Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Preparation of product which is dry in final form
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-22
2001-03-27
Weier, Anthony J. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Preparation of product which is dry in final form
C426S595000, C426S467000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06207211
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to roasted coffee and to a method of roasting coffee.
Numerous roasting processes are known and employed in the roasting of green coffee beans. In conventional roasting, the coffee beans are contacted with hot roasting gas which transfers heat to the coffee beans and increases the temperature of the coffee beans to cause roasting to a desired color. Modifications of conventional roasting processes have been made to accomplish roasting in a relatively short period of several minutes or less. Such “fast roasting” systems have been found to produce an improvement in the amount of water soluble solids extractable from the roasted coffee.
Roasted and ground coffee has been widely sold for many years in the United States and other countries in a “one pound” size can which holds 1,000 cc of the coffee and which yields about 85 cups of coffee. A 1,000 cc quantity of roasted and ground coffee made by grinding coffee beans which have been roasted by a conventional roasting process weighs about 16 ounces. Fast roasting conditions which cause an increase in brew yield have the additional effect of reducing the density of the roasted and ground coffee. The increase in brew yield makes it possible to obtain the same number of cups of coffee from a lower weight of coffee beans, thus providing a potential cost savings both to the manufacturer and the consumer. The decrease in density makes it possible to obtain the same, or approximately the same, number of cups of coffee from a given volume of coffee. This makes it convenient for the consumer to use the less dense coffee since the volume of coffee employed by the consumer in brewing is essentially the same as the consumer had used in brewing conventional roasted coffee.
While the reduced density of fast roast coffee has the advantages mentioned above, conventional roasting is still employed commercially to satisfy consumer demand for coffee having aroma and flavor characteristic of roasted coffee. One of the important characteristics of roasted coffee is the aroma of freshly roasted and ground coffee. As reported at page 211 of the ACS Symposium Services “Thermally Generated Flavor, Maillard, Microwave and Extrusion Processes”, Parliment et al., Editors, American Chemical Society, Washington D.C. (1994), methanethiol (or methylmercaptan) is a key compound for the pleasant aroma arising from freshly roasted and ground coffee and its quantification has been suggested as an analytical monitoring process for roasted whole bean freshness.
There is a need for low density coffee which retains the increased brew yield of fast roasted coffee and which has an enhanced package headspace methylmercaptan content.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The roasting method of the invention comprises:
(a) in a first stage, contacting green coffee beans with heated roasting gas for a time period of from 5 to 15 minutes until the coffee beans are roasted to a roast color of from 30-50 Lu;
(b) in a second stage, contacting the coffee beans roasted in the first stage with heated roasting gas for a time period of from 0.5 to 3.5 minutes to produce roasted coffee having a roast color of from 4-19 Lu; and
(c) rapidly cooling the roasted coffee to terminate roasting to produce roasted coffee having a density of from 0.27 to 0.38 and a roast color of 4-19 Lu.
Roasted coffee beans in accordance with the invention have a density of from 0.27 to 0.38, a roast color of 4-19 Lu, and a package headspace methylmercaptan content of at least 10 micrograms per gram of coffee.
Roasted and ground coffee in accordance with the invention is prepared by grinding beans roasted in accordance with the invention.
DEFINITIONS
“Density” when used herein in connection with roasted coffee beans means free flow density measured by permitting a sample of beans to freely fall from a hopper having an opening, controlled by a slide gate, with the opening positioned three inches above an open-topped cube measuring 4 inches on a side and with the open top of the cube centered beneath the opening of the hopper. The slide gate is opened, permitting beans to freely fall from the hopper into and to overflow the cube. The excess coffee is then struck off the top of the cube with a straight edge, by a pushing and sawing motion and without tapping, until the sample is level with the top of the cube. The weight of the sample is then determined and the free flowing density determined based on the volume of the cube.
“Package headspace methylmercaptan content” when used herein in connection with roasted coffee beans means the content of methylmercaptan in the headspace of packaged roasted and ground coffee prepared from roasted coffee beans and determined by the following procedure. Twenty-four hours after roasting, the roasted beans are ground to a medium grind (approximately 800 microns as measured by a Sympatec laser particle size analyzer) with a benchtop coffee grinder (Modern Process Equipment Co., Chicago, Ill.). Thirty to forty minutes after grinding, the product is packed in a traditional one pound coffee tin and vacuum packed (29″ Hg vacuum). After storing for 5 to 9 days at ambient conditions, the can is pierced and allowed to come to atmospheric pressure. The hole is then sealed with a septum. After 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the can to equilibrate, a 1 cc sample of headspace is extracted through the septum with a gas syringe. The extracted sample is then subjected to gas chromatography to determine the amount of methylmercaptan in the 1 cc sample. The total amount of methylmercaptan in the package headspace is then calculated by multiplying the amount in the sample by the void volume within the tin. The void volume within the tin is calculated by subtracting the actual volume (i.e., based on true density of the coffee as opposed to its bulk density) occupied by the coffee in the tin from the total volume of the tin.
“Roast color”, in “Lu” units, means roast color which is indirectly measured using visible light reflectance of a ground sample of the roasted coffee beans, using a Dr. Lange Color Reflectance Meter Model LK-100 with an internal 640 nm filter. (Dr. Lange GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany). The beans are ground in a benchtop coffee grinder (Modern Process Equipment Co.) to achieve an ADC (i.e., automatic drip coffeemaker) grind of 780 microns. The ground coffee sample is then poured loosely into a petri dish in the leveling device supplied with the Dr. Lange reflectance meter. A handle is then manipulated to obtain a flat surface on the sample. The petri dish is then removed from the leveling device and placed in the drawer of the reflectance meter. The instrument is then activated and the reflectance measurement is displayed. The lower the reflectance value, the darker the roast color.
Particle sizes are determined by a Sympatec HELOS/LA laser diffraction spectrometer with a 2000 mm optical system (Sympatec, Inc., Princeton, N.J.). The funnel height and feed rate of the sample are adjusted to give an optical concentration passing through the laser of about 5-10%. The sample size is preferably about 100 grams.
“Titratable acidity” is reported as ml of a 0.1N sodium hydroxide needed to titrate a 100 ml aliquot of brewed coffee to a pH of 6.0. The 100 ml aliquot is taken from a brew prepared in a MR. COFFEE domestic automatic drip coffee maker. The brew is prepared from 29.2 grams of roasted and ground coffee (approximate average particle size of 780 microns) with 1460 ml of water.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The roasting method of the present invention is carried out in two distinct roasting stages. The first stage is of relatively longer duration and lower temperature and the second is of relatively shorter duration and higher temperature. Virtually any type of coffee roasting apparatus can be employed, including conventional batch roasters and continuous roasters. It is preferred that the second roasting stage is initiated immediately after the first stage is concluded. Batch roasters are preferred because of their r
Dabdoub Chantal
Hayes Dennis F.
Mofford Edmund Frank
Rerngsamai Niphon
Wasserman Gerald S.
Kraft Foods Inc.
Marcoux Thomas A.
Weier Anthony J.
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