Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Gels or gelable composition
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-07
2002-09-24
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Gels or gelable composition
C426S590000, C426S597000, C426S508000, C426S509000, C426S521000, C127S034000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06455091
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for preparing tapioca starch balls that greatly reduces the time and effort required by a retailer or a consumer to prepare them for addition into Boba drinks and the product of this method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for the manufacturer to precook, freeze and prepackage tapioca starch balls for transport for consumer purchase from a supermarket or to a Boba drink retailer who would quickly and easily thaw and cook them for inclusion into Boba drinks using a conventional a microwave oven. The invention also includes the product of the freezing process and product of the easy thawing process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Brightly colored sweet tea drinks called “Boba”, or “Bubble”, or “Pearl Milk” have gained in popularity recently. Tapioca starch balls, also known as “Pearl Balls”, are roughly one centimeter in diameter. To make Boba drinks, simply add some prepared Pearl Balls to milk, tea, coffee, fruit juice, coconut milk, hot chocolate, etc. The drink can be served either hot or cold, and is drunk using a large diameter straw. The drink's unusual nature is increased by the combination of the exotic drink sipped through the large diameter straw and the gummy tapioca balls that can also be cleanly extracted from the bottom of the drink and eaten with the drink by sucking them up through the straw.
The Pearl Balls have an attractive pearl-like appearance and come in a variety of colors as well as the more common black. The color of the Pearl Balls can even be mixed and matched with the color of the drink to add to the drinking experience. The Pearl Balls prepared by the method of the instant invention are vitamin and mineral enriched and are all natural and remain fresh without added preservatives or artificial colors. They have a unique, chewy and gummy texture. They can be included in either hot or cold drinks.
Boba drinks have been very popular in Asia for years. The popularity of Boba drinks has recently expanded beyond the Asian-American community and is beginning to enter American mainstream pop culture. A small group of entrepreneurs have fueled the mainstreaming of these drinks into American culture through trendy tea bars popping up around colleges and other stylish places around the country. While the consumption of coffee has declined 20% over the past five years, tea consumption has increased 3%. The tea bar entrepreneurs are hoping that Boba drinks will continue this trend.
The tapioca starch balls are made from starch. Starch is generally a mixture of two structurally different polysaccharides. One component termed, amylose, is a linear molecule composed of 250 to 300 d-glucopyranose units uniformly linked by a-1,4 glucosidic bonds which tend to cause the molecule to assume a helix like shape. The second component, amylopectin, consists of 1000 or more glucose units of which most are also connected with a- 1,4 linkages, but there are also a number of a-1,6 links occurring at branch points. These links amount to about 4 per cent of the total linkages or one for approximately every 25 glucose units. The tapioca Starch is made of cassava roots contains approximately 17% amylose and 83% amylopectin.
When a starch-thickened mixture is stirred as it cools, its viscosity normally increases. Through a cooking and cooling process, there is a tendency for intermolecular bonds with free water and bound water to form a gel.
Retrogradation can be regarded as a normal progression in the firming of a starch gel. The rate and extent of retrogradation are influenced by temperature, size, shape, and concentration of the starch molecules and by other ingredients. It appears to occur most rapidly at temperature near 0 degrees Celsius.
To retard retrogradation of the gel to the least possible level, a freezing system including a liquid nitrogen spray method is employed to bring the tapioca ball temperature quickly down to penetrate the 0 degrees Celsius zone and continue lowering the temperature to between −20 and −25 degrees Celsius within a short period of time. This process allows the free water in the starch granule to form fine ice crystals that help the starch to withhold its normal characteristics until the product is thawed. If a more conventional tapioca ball freezing process is employed, upon thawing the tapioca starch balls will not have its juicy and gummy texture.
Thawing frozen tapioca starch balls with a microwave oven is not only a faster way to thaw the balls than the conventional method, but using a microwave oven allows the Boba drink maker to thaw the tapioca starch balls just before she plans to serve them thus maintaining the highest juiciness and quality and avoiding over drying through the dripping phenomenon.
The effect of immersing the whole block of frozen precooked tapioca balls into a predetermined amount of hot water is that through heat conduction the first part of the frozen precooked tapioca starch ball that thaws is the free water crystal. This makes the frozen precooked tapioca ball becomes porous and greatly increases the speed of the microwave oven thawing process. The thawing speed of frozen food using a microwave oven depends on the density of the frozen food. When the free water crystal inside of each frozen precooked tapioca balls thaws, the density of each pearl ball decreases and the thawing speed is increased. The submersion of the block into hot water during the thawing process ensures even heating of each ball and avoids a situation where part of the block of frozen precooked tapioca balls is scorched and another part of the same block is still frozen.
The size and shape of the frozen food greatly affects the speed of the thawing process. It is possible to freeze the tapioca starch balls into an optimal shape. This shape is optimal because it will facilitate rapid and even microwave oven thawing. For instance, an optimally shaped block of frozen precooked tapioca balls can be a 15.5 cm×11.5 cm×2.0 cm. Each such block weighs 300 grams. Each such block contains enough tapioca starch balls for the production of eight Boba drinks.
Until now the only method to prepare the tapioca starch balls was to submerge dried tapioca starch balls in boiling water in a covered pot for twenty minutes over a medium level flame on a stove top. Next turn off the flame. Stir the mixture. Re-cover the pot. Let it sit for thirty-five minutes. Use a net strainer to drain off the hot water. Rinse and cool the balls using tap water. Transfer the balls to a dry container. Gently mix the balls with some amount of white sugar until an even coating is achieved. The total preparation time is about an hour. Then, store at room temperature and serve within 6 hours.
The conventional method of preparation poses special problems for the retailer. The conventional method of preparation requires a stove and other equipment not usually found in a tea or beverage bar or a coffee house. The preparation equipment used in the conventional method requires a lot of space that the entrepreneur desperately needs to use efficiently to remain competitive. Another disadvantage of the conventional method is that the prepared starch balls must be used within six hours. After six hours the starch balls take on an undesirable consistency. The difficult preparation method forces the entrepreneur to face the difficult alternatives of possibly running out of tapioca balls due to high demand or preparing too many tapioca balls and not being able to sell the entire amount within six hours. The conventional method of preparing the tapioca balls also require the workers to possess a certain minimum skill level that demands training and leads to higher worker compensation costs. These difficulties make selling the Boba tea a risky business proposition.
The conventional method of preparation poses special problems for the consumer. The conventional method of preparation requires a stove and other equipment that the typical consumer uses infrequently. Another disadvantage of the
Lai Janie Huoy-Jen
Ling Patrick Po-Yung
Bhat Nina
Chan Law Group LC
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