CA1131985A - Non-fried instant cooking dry noodles and a method for producing such noodles - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the disclosure Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles are manufactured by preparing a mixture of raw noodle material containing from 25 to 45% by weight of water by mixing, with substantially no kneading, components consisting mainly of wheat flour and water or additives;
then rolling the mixture into a web form; thereafter with or without external application of water onto the surfaces of the web, steaming the web at gauge pressure of 0.5 - 1.5 kg/cm for 2 - 5 minutes until the starch therein has an .alpha.-conversion degree of at least 85%;
followed by preliminary heating preferably at 80 - 110°C
for 2 - 5 minutes to adjust the water content to 15 -35% by weight; then shaping the web into individual noodles; and then further drying these noodles at 55 -160°C until the water content becomes 13% or smaller by weight. These dry noodles are not sticking to each other, have smooth surfaces and have fine porous texture, and are easily transformed to cooked state by immersion in hot water for a short time, giving good sense, feel and taste. Also, these dry noodles are stable and have good durability during storage of an extended period of time.

Description

sackground of_the _v~ntion 1 ~ 31 ~ 8S
a) Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles, and more particularly it pertains to noodles of this type having elongated cord-like shape, which are free of stickiness and agglutination to each other and easily releasable from entanglementduring the manufacturing process, whose surfaces are smooth with no blister-like bubble formations and which can be converted to satisfactory boiled condition in a very short period of time by immersion in hot water. The present invention further concerns a method for manufacturing such dry noodles.
b) Description of the prior art:
Xnown methods for manufacturing non-fried dry instant cooking noodles are such that one of them comprises the steps of adding water to starch components consisting mainly of wheat flour, uni~formly distributing the added water throughout the starch components by kneading, subjecting the resulting mixture to rolling to provide a long web of raw starting material, then cutting this web by a wave-shaped cutter blade into individual lengthy cord-like raw noodles, thereafter subjecting these noodles to steaming to effect a-conversion of the starch components, and then drying the resulting noodles. Another one of the known methods comprises extruding the above-said mixture under pressure to provide a long web of raw starting material, and then subjecting this web to same steps as mentioned above.
Still another one of the known methods comprises directly extruding said mixture through a die to provide indi~-vidual elongated cord-like raw noodles, thereafter subjecting these noodles to the steps mentioned above.
These known methods have the disadvantages and inconveniences such that the elongated individual cord-. .
,' ~

1131~8Slike raw noodles obtained are not of a straight form but they are waved or crimped in configuration, and that these noodles become swollen during the step of steaming, causing the individual noodles to stick to each other, so that ~-conversion of the starch components does not take place uniformly throughout the noodles, which in turn leads to the inconvenience that the final dry product noodles would not be uniformly rendered to the boiled or cooked state when immersed in hot water, thus failing to give such satisfactory feel, sense and taste as would be expected of cooked or boiled noodles. Especially, those product dry neodles which are manufactured by extrusion of said mixture into a web of starting material, and those product dry noodles which are manufactured by direct extrusion of said mixture into individual cord-like noodles, both invariably experience the undesirable consequence that the mixture is subjected to excessive kneading during the extrusion, so that the texture of the raw material is rendered excessively dense, lowering the ability of ~--- the product-dry noodles to be trànsformed to satis-factory cooked or boiled state when immersed in hot water for a short period of time, and the sense, feel and taste, including what is called "al dente" noted at the time these noodles are eaten become very poor. It is to be understood that the description used herein-after for evaluation of the cooked noodles include this ,, .

