by conventional methods, in particular by frying.
The inventors have realised that it is possible to provide a frozen food product which incorporates a light coating of particulate material and all the other ingredients necessary for conventional cooking, such as frying, including all the oil necessary.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a process for the production of a frozen food product comprising the steps of:
providing a food portion,
applying a particulate coating material to the food portion to form a layer of no more than 2 mm in thickness,
subsequently applying oil/fat to the food portion, and
freezing the product,
wherein the weight ratio of oil/fat to particulate coating material is greater than 1:2, preferably greater than 1:1, and wherein the oil/fat is present at a level greater than 10 wt%,
there being no fixing step between the step of applying the particulate coating material and oil/fat and the step of freezing the product, and wherein substantially all the particulate coating material is coated with oil/fat.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention further provides a frozen food product comprising a solid food portion coated with an unfixed coating comprising particulate coating material and oil/fat, wherein the weight ratio of oil/fat to particulate coating material is greater than 2:1, wherein there is greater than 10% by weight of oil/fat and wherein substantially all the particulate coating material is coated with oil/fat.
As it is the intention to provide a lightly coated food product, it is not required to apply a thick coating of batter and fix or set the batter. There is no fixing or setting step between the application of oil and freezing in the present invention. The coating is accordingly unfixed, and contains liquid components which are mobile at room temperature, e.g. the oil/fat. The coating itself remains liquid, semi-liquid or easily deformable at room temperature unlike set or fixed coatings.
The present invention is applicable to food products based upon fish, poultry, other meat, raw or cooked vegetables etc. However, it is particularly suitable for food products based upon fillets of fish.
Preferably, the food portion comprises a naturally shaped component. For example, it may comprise a fish fillet. Most preferably, it comprises a fillet produced by trimming and cutting a fish and not having been substantially reshaped.
The fish may comprise plaice
The particulate material may be any suitable edible coating material, for example, it may comprise crumbs, such as breadcrumbs or Japanese breadcrumbs. Alternatively, it may comprise flour or a mixture of flour and crumbs. The particulate coating material may also contain seasoning, flavourings and herbs. Preferably, the particulate material contains substantially no batter.
The food portion may be supplied in frozen form. It may be substantially thawed, at least on the surface (preferably over the whole of its surface), by air or other heating means.
Preferably, at least the surface of the food portion used is not frozen during the procedure of the present invention. If the surface food portion is frozen, penetration of the oil/fat onto the surface can be inhibited to a local increase in the viscosity of the oil/fat where the oil/fat is cooled. Preferably, the surface of the food portion is at a temperature in the region of 10-15° C.
It is preferred for the surface of the food portion to be thawed to a depth of not more than 1 mm. It is preferred for at least part of the food portion to remain frozen to preserve its keeping qualities.
An adhesive composition may be applied to the surface of the food portion before the particulate coating material is applied.
The particulate material can be applied in a single step or it may be applied in a plurality of steps.
After at least one layer of particulate material has been applied, oil and/or fat is applied. There may be further applications of particulate material after at least one layer of oil has been applied. Different types of particulate coating may be applied at different times. For example, a base coating comprising flour and/or breadcrumbs may be applied first. At a later stage, particulate material comprising e.g. parsley and seasoning may be applied. The particulate material layer may be no more than 2 mm thick, preferably no more than 1 mm thick.
There should be no layer of particulate material which is not coated with oil/fat. This is to prevent burning and poor cooking.
This is best achieved by ensuring that less than 1%, preferably less than 0.5% by weight, more preferably substantially 0% by weight of particulate coating material
Cocco Antonio
Panaioli Sandro
Farrell James J.
Gorton's, division of Conopco, Inc.
Paden Carolyn
LandOfFree
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