Patent Description:
Corn starch is widely used in manufactured foodsutffs (e.g. snack foods). It can be used as a sole starch component or mixed with other starches and flours. While corn starch is known to expand well during cooking, compared to other starches, like tapioca, it makes softer food snacks. It is desirable to have a corn starch that retains its favorable expansion characteristics while producing a harder foodstuff (e.g. snack food). <CIT> discloses the use of pregelatinized waxy maize starch to provide expanded, crispy, chip like textured coatings on an edible core material.

Disclosed herein is a method of making a coated foodstuff, wherein the foodstuff comprises an edible substrate and a coating comprising at least one layer of a coating mixture comprising a spray cooked agglomerated waxy corn starch as a first starch, baking the coated edible substrate at a temperature from <NUM>° C and <NUM>° for a time between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes. In one embodiment, the method of making a coated foodstuff comprises coating an edible substrate, wherein the a coating comprises at least one layer of a coating mixture comprising a spray cooked agglomerated waxy corn starch as a first starch as noted above and a second starch selected from a starch or flour. In a further embodiment, the first starch described herein has a time to peak hydration viscosity of between about <NUM> and about <NUM> minutes. In some embodiments, the coating described herein expands during baking to a coating expansion of between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, or between about <NUM> and <NUM>. In other embodiments, the coating described herein has a hardness after being baked of between about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, abut <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM>, or about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams. In yet further embodiments, the coatings described herein have a hardness-to-expansion ratio of about <NUM>:<NUM> to about <NUM>:<NUM>/mm. In other embodiments, the foodstuff in the method is a snack food. In some embodiments, the edible substrate is a nut, seed, legume, or vegetable. In yet other embodiments, the edible substrate has a moisture content of less than about <NUM>% by weight.

<FIG> is a graph depicting the hardness of a coating made from various starches set forth in Table <NUM>.

<FIG> is a graph depicting the coating expansion of coatings made from various starches set forth in Table <NUM>.

As used herein, a "waxy starch" is derived from plants that naturally have low levels of amylose. The plants may be as found in nature, genetically modified, or bred through controlled breading programs. In some embodiments, the waxy starch of this invention has less than <NUM>% by weight amylose, less than <NUM>%, less than <NUM>%, or essentially <NUM>% amylose.

As used herein, an "agglomerated starch" is a starch composition comprising two or more starch particles bound together with a binding agent. Non-limiting examples of binding agents used in the art include sugar syrups, maltodextrin, water, and modified starch that have been at least partly dissolved in water. Such modified starch can be modified by pregelatinization, cross-linking, stabilization, hydrolysis or a combination thereof.

As used in herein, "unmodified", with regard to a starch or flour, means the starch or flour is not modified in any way such as by chemical, physical or enzymatic modification. For example, a pregelatinized starch is a modified starch.

A used herein, "cake flour" means one of a commercially available class of wheat flours that are bleached and are typically finer than commercially available all-purpose flours. Additionally, cake flour typically has a relatively low percentage, by weight of protein (around <NUM>% versus <NUM>%) compared to all-purpose flour.

As used herein, "coating expansion" refers to height of the coating measured from the inside edge of the coating to its outside edge after baking.

As used herein, "low protein flour" refers to flours having no more than about <NUM>% protein by weight.

As used herein, the term "second starch" excludes a spray cooked agglomerated waxy corn starch.

Spray cooked, agglomerated starch is a pregelatinized starch made by a spray cooking process. Spray cooking is a process of cooking starch in a spray nozzle with a mixture of steam/slurry plus pressure followed by direct atomization into the spray chamber either as a fine particle that could be rewet agglomerated later or agglomerated within the spray dryer at the point of atomization.

Unless said otherwise, all ratios or percentages are by weight.

One embodiment is directed to a method for making a coated foodstuff comprising coating an edible substrate with a coating comprising at least one layer of a coating mixture comprising a spray cooked agglomerated waxy corn starch as a first starch, and baking the coated edible substrate at a temperature from <NUM>° C and <NUM>° for a time between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes. Another embodiment is directed to a method of making a coated foodstuff comprising coating an edible substrate with a coating comprising at least one layer of a coating mixture comprising a spray cooked agglomerated waxy corn starch as a first starch and a second starch selected from a starch or flour, wherein said edible substrate is coated with said coating. In one embodiment, the first starch described herein has a peak time to hydration viscosity of between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes or between about <NUM> and <NUM> minutes. In other embodiments, the first starch described herein has a median particle size (d50) of between about <NUM> and about <NUM> microns or between about <NUM> and about <NUM> microns. In still other embodiments, the first starch described herein has a d10 (<NUM>% of particles being smaller than) particle size distribution of between about <NUM> and about <NUM> microns or about <NUM> microns. In yet still further embodiments, the d90 (<NUM>% of particles being smaller than) is between about <NUM> and about <NUM> microns or between about <NUM> and about <NUM> microns. In still other embodiments, the first starch described herein has a volume mean particle size (D [<NUM>,<NUM>]) of between about <NUM> and <NUM> microns or between <NUM> and <NUM> microns.