"al dente".
Also, there is known a method proposed to improve the above-said disadvantages and inconveniences of the prior art, which comprises mixing starch components which consist mainly of wheat flour with an emulsion of an oil-in-water phase edible oil, subjecting the result-ing raw mixture to steaming, and thereafter drying same.
The individual pieces of raw noodles produced according to this known method are such that said edible oil is scattered non-uniformly on the surfaces of the individual noodles, and accordingly it is not possible to completely eliminate the mutual sticking between individual cord-Iike noodles which takes place during the step of steam-ing, so that there is required an additional step of releasing the mutually contacting noodles apart from each other. Moreover, when the product dry noodles are subjected to cooking by immersion in hot water, there still remains a sense and feel of wheat flour when eaten, which are caused by the inevitable non-uniform ~-conversion during the manufacturing process due to the application of the emulsion before steaming, and also caused by insufficient ability for being rendered to the boiled or cooked state within a short period of time. These facts lead to lowering of the sense, feel and taste when the cooked noodles are eaten, which represent lowering of thq value as product dry noodles - and leave much to be improved.

1~31~85 As a means of solving those problems stated above of the prior art, there is disclosed in U.S.
Patent No. 4,098,906 a method for manufacturing non-fried dry instant cooking noodles, which comprises application of an aqueous ernulsion of edible oil to the surfaces of shaped elongated raw pieces of noodles, and then subjecting these noodles to steaming to thereby prevent mutual sticking of the individual noodles and to~accelerate ~-conversion of the starch components during a short period of time, and thereafter dehydrat-ing and evaporating the moisture contained in the noodles in a drying step to expand the surfaces of the noodles to make these surfaces porous and to produce very fine pores communicating with the inner portions or texture of the noodles, whereby the product dry noodles can be rendered to the boiled or cooked state in a short period of time, and the cooked noodles give satisfactory sense, feel and taste when eaten. ~ccording to this known technique, there can be provided non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles which are lower inthe number of individual noodles stickin~ to each other.
Since, however, an aqueous emulsion of edible oil is applied to the surfaces of the shaped noodles durin ~the course of manufacture, there cannot be--avoided degradation of the quality of the product dry noodles with lapse of time, though the speed of degradation of quality is improved when compared with that of fried , ., . ~ , ' ~

1~31985 dry noodles. As suc~ there has been a demand for the development of technique which satisfies this require-ment of long stable durability of quality of the product, resisting a long period of storage.
The inventors, therefore, have made strenuous research and manyexperiments to improve the foregoing problems enc.ounteredin the prior art, and as a r~sult they have worked out the present invention based on the discovery that, by first forming a mixture of grain flour consisting maLnly of wheat flour and water, then rolling this mixture material into a long web of an appropriate thickness containing from 25 to 45% by weight of water, or by forming said mixture and subjecting same to extrusion under pressure to provide a web of raw noodle material having the same water content as that mentioned above, thereafter either subjecting the web directly to steaming for -conver-sion of the starch-containing components, or first applying water to the surfaces of the raw web and then steaming the resulting web for ~-conversion, thereafter subjecting the resulting web~to a preliminary drying to regulate the water content to 15 - 35% by weight, then cutting the web into shaped individual noodle9, : and lastly drying them to produae the final dry product, According to the method of the present invention, there are provided the advantages that, even when the web of raw material becomes swollen as ~-conversion progressès 1131~85 during the steaming step, there arises no sticking of the noodle material as encountered in the prior art, owing to the fact that the web has not been shaped into individual cord-like pieces of noodle, and thus this a-conversion can progress uniformly throughout the web, and there develop no blister-like formation in the surfaces of the web. Besides, after said steaming step, the web is subjected to a preliminary drying, so that the web can be cut into individual pieces of noodle without the accompaniment of sticking to the cutter blade and without requiring such troublesome step of releasing the entangled pieces of noodles as!has been needed in the prior art. Thus, there can be obtained the product dry noodles having a uniform breadth or size. These shaped noodles are further subjected to drying, by which step is produced porous texture which is peculiar to dry noodles intended for instant cooking.
The product noodles of the present invention which are thus produced can be rendered quickly to the edible cooked or boiled state by immersion in hot water during a very~short period of time, giving such sat-isfactory sense, taste and feel as expected of cooked noodles, and have an outstanding durability during storage for an extended length of time.
Briefly speaking, the present invention provides non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles and a method therefor which comprises, after application of .
' iL131~85 water, as required depending on cases, to the surfaces of a web of raw noodle material which already contains from 25 to 45% by weight of water, the web is subjected to steaming, and thereafter the web is subjected to a preliminary drying step to reduce the water content of the web to 15 - 35~ by weight, and then cutting the web into noodle shape, and then drying the resulting noodles.
Here, the technique disclosed in said U.S.
Patent No. 4,098,906 will be compared with the technique of the present invention. The feature of this U.S.
Patent is found in the process of a series of steps that, after formation of individual pieces of raw noodles, an aqueous emulsion of edible oil is applied to the surfaces of these noodles, and then they are steamed, and thereafter the resulting noodles are dried. By the application of an aqueous emulsion of edible oil to the surfaces of the shaped noodles prior to being steamedl the occurrence of mutual sticking of individual noodles is eliminated. However, the edible oil employed in the aqueous emulsion which is applied to the surfaces of raw noodles causes progressive degradation of quality of the noodles as time passes. Thus, solution of this problem has been desired. In good aontrast thereto, the feature of the present invention l~es in that said application of such edible oil to the surfaces of raw noodles is entirely omitted to thereby eliminate the cause for quality degradation with time, and that, in ~, ~
::: :: `

