Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Basic ingredient is starch based batter – dough product – etc.
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-01
2001-06-05
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Basic ingredient is starch based batter, dough product, etc.
C426S100000, C426S578000, C426S310000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06242032
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a noodle product of the Beehoon type and to a process for its manufacture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Rice noodles known in South East Asia under the name of “Beehoon” are traditionally produced domestically and in small-scale by processes based on a small number of basic operations, including soaking grains of rice, wet milling, pre- and post-gelatinization, cooling and mechanical working of the dough. These basic operations are linked and/or repeated in order to give the rice dough cohesiveness. Beehoon noodles have an elastic texture, but also have a cohesion comparable with that of traditional noodles based on wheat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,563 (Lechthaler) discloses a process for the production of starchy plant noodles of the Beehoon type by gelatinization, extrusion, and drying. More specifically, a dough is prepared having a water content of from 35% to 55% and comprises a flour or semolina of the starchy plant and an ionic gelling agent. The dough is gelatinized by heating and kneading under pressure, cooled to a temperature below 100° C., extruded in the form of pasta, immediately brought into contact with water containing a cation, which forms a gel with the ionic gelling agent, and dried.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a full moisture, shelf stable or frozen noodle product having a dry matter content of from about 30% to about 45% by weight. If desired, an acid can be added in an amount sufficient to provide to the product a pH of between about 3.7 to about 4.5. This product comprises a cooked flour or semolina of a starchy plant, softened water, a cooked starch, an ionic gelling agent, an emulsifier, a cation which has formed a gel with the ionic gelling agent, and an oil.
The noodle product has a circular or oblong cross section between about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm in diameter or width. The noodle product also contains, in parts by weight on dry matter, between about 70 to about 100 parts of cooked flour or semolina of a starchy plant, between about 5 to about 30 parts of cooked starch, between about 0.2 to about 1.5 parts of ionic gelling agent, between about 0.5 to about 5 parts of emulsifier and between about 0.5 to about 5 parts of oil.
The present invention also encompasses a process for manufacturing a full moisture, shelf stable noodle product consisting of preparing a mixture having a dry matter content of from about 45% to about 60% by weight and comprising a flour or semolina of a starchy plant, softened water, a starch, an ionic gelling agent and an emulsifier, forming the noodle product by cooking-extrusion of the mixture, immediately bringing the noodle product into contact with water containing a cation which forms a gel with the ionic gelling agent, dewatering the noodle product, cutting and portioning it, water cooling it, dipping it into an acidified water, oiling it, packaging it and in-pack pasteurizing it.
The present invention also encompasses a process for manufacturing these products by cooking-extrusion of the mixture, immediately bringing the noodle product into contact with water containing a cation which forms a gel with the ionic gelling agent, dewatering the noodle product, cutting it, water cooling it, oiling it, packaging it and freezing it. In a preferred embodiment, the cooking-extrusion is carried out under between about 70 to about 100 bar, at between about 60° C. to about 120° C. and for about 20 seconds to about 120 seconds.
In a preferred embodiment, the noodle product is brought into contact with a water containing a cation at a concentration between about 0.05 to about 0.2 moles/L for about 2 seconds to about 30 seconds and at a temperature between about 60° C. to about 70° C. If desired, the product can be frozen.
In another embodiment, the water-cooled noodle product is dipped into an acidified water containing between about 0.5% to about 1.5% acid at ambient temperature, preferably between about 18° C. to about 35° C., for between about 60 seconds to about 150 seconds. Preferably, the acid used to acidify the water in this process is a food grade acid, such as lactic acid, phosphoric acid, or a mixture thereof. Preferably, the packaged noodle product is in-pack pasteurized at between about 80° C. to 100° C., for between about 1 minute to 80 minutes. Preferably, the dewatered noodle product is heat treated for between about 30 seconds to 90 seconds by water boiling, steam blanching, and/or passing under a hot water shower before being water cooled and dipped into an acidified water.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a fall moisture, shelf stable or frozen noodle product of the Beehoon type that does not require the consumer to cook before consumption, but rather, to simply heat for a short time, and a process for its manufacture.
The process for manufacturing a full moisture, shelf stable or frozen noodle product according to the present invention which encompasses preparing a mixture or dough having a dry matter content between about 45% to about 65% by weight and comprising a flour or semolina of a starchy plant, softened water, a starch, an emulsifier and an ionic gelling agent, forming the noodle product by cooking-extrusion of the mixture, immediately bringing the noodle product into contact with water containing a cation which forms a gel with the ionic gelling agent, dewatering, cutting and portioning, water cooling, dipping into an acidified water, oiling, packaging and in-pack pasteurizing the noodle product.
In the present disclosure, the expression “noodle product of the Beehoon type” means a noodle product which has the texture of traditionally made Beehoon noodles, namely an elastic texture but also having a cohesion comparable with that of traditional noodles based on wheat.
The noodle product according to the present invention preferably has a circular or oblong cross section between about 0.5 mm to about 3 mm in diameter or width.
The present noodle product comprises, in parts by weight on dry matter, from about 70 to 100 parts of cooked flour or semolina of a starchy plant, between about 5 to about 30 parts of cooked starch, between about 0.2 to 1.5 parts of ionic gelling agent, between about 0.5 to about 5 parts of emulsifier and between about 0.5 to about 5 parts of oil.
In the present noodle product, the flour or semolina of the starchy plant may be derived from cereal grains, such as rice or maize, legumes such as soya, or tubers rich in starch, such as potato or yam, for example. The starch is preferably maize starch, potato starch or tapioca starch.
The ionic gelling agent is preferably an acid polysaccharide. More preferably the ionic gelling agent is an alginate.
The cation is typically an alkaline earth metal ion. Preferably, the cation is a divalent: cation. More preferably, the cation is a divalent calcium cation.
The emulsifier is preferably a monoglyceride or a mixture of monoglycerides.
The acid may be any food grade acid. Preferably, the acid is lactic acid or phosphoric acid. A preferred amount of acid is that which provides a pH of about 3.8 to 4.3 to the product.
The oil typically is a vegetable oil. Preferably, the oil is peanut oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, palm olein or mixtures thereof.
The present noodle product may further comprise between about 0.2 to 2 parts of hydrocolloid, such as guar gum, xanthan gum or carob bean flour, and between about 0.5 to about 5 parts of protein, such as wheat proteins, which is very useful in improving the stability and/or the integrity of the noodle product.
Soft water is used in the present invention. Preferably, the soft water contains a calcium ion concentration of less than about 4×10
−4
moles/L with a temperature between about 10° C. to about 90° C., preferably a temperature between about 60° C. to about 80° C.
A mixture is prepared which, beside soft water, preferably comprises, in parts by weight, bet
Jaelminger Goran
Meyer Philipp Paul
Scoville Eugene
Bhat Nina
Nestac S.A.
Winston & Strawn
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