Atomization during spray cooking controls the particle size. Size distribution of the agglomerated starches may also be controlled by using appropriate screening methods.

In one embodiment, the coating described herein is prepared from a coating mixture comprising a first starch and a second starch selected from starch and wheat flour, caked flour, low protein flour, and gluten containing flour. In one embodiment, the low protein flour described herein contains no more than about <NUM>% protein by weight. In another embodiment, the coating mixture described herein comprises from about <NUM>% of a first starch and <NUM>% of a second starch or flour. In still another embodiment, the coating mixture described herein comprises from about <NUM>% to about <NUM>% of a first starch and from about <NUM>% to about <NUM>% of a second starch. In one embodiment, the first and second starch are mixed together to form a homogenous dry mixture. In still other embodiments, one or more coating mixture described herein comprises additional ingredients selected from a chemical leavening agent, such as, e.g. bicarbonate salts including for example sodium bicarbonate and ammonium bicarbonate; acid salts, including, for example, calcium phosphate and ammonium sodium sulfate; and tartaric acid. In yet still further embodiments, one or more coating mixture described herein comprises a leavening agent in an amount ranging from about <NUM>% to about <NUM>% by weight of the coating mixture. In even yet still further embodiments, one or more coating mixture described herein comprises sugar in an amount of from about <NUM>% to about <NUM>% of the coating mixture. In even still further embodiments, one or more coating mixture described herein comprises other seasoning and flavorings commonly used in a foodstuff including but not limited to salt.

In some embodiments, the second starch described herein is a starch and/or flour. In other embodiments, the second starch described herein is a wheat flour. In yet other embodiments, the second starch is a spray cooked, agglomerated starch other than a spray cooked, agglomerated waxy corn starch. In further embodiments, the spray cooked agglomerated starch other than a spray cooked, agglomerated waxy corn starch is a mixed starch or flour from oats, saga, corn, tapioca, pea or other pulse flours, barley, amaranth, arrowroot, canna, quinoa and sorghum, and waxy (i.e. low amylose), and high amylose variants of the foregoing. In an even further embodiment, the second starch is not pregelatinized or modified in any way. In still other embodiments, the second starch may be modified using standard modifications such as, for example, etherification, esterification, cross-linking, conversion, annealing, heat moisture treatment, thermal inhibition, and the like.

In some embodiments, the coating mixture is applied to the edible substrate with an adhesion layer comprising water or syrup made from sugar, gums, modified starches and starch derivatives, maltodextrins, and the like. In some embodiment, the syrup is a simple syrup comprising sugar and water. In other embodiments, the simple syrup is made by dissolving the sugar in water in a weight ratio of between about <NUM>:<NUM> sugar to water to about <NUM>:<NUM> sugar to water or the sugar to water ratio is about <NUM>:<NUM>. In still other embodiments, the syrup further comprises other water soluble components, such as, for example, salt or chemical leavening agents of the types described above.

In yet further embodiments, the foodstuffs are coated using suitable methods known in the art. In some embodiments, a pan coater is used to coat an edible substrate with the adhesion layer and the coating comprising a first starch and optionally a second starch, which allows for alternating coatings of the adhesion layer and coating mixture layer. In still other embodiments, the coater applies substantially uniform coatings to the edible substrate. In still yet other embodiments, the edible substrate is coated more than once, by alternately coating it with the adhesion layer and the coating mixture. In some embodiments, more than <NUM> coating is used. In other embodiments, more than <NUM> coatings are used. In still other embodiments, more than <NUM> coatings are used.

In some embodiments, the method of making coated foodstuffs described herein involves baking in any type of industrial oven such as conventional ovens, fluidized bed reactors and driers, mixers and blenders equipped with heating devices, and other types of heaters. In the inventive method, the coated foodstuffs are subjected to baking at temperatures between <NUM> and <NUM>, preferably <NUM> and <NUM>, or around <NUM>. In the inventive method, the coated foodstuffs are baked for between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes, preferably between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes, around <NUM> minutes, or for <NUM> minutes.