~131~8S

place of this omission of emulsion-applying step, the order of manufacturing steps is changed. That is, the web of raw noodle material prior to being shaped into individual pieces of noodles is subjected to steaming, and then same is subjected to a preliminary drying to suppress the occurrence of stickness in the noodle material of the web, and thereafter the resulting web is cut to be shaped appropriately into individual pieces of noodle. Whereby, the troubles encQunter~din the prior art which are represented by the mutual sticking of these noodles and also by the sticking of the raw noodles to the cutter blade are prevented.~ Thus, the product which is obtained according to the present invention is superior in durability during storage for an extended period of time.

Summary of the invention It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles and a method theréfor which solves the

2~ ~ disadvantages, inconven ences and problems mentioned above of the prior art and which eliminate the occurrence of mutual sticking and agglutination of shaped noodles during the manufacturing process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide dry noodles of the type described above and a method therefor, which noodles are such that the product 1131~!385 noodles have smooth surfaces with substantially no blister-like formations.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide dry noodles of the type described above and a method therefor, which noodles are such that they can be transformed quickly to cooked or boiled condition by immersion in hot water, and which give a satisfactory sense, feel and taste when eaten.
A further object of the present invention is to provide noodles of the type described above and a method therefor, which noodles have durability in storage for an extended period of time without deterioration of the quality of the product dry noodles.
Characterizing features of the instant cooking -non-fried dry noodles of our invention include numerous pores distributed on the surface and into the interior of the products as well as the volume of such pores.
We have ~oundthat the products of our invention have a significantly greater pore volume per unit weight as compared with conventionally prepared products.
Typically the pore volume is in the range of about 0.07 to about 0.40ml/g, as measured according to the porosity test herein described. This dlstinctive feature allows for rapid rehydration when the product is immersed in hot water which quickly restores it to the edible state.
In addition to the frequency and size of the .`
`

pores, noted above, the configuration of these pores plays an important role in the rehydration of the product. The pores in our product tend to arrange themselves to be in communication with one another and extend into the interior portion of the product itself.
This configuration also enhances a more rapid restoration of the dry product to the edible state when immersed in hot water.
Conventionally prepared quick-cooking pasta products contain starch in their initial round configuration, however we have observed that, in contrast, the starch particles of our invention appear to be distinctly flattened as shown in the attached photographs. The products of our invention are free from blister-like formations on the surface and this feature is often grossly observable from an inspection of the product itself.
These and other objects, the advantages as well as the features of the present invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed description.

