Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food... – Involving wave energy of the sonic or pulsating type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-28
2002-07-09
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food...
Involving wave energy of the sonic or pulsating type
C426S462000, C426S464000, C426S481000, C426S618000, C426S627000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06416802
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for the preparation of quick cooking and instant rices, and to quick cooking and instant rice products obtainable thereby.
2. Description of Related Art
The references cited hereinafter, each hereby incorporated by reference, pertain to the field of this invention.
Rice is one of the leading food crops of the world, second only to wheat in terms of annual production for food use. It is the main staple food for about 60% of the world's population. About 90% of the world's rice is produced and consumed in Asia. Rice is a semi-aquatic, annual grass which can be grown under a broad range of climatic conditions. Cultivated rice is designated as either
Oryza sativa L.
or
Oryza glaberrima
Steud.
O. Sativa
is the predominant species;
O. Glaberrima
is grown only in Africa on a limited scale.
The gross structure of the mature rough rice grain is shown in
FIG. 1
(From
Rice: Chemistry and Technology,
Edited by Bienvenido O. Juliano, page 18 (1985)). The principle parts of the grain are the hull, pericarp, seed coat, nucellus, embryo, aleurone layer and endosperm. The hull is the outer covering of the caryopsis (brown rice). The hull comprises 18-20% by weight of the rough rice and serves a protective function against insect infestation and environmental fluctuations. Removal of the hull from rough rice by dehulling exposes the rice caryopsis. The outer four morphologically distinct layers of the caryopsis are the pericarp, seed coat (Tegmen), nucellus and aleurone. Along with much of the embryo (germ), these layers comprise the bran portion of the rice grain. Although the aleurone layer is botanically part of the endosperm, it is removed as part of the bran fraction during milling. The bran portion accounts for 5-8% of the brown rice weight and is the most nutritious part of the caryopsis. The cells of the aleurone layer, in particular, consist of many inclusions called protein bodies and lipid bodies. Accordingly, raw untreated milled rice has a reduced nutritional value since the nutrient bran layer is removed.
Cooking rice typically involves allowing the rice to absorb water and heat. For example, rice may be cooked by placing the rice in boiling water for a period of time. Alternatively, rice may become cooked by steaming. Parboiled rice will typically absorb from 65 to 75 weight percent water during cooking. Water is taken up on cooking linearly with time. Hence reducing cooking time reduces water uptake. This is significant, decreasing from 180 grams for 100 grams of dry rice at 18 minutes to 120 at 10 minutes and 100 at 8 minutes. Low water uptake leaves the rice tasting soft on the outside and firm, chalky and uncooked on the inside (water uptake is the weight increase from long dry rice after cooking in excess water for a given time). Water absorption is defined as the weight of cooked rice yields from 100 g of dry rice after a given time.
Cooked rice typically has different mechanical properties compared to the original rice. The extent of cooking necessary for acceptable mouthfeel and taste varies from region to region. In the United States, for example, a softer rice product is often found desirable, whereas Europeans typically desire a harder or firmer rice. The following is a list of terms often used to characterize the mouthfeel characteristics of cooked rice (see
Rice: New Evaluation Methods,
by Kohlway, page 120):
Firmness
Force required to compress cooked rice
between the molar teeth on the first chew.
The degree can range from soft (low), firm
(middle), to hard (high) degree of firmness.
(Also called hardness in texture literature).
Adhesiveness
Force required to remove cooked rice that
adheres to the mouth (during eating), itself,
and serving utensils. The degree can vary
from flaky (low) to sticky (high).
Springiness
Degree to which cooked rice returns to its
original shape once it has been compressed
between the teeth. The degree can vary from
viscous flow (low) to rubbery (high).
Cohesiveness
Internal force holding a grain together
before it breaks, when compressed between the
teeth. The degree can vary from mushy (low),
tender (middle), to leathery (high) or
brittle in al dente cooked rice (high).
Chewiness
Length of time (in seconds) required to
masticate cooked rice at a constant rate of
force application to reduce it to a
consistency suitable for swallowing.
Fracturability
Force with which cooked rice crumbles. A
high degree would be a rice with a high
degree of hardness and a low degree of
cohesiveness.
Gumminess
Denseness that persists throughout
mastication; the energy required to
disintegrate cooked rice to a state ready for
swallowing. This term is a composite of
hardness and cohesiveness. Degree would
range from mealy (low) to gummy (high).
Starchiness
Describes the type of surface moistness. The
condition can range from dry and flaky (low)
to wet and starchy (high).
Tooth pack
Relates to bits of cooked rice sufficiently
adhesive and gummy that they lodge in the
cusps of the molar teeth. This is primarily
a defect with extrusion-cooked rice, but can
be found in precooked rice that is not fully
cooked.
Raw white rice is not parboiled, but is milled from brown rice in the dry raw state. It generally cooks faster than parboiled rice. Raw white rice typically requires cooking times of around 12-18 minutes. The resultant cooked rice, however, is extremely starchy tasting. It is believed that water and heat enters the individual starch granules within the rice kernels and causes them to swell and burst releasing free molecular starch. This yields a very starchy, pasty feel in the mouth.
Parboiling is the typical method employed for reducing the starchiness of cooked rice. Parboiled rice is usually defined as rice which has been steeped, heat treated and dried. During the heat treatment step of parboiling, the starch in the endosperm of the rice is substantially gelatinized. The parboiling process and the resulting gelatinization of the starch have several beneficial effects. Parboiling allows the nutrients from the bran layer to migrate to the internal portions of the rice before removal resulting in a rice product having enhanced nutritional values. Moreover, parboiled rice is preferred over white (raw/milled) rice by many consumers for its texture, appearance, flavor, aroma and recipe tolerance.
Conventional parboiling processes generally include the steps of: (1) soaking rough (or paddy) rice in 50-70° C. water for 2-4 hours to yield a rough rice having a 30-35 weight percent water content; (2) draining the free water from the soaked rice; (3) applying steam heat under pressure for 8 to 20 minutes to effect gelatinization; and (4) drying the steamed rice with hot air to reduce its water content to about 12-14 weight percent water. The dried, parboiled rough rice is then ready for shelling (to remove the hull) and milling to remove the bran.
Parboiling has been an active topic in the patent literature. There have been numerous efforts to improve upon the basic technology. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,395 teaches an extra predrying step at an elevated temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,511 prescribes use of microwave energy for partial gelatinization. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,593, the rice starch is not completely gelatinized during steaming, and a tempering step is performed under non-gelatinizing conditions to reduce subsequent rupturing. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,344, there is disclosed an inclined enclosed chamber where rice is cooked in hot water in a first zone at a lower end, and then is steamed in a second zone at an upper end.
Although parboiling provides a rice product having these improved characteristics, the resultant parboiled rice is rendered longer-cooking than milled white rice. Most parboiled rice requires emersion-cooking of at least 20 minutes to prepare the parboiled rice to the desired edibility. It appears that the heat treatment involved in the parboiling processing reduces the product rehydrability which rende
Jacops Luc
Lin Yah Hwa E.
Corbin Arthur L.
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
Uncle Ben's, Inc.
LandOfFree
Method of making quick cooking and instant rice does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method of making quick cooking and instant rice, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method of making quick cooking and instant rice will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2847632