Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coating of a solid food with a liquid
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-18
2001-05-22
Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coating of a solid food with a liquid
C426S089000, C426S100000, C426S102000, C426S303000, C426S304000, C426S305000, C426S497000, C426S524000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06235330
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to food products. In particular, it relates to coated, frozen foods and to a method for making the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Among the most popular prepared foods are precooked, frozen foods. Particularly well liked are foods such as pasta, potatoes, and vegetables that are individually quick frozen (“IQF”). Such simple, IQF foods provide the convenience of being free-flowing. Consumers appreciate the flexibility of choosing the quantity of frozen food to be cooked at a particular time. In contrast to such simple foods, when conventional processes are used to prepare precooked, frozen food products that include sauces or toppings, the resulting combination is generally in the form of a single, agglomerated mass that cannot be easily divided.
Consequently, there is a desire to extend the range of IQF foods to include free-flowing foods coated with sauces, toppings, and the like. For example, in addition to plain, IQF pasta without any sauce or an agglomerated chunk of pasta frozen with sauce, it would be desirable to have free-flowing IQF pasta already coated with the right amount of sauce. Similarly, in addition to plain IQF frozen vegetables, or a frozen clump of vegetables in a sauce, it would be desirable to have a free-flowing mixture of IQF vegetables already coated with the right amount of sauce. There are numerous problems to overcome when trying to coat IQF food with a sauce or topping to produce a free-flowing mixture. For example, to meet consumer expectations for a food that has the appearance and texture of a home-cooked food, a precooked, frozen food must have a sauce that clings to or forms a coating on the surface of the underlying food. It has, however, proved difficult to provide a coating that clings to IQF foods, but does not result in a single, frozen mass.
Thus, there remains a definite need for IQF products having sauces, toppings, and the like that can be reheated to produce foods having the appearance and texture of their home-cooked counterparts. There remains a further definite need for a simple and effective method for preparing such free-flowing IQF food products. The present invention satisfies these and other needs and provides further related advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides individual bits of a free-flowing, coated, frozen food, such as a coated, individually quick frozen (“IQF”) pasta, rice, potato, vegetable, fruit, meat, seafood, simulated-egg product or mixture thereof, as well as a process for making such a free-flowing, coated, frozen food. In a preferred embodiment, the IQF food is pasta. And in some preferred embodiments, the pasta is coated with from about 0.1% to about 5% fatty material, such as soybean oil, corn oil, olive oil, cotton seed oil, butter, cream or margarine, based on the weight of the coated pasta, prior to being individually quick frozen.
Discrete pieces of an IQF food are loaded into a coating vessel. In some embodiments, the frozen food pieces initially have a temperature less than about 10° F., preferably less than about 0° F. In a preferred embodiment, the temperature of the frozen food pieces is then reduced to less than about −25° F. by introducing a flow of cryogen into the coating vessel. Representative cryogens include subliming carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen.
While in the coating vessel, the frozen food pieces are tumbled or otherwise agitated so as to expose the surfaces of the free-flowing pieces and to maintain the pieces in a free-flowing state. The exposed surfaces are sprayed with a liquid coating material through a manifold opening into the coating vessel causing the liquid coating material to adhere to the exposed surfaces of the frozen food pieces. In some embodiments, the pressure at the manifold inlet is from about 0 psig to about 100 psig, and in some embodiments the pressure is from about 20 psig to about 60 psig. The temperature of the liquid coating material is typically from about 40° to 180° F., preferably from about 60° to 70° F. Thus, when the liquid coating material adheres to the surface of the frozen food IQF pieces, it causes the temperature of the pieces to rise.
Cryogen is then introduced into the coating vessel to recool the free-flowing pieces, in some embodiments to a temperature less than about 0° F., and in some embodiments to a temperature less than about 20° F. and in some other embodiments to a temperature less than about −35° F. In a preferred embodiment, the spray of liquid coating material is stopped before the flow of cryogen is introduced. Also, in some embodiments, the flow rate of the cryogen is controlled as it enters the coating vessel, so that the exhausted cryogen has a temperature of from about 0° to about −100° F. as it exits the coating vessel.
After the frozen food pieces have been recooled, the process is repeated. More liquid coating material is sprayed onto the exposed surface of the free-flowing IQF pieces and adheres to the recooled surfaces. In a preferred embodiment, the flow of cryogen is stopped, before resuming spraying the liquid coating material. The spraying and recooling steps are repeated over and over, until a thick, even coating is built up on the pieces of IQF food.
The resulting coating preferably weighs in the range of from about 5 wt. % to about 75 wt. %, more preferably in the range of from about 40 wt. % to about 75 wt. %, based on the total weight of the coated food. In some embodiments, once the free-flowing, coated, frozen food is produced, it is blended with discrete pieces of at least one additional food.
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Hampton Andrew
Kirkvold Steven W.
Patterson David
Scherpf David H.
Cano Milton
Christie Parker & Hale LLP
ConAgra Inc.
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