Brief description of the drawings Figures 1 - 10 are electron photomicrographs of - the products produced in Examples 11 and 12 and the products of controls 8 - 11 as prepared in the following examples. Figures 1, 4, 5, 7 and 9 are of the surface of the various products while remaining Figures 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10 are cross-sectional views. All photographs are at a magnification of 300X.
These and other objects, the advantages as well as the features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments Hereunder will be described some preferred embodiments of the pre~ent invention.
It should be understood also that the terms "web of raw noodle material" used in the present inven-tion is made of a starting material of starch-containing components consisting of either wheat flour alone or mainly of wheat flour and other grain powders. such as rice powder, buc:kwheat powder, corn powder and so forth and starches such as corn starch, potato starch, waxy corn starch, tapioca starch and so forth, and contains - from 25 to 45%, preferably from 30 to 40%, by weight of water relative to the weight of the starch-containing components, and this web is formed either by mixing the components while avoiding as much as possible the occurrence that the components become kneaded during such mixing, and thereafter subjecting the mixture to rolling (this type of web will hereinafter be referred to as rolled web), or by passing said mixture of noodle components through, for example, an extruder while being kneaded therein under pressure (this type of web 1131~85 will hereinafter to be referred to as pressure-extruded web), and in each instance the web produced has a thickness of 2mm or less usually. It should be understood that the web of raw noodle material may contain one or more known improving agents for noodles such as disodium phosphate, an additive for foodstuff such as glycerin monostearate and a seasoning agent such as "kansui" which is an agent for increasing the viscosity - of noodles and is an extract of banana and Taiwan plantain and is an aqueous solution containing potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium phosphate and sodium phosphate.
This web of noodle material preferably contains, uniformly dispersed therein, sodium shloride in an amount not exceeding 8~, more preferably 0.5 - 8%, by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing components before being steamed. This sodium chloride is included for the following two purposes, one of which is for improving the ability of the product dry noodles to transform to the edible boiled or cooked state when immersed in hot water, and the other is for giving a taste - to the noodles. In case the content of the sodium chloride is in excess of 8% by weight, the product noodles will become too salty when eaten and thus provides a product of inferior ~uality, and also the gluten structure of the noodle material will be severed apart, making it difficult to form a web of noodle material.
Also, such excessive inclusion of sodium chloride hampers 1131~3~35 the formation of gluten in the web of noodle material, causing the formation of web to become difficult. On the other hand, in case sodium chloride content is less than o.s%~ there is the tendency that, for noodles having a considerably great thickness, the transformability of product dry noodles to edible state when immersed in hot water becomes SQmewhat poor. It should be noted, however, that, for noodles having a substantially small thickness, those product noodles having sodium chloride content of zero (0%) are able to transform, within a short period of time, to edible state when immersed in hot water, and such transformed edible noodles give satisfactory feeling and sense when eaten. Also, it has been found that, among the above said two types of webs of noodle material, the rolled web has a porous texture having finer pores in a greater number as compared with the pressure-extruded web, and that accordingly the product dry noodles made of said rolled web are more quickly rendered to edible boiled or cooked state when immersed in hot water and give better sense, feel and : ~ taste when eaten as compared with those product dry noodles made from the pressure-extruded web. Thus, the use of rolled web is preferred. Also, the web of noodle material may be added with a viscous binder such as egg yolk or gum component as an additive intended for increasing the viscosity of the components contained in the web. Such additive has the effect of preventing the occurrence of blister-like bubble-formations in the surfaces of the web during steaming, and has the effect of decreasing the water content of the web in the state that such ~lister-like formations are a:~oided.
It should be understood that said improving agent for noodles concurrently serving as a food additive which is employed in the present invention is one selected from the group consisting of di-sodium phosphate; glycerin monostearate; "kansui" (which is an aqueous solution containing potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium phosphate and sodium phosphate and which increases the viscosity of noodles); a surface active agent including glycerin fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester and lecithin;
a moistening agent including propylene glycol and D-sorbitol; and other agents including sodium starch phosphate, sodium caseinate, L-lysine hydrochloride, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, chlorella and active gluten.
Said viscous binder is one selected from the group consisting of egg yolk and a water-soluble gum includ-- - ing cellulose sodium glycolate, sodium polyacrylate A and sodium alginate. Said seasoning ~ nclude various spices, various extracts, sodium glutaminate sodium inosinate, guanylic acid and succinic acid~
In case the water content of the web is less than 25% by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing components contained in the web, the .