In still other embodiments, the coated foodstuffs comprise a coating comprising at least one layer with a coating expansion of between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, between about <NUM> and about <NUM>, or between about <NUM> and <NUM>.

In yet other embodiments, the coated foodstuffs comprise a coating comprising at least one layer that has a hardness of between about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, abut <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams, about <NUM> and about <NUM>, or about <NUM> and about <NUM> grams.

In some embodiments, the coating described herein has a hardness-to-expansion ratio of about <NUM>:<NUM> to about <NUM>:<NUM>/mm, about <NUM>:<NUM> to about <NUM>:<NUM>/mm, or about <NUM>:<NUM> to about <NUM>:<NUM>/mm.

In some embodiments, the edible substrate described herein is any foodstuff that can be coated. In other embodiments, the edible substrate is selected from nuts (e.g. including almonds, cashews, etc.), seeds (e.g., sunflower seeds, fennel seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.), legumes (peanuts, peas, etc.), and vegetables. In still other embodiments, the edible substrate described herein is dried, has a native moisture level, or is of a composition that little moisture transfers from the substrate to the coating prior to or during baking. In yet still other embodiments, the edible substrate described herein is fully cooked before being coated and baked. In yet even still further embodiments, the edible substrate described herein has a moisture content of less than about <NUM>%.

Hardness measurements: Baked coatings were evaluated for hardness using a TA-XTPlus Texture Analyzer (Texture Technologies, Hamilton, MA) equipped with analytical software (Stable Microsystems, Surrey, UK). A <NUM> point bend rig was used for the measurement. The base of the rig had a <NUM> gap and the blade was <NUM> in diameter with a rounded edge. Conditions are listed in Table <NUM>:.

The measurements were taken for the peak force required to break the coating (in grams) and the distance to break (mm). A total of <NUM>-<NUM> samples were tested in order to get a full view of standard deviation (which typically ranged between <NUM>-<NUM>%). After taking the measurements, the data was put through Minitab statistical software to remove outliers. A One-way ANOVA test with Tukey's LSD was used to identify statistical product groupings.

Volume measurements: Measured by measuring the volume of a defined number of whole coated peanuts (<NUM> pieces) in a graduated cylinder.

Coating expansion measurements: Measured by hand using calipers. Results are based on the average thickness of coatings on <NUM> whole coated peanuts, wherein the peanuts were sliced open and the coating thereon measured from the outer surface of the coating to the inner surface of the coating. As used herein, the term "coating expansion" refers to the height of the coating measured from the inside edge of the coating to its outside edge after baking.

Hydration viscosity measurements: Measured with a Brabender® Micro Visco-Amylo-Graph® (manufactured by Brabender® GmbH & Co. KG, Duisburg, Germany). Measurements were made on a starch slurry of <NUM>% starch solids, at pH <NUM>. The slurry was heated to 30o C for <NUM> minutes, increased to 95o C and held for <NUM> minutes, and then cooled back down to 30o C. Time to peak viscosity is measured from the starting of mixing of the starch into solution (at 30o C) until slurry reaches peak viscosity.

Particle size: The particle size of the spray cooked, agglomerated waxy corn starch was measured by laser diffraction using a Malvern Mastersizer® <NUM>.

The starches used in the Examples that follow are set forth in Table <NUM>.

Eight batches of coated peanuts were prepared in a coating process involving a coating mixture prepared from each of the Sample No <NUM>-<NUM> starches set forth in Table <NUM>, adhesion layer, and peanuts in the components and weight percentages set forth in Tables <NUM> and <NUM>. A coating mixture was prepared by mixing a Sample No <NUM>-<NUM> starch with wheat flour until homogenous. The adhesion layer was prepared by mixing sucrose and water together and heating until the sucrose completely dissolved. The adhesion layer was cooled before being used further.

The peanuts were coated by first dividing the peanuts, coating mixture, and adhesion layer into <NUM> parts. One part peanuts was added to a pan coater with one part adhesion layer and coating mixture and the contents mixed for <NUM> minutes to provide coated peanuts. This was repeated for each of the other <NUM> parts. The coated peanuts were baked in an oven for <NUM> minutes at <NUM>. The baked peanuts were removed from the oven and cooled for <NUM> minutes before packing.

Claim 1:
A method of making a coated foodstuff comprising:
coating an edible substrate with a coating comprising at least one layer of a coating mixture comprising a spray cooked, agglomerated waxy corn starch as a first starch; and
baking the coated edible substrate at a temperature from <NUM>° C and <NUM>° C for a time between <NUM> and <NUM> minutes.