-. ~ ...

113~98S
distribution of both water and air in the material of the web becomes non-uniform, and the viscosity of the constituent components becomes markedly lowered, whereby the web is rendered to a powdery state. Thus, in the subsequent steaming stage which will be described later, uniform swelling will not develop as the ~-conversion of the starch-containing components makes progress, so that blister-like bubble formation will develop in the surface of the web, causing the surfaces to lack smoothness. As a result, the final product dry noodles will develop, when immersed in hot water, scraping and cracking of the body of web, thus lowering the sense, feel and taste of the cooked noodles when eaten. On the other hand, in case the water content of the mixture of raw noodle material exceeds 45~ by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing components contained in the mixture, this mixture will have an increased adhesiveness which causes the mixture to adhere to the surfaces of the rollers, resulting in a failure to obtain a stais-factory ~web of raw noodle material.
Next, the manufacturing process according to thepresent invention will be described in detail.
As the first step, the web of raw noodle material i8 subjected to direct steaming to causc ~-conversion of the starch-containing components, or alternatively, water is applied to the s~rfaces of the web as that - water is carried there in an amount up to 100~ by weight at most, preferably 10 - 50~ by weight, relative to the weight of the web. Thereafter, the water-applied web is subjected to steaming for causing ~-conversion of the starch-containing components. It should be noted that, in case the amount of the applied water adhering to the surfaces of the web is in excess of 100% by weight, the web will develop excessive swelling during the steaming step, so that non-uniform ~-conversion will take place, bringing~about the undesirable result that uneven drying occurs in the web during the drying step, and the sense, feel and taste of the cooked noodles will tend to become poor. As the means of applying water to the surfaces of the web, there may be performed spraying of water by means of a spray gun, or water may be sprinkled onto the web by a shower system, or the web may be immersed in water.
As stated, the application of water onto the surfaces of the web will cause more uniform progress of ~-conversion at the time of steaming, so that there can be obtained product dry noodles which are satisfactory in their ability of being rendered to edible cooked or boiled condition when immersed in hot water and also in their sense, feel and taste when eaten.
For the puopose of steaming, any known conditions for steaming conventional web of noodle material may be employed. However, it is desirable to bring the web into contact with steam under a gauge pressure of 0.5 -.

113~385 1.5kg/cm2, preferably 0.7 - 1.2kg/cm2, for a length of time of about 2 - 5 minutes. This steaming is performed until the starch-containing components have an ~-conversion degree of at least 85~, preferably at least 9o%~ In case the ~-conversion degree is less than 85%, there arises the inconvenience that, only by placing the product in hot water, one obtains the impression as if raw wheat flour is being eaten. Alsoï
such product, when soaken in hot water, will easily deform its original shape as noodles. After this steaming step, the web is subjected to a preliminary drying step during which the water content of the web is regulated to 15 - 35~ by weight, preferably 18 - 3D~
by weight. The conditions for the preliminary drying step are not definitely defined, since the conditions depend on the temperature employed and also on the duration of this step. Usually, however, the temperature ~A` employed is ~ at the highest, and preferably it is 80 - 100C. The length of time of this step is the shorter the better, and it is desirable to perform this step for a period of 2 - 5 minutes usually. In case the water content of the web decreases below 15~
by weight, there could occur saorching of web during the preliminary drying step. Along therewith, at the time the preliminarily dried web is cut by a cutter blade into cord-like noodles of an appropriate diame~er or breadth, the web would tend to break, and it would be 113~8S
hard to obtain uniform individual shaped noodles. Also, in case the water content of the web is in excess of 35% by weight, the web tends to stick to the cutter blade at the time the web is cut. Accordingly, there will develop mutual sticking between the individual cord-like pieces of noodles obtained from the web. This will lead to the fact that, during the subsequent drying step, those portions of adjacent pieces of noodles which are sticking to each other would not be sufficiently dr~ed, and furthermore no sufficient expansion takes place in such portions. Thus, these portions will exhibit non-uniform porous texture, greatly lowering the ability of the product dry noodles to be rendered quickly to edibl~
boiled or cooked state when immersed in hot water, making the sense, feel and taste of the cooked noodles poor.
After said preliminary drying step, the resulting web is cut into shaped noodles of about lOmm at most in diameter or breadth. Thereafter, the individual noddles are dried, and thus product dry noodles are obtained.
Cutting of the web may be carried out by the use of any known noodle cutter having a straight cutting edge or a wave-shaped cutting edge, or by the use of a slit cutter.
As stated above, it should be understood that, under the above-mentioned conditions, by cutting the web of noodle material after the web has been subjected to a preliminary drying step to obtain shaped individual :, :

.

, 11;3198S

noodles, it is possible to provide uniform individual noodles which are free of mutual sticking between the noodles, requiring no subsequent step of releasing the entangled noodles. The noodles thus obtained will exhibit uniform fine porous texture during the subsequent drying step, so that it is possible to obtain product dry noodles for instant cooking which are satisfactory in their ability of being transformed to edible boiled or cooked state when immersed in hot water and which are very good in sense, feel and taste when eaten. This is one of the features of the present invention.
~ s briefly referred to above, the drying condi-tions for individual noodles cannot be definitely defined, since these conditions will vary depending on the temperature employed and also on the length of time of the final drying step. Such final drying as mentioned above can be successfully performed usually at a temperature between 55C and 160C for 3 to 40 minutes.
In case there is no need to greatly expand the shaped noodles, they are subjected to drying for relatively long period of time at a temperature which is in the relatively lower region of the above-mentioned tempera-ture range. Also, in case there is the need of expanding noodles, it is only necessary to subject noodles to -drying for a relatively short period of time at a temperature belonging to the relatively high temperature region of the abovesaid temperature range. In case the 1~31985 temperature exceeds the upper limit of the abovesaid temperature range, there could occur a burn of noodles and the noodles exhibit rejectable odor. On the other hand, in case the temperature is lower than the lower limit of said range, there will be required an exces-sively long period of time for drying, thus not only undesirably causing a drop of operation efficiency, but also causing an excessively dense inner texture of the dried product, resulting in poor restorability of the product to edible state when immersed in hot water. In each instance, drying is continued until the water content of the noodles reaches i3% or less by weight relative to the weight of the noodles thus dried. The drying may be conducted by the use of heated air, or by heating with infrared ray irradiation, heating by microwaves, and like heating either independently or in their combination. Same can apply also to the pre-liminary drying step.
As stated above, according to the method of the present invention, there is used no edible oil through-; out the manufacturing prodess, so that the product dry noodles have an excellent stable durability, resisting the storage for an e~tended period of time. Also, by the regulation of the water content of the web of noodle material, the web can be made to swell and ~-conversion can be made smoothly during the steaming step without causing any blister-like bubble formations in the surfaces _ 21 -~-'- , ', 1~31~85 of the web. Thereafter, by regulating the water content of the steamed web during the preliminary drying step, there can be completely avoided the occurrence of mutual sticking between individual noodles as they are cut from a web, thus eliminating an additional step of releasing the otherwise entangled cluster of noodles, and making it possible to easily obtain uniform individual noodles.
Then, by subjecting these noodles to further drying during the final drying step, it is possible to obtain non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles having uniform specific porous texture which is peculiar to instant cooking dry noodles. Therefore, the dry noodles according to the present invention can be transformed easily to the edible boiled state by immersion in hot water for a very short period of time, and furthermore a very good sense, feel and taste can be obtained from these noodles in their edible state. In addition, according to the method of the present invention, the temperature employed for the final drying step may be appropriately varied, so that the degree of the porous texture can be freely selected or adjusted as desired.
For this reason, it is possible to apply the method of the present invention also to the manuactur~ of instant-cooking dry noodle-like foods such as flat ribbon-like one calIed "kishimen" and rod-like buckwheat food called "soba", so that these dry instant cooking foods can be rendered readily to an edible boiled or cooked state by .~J - 22 -113~85 immersion in hot water like these dry noodles mentioned above. Thus, the method of the present invention has an extensive utility, and the product manufactured according to this method can enjoy a very high commercial value.
Description will hereunder be made of some preferred examples of the present invention. It should be understood that in these examples, the terms "part"
signifies a part by weight, and the term "%" means percent by weight. Evaluation of the sense, feel and taste of the cooked noodles, rating of blister-like bubble formations produced in the surfaces of the web of raw material, rating of the degree of inter-noodle sticking, rating of ~-conversion, water absorbability, transparency of the hot water after dry noodles are immersed therein, determination of POV (peroxide value), COV (carbonyl value) and AV (acid value) are conducted in the manner as stated below.

1) Evaluation of sense, feel and taste 70g of dry noodles are placed in a heat-resistant cup, followed by pouring therein 400cc of hot water at 90C, and leaving them to stand for 3 minutes.
At the end of 3 minutes, the noodles thus cooked are~
evaluated by a panel of 20 persons. The evaluation points are as follows: 10 (very good); 8 (good); 6 (normal); 4 (poor); and 2 (very poor). These points are shown by the mean values (decimals of over 0.5 inclusive 1~31985 are raised to the next higher number and the rest are ignored). The items relating to the evaluation of the cooked or edible-state noodles when eaten show the number of persons among the 20 person panel who indicate their feeling after eating the adible-state samples.
The external appearance of the dry noodles (in the state of molded product) is evaluated by gross examination with one's eyes and the degree is ind,icated by these persons of the panel.

2) Rating of blister-like bubble-formation in the su~faces of web Webs of raw noodle mater1al are steamed, and thereafter measured grossly of the number of blister-like bubble-formation of lmm or greater in breadth for an area of lOcm2 of the steamed web. The value representing the number is shown.

3) Rating of the degree of sticking between noodles A web is cut into individual raw noodles by a cutter blade having a straight cutting edge. The number of the raw noodles which have developed sticking or agglutination between them per 20g of specimen noodles consisting of about 200 individual cords is measured and the value thereof is indicated.

4) Degree of ~-conversion (determined by enzyme process) Fried instant cooking noodles are degreased with ethyl ether at 50C or lower and then more than 20g of such noodles are pulverized. For the non-fried oil-free noodles, more than 20g of such noodles are directly pulverized. Fine powders having a grain size of less than 100 mesh are used. In the measurement, 5 conical flasks of 100ml are used with respect to one sample and these flasks are referred to as Al - A4 and B. 1.00g of the above described adjusted sample is respectively weighed and placed in the Al - A4 flasks. The tolerance of the weighed amounts in the four flasks is made to be within +5%. 50ml of water is added to each of the five flasks and among them, Al and A2 are heated and boiled for 15 minutes and then quenched to room temperature in ice water.
On the other hand, to Al, A3 and B is added 5ml of 5% aqueous diastase solution respectively and all the

5 flasks are kept at 37C+1C for 90 minutes while shaking, in a thermostat containing water, after which 2ml of lN HCl is added to all the flasks to stop the diastase reaction and the content in each flask is transferred into a 100ml flask and water i9 added thereto 100ml. Each solution is filtered by means of a dry filter paper, and from the filtrates obtained from the flasks Al - A4 and B, 10ml of filtrate is fed into a conical flask with a ground stopper by a pipette, - 2~ -. ~ .

1131~385 and said filtrates are referred to as al - a4 and b.
In this stage, a conical flask with ground stopper containing lOml of water taken up by a pipette is prepared separately for a blank test. lOml of N/10 aqueous solution of iodine is added to each of a total of 6 flasks.
Then 18ml of N/10 aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide is added to each of the 6 flasks one after another at a same time interval by means of a stop watch and the flask is corked and shaken and then left to stand precisely for 15 minutes. When the first flask has stood for 15 minutes, 2ml of 10~ sulfuric acid is added to the flask in the same order and the same interval as when N/10 aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide was first added, rapidly as soon as the stopper is opened, and these solutions are titrated with N/10 aqueous solution of sodium thiosulfate, and the titrated values of al - a4 and b are referred to as Pl - P4 and Q and the titrated value of the blank test is referred to as r. ~-conversion degree (%) is determined by the following formula:

(r-P )-(r-P4)-(r-Q) ~-conversion degree ~ (r_pl)-(r-P2)-~r-Q) S) Water absorbability Determination of water absorbability is conducted in accordance with the following procedure.

1~31~85 i. lOOOcc of water is placed in a pan of 2000cc.
ii. the water in this pan is confirmed of its boiling state.
iii. dry samples having a weight VD in dry state are weighed for 400g.
iv. sample of (iii) is placed in the pan of (ii).
Whereupon, the time required for the sample to be transformed to edible boiled state is measured by a stop watch.
v. at the end of 5 minutes of said transformation, the hot water is removed through a mesh sieve, and the residual sample is left to stand for 1 minute to dehydrate the water adhering to the surfaces of sample.
vi. water-absorbed sample Vw are weighed for 400g.
vii. water absorbability is calculated by the following formula:
weight after ~ weight after water = absorbing water VW) dehydration D
absorbability weight after dehydration(VD)

6) Transparency of water after immersion of noodles 60g of sample or measurement is placed in a beaker o~ 500cc, and 400cc o hot water is pouxed therein.
Transparency o~ the supernatant liquid skimmed from the resulting water at the end of 3 minutes is measured by a transparency tester.

; - 27 -1131'38S

7) POV (peroxide value) For sample added with potassium iodide, the isolated free iodine is titrated with a standard solution of sodium thiosulfate, and milli-e~uivalent of 5 consumed sodium thiosulfate per lkg of sample is obtained: ¦
(A-B) x F 10 wherein: A represents the amount (ml) of N/100 sodium thiosulfate standard solution . used in the test;
B represents the amount (ml) of N/100 sodium thiosulfate standard solution used in the bland test;
F represents the factor of N/100 sodium thiosulfate standard solution;
and C represents the amount (g) of sample ~ used.

:~ 8) COV (carbonyl value) Sample is dissolved in benzene. ~hen, the resulting solution ls reacted against a solution of 4-DNPH in benzene and against a solution of trichloro-: acetic acid in benzene. Thereafter, the resul~ing solu-tion is added with a solution of potassium hydroxide - 2~ -.

. .

in alcohol for color development. Light-absorbancy at such time is measured:

COV 0.854 x W x lOoo wherein: Q represents light-absorbancy; and W represents the amount (mg) of oil collected from sample.

9) AV (acid value) Amount (mg) of potassium hydroxide required for neutralizing free fatty acid contained in sample:

AV = 5.611 x A x F

wherein: A represents the amount (ml) of the standard solution of N/10 alcoholic potash;
F represents the factor of the standard solution of N/10 alcoholic potash;
and B represents the amount (g) of sample used.
10) Pore volume Measurement of pore volume was made by forcing mercury under pressure into the spaces and voids of a sample, the volume of the mercury so introduced determined and the volume is divided by the weight of the sample.

For these measurements a Porosimeter from American Instrument Company is used. The sample is placed in A a cell, the pressure reduced first to 5 x 10 2 ~ , then mercury is introduced into the cell to cover the surfaces of the sample. The resulting mercury in the cell is subjected to progressively incraased pressure ~o~o ~si up to t~e ~57eee~i (absolute pressure) to cause penetration of mercury into the texture of the sample, and the volume of mercury (in cc or ml) which has been forced into the pores of the sample from the time it was under an absolute pressure of llpsi till this 1~,0~0 PSi pressure was increased to 15,000~si is measured and divided by the weight of the sample. Pore volume, expressed in ml/g, is thus obtained. A typical sample weights about 2 grams.

Example 1 To 500 parts of wheat flour was added a mixed solution of 175 parts of water, 10 parts of sodium chloride and 1 part of "kansui" composition. After stirring the mixture in a mixer for achieving sufficient mixing without causing any kneading, the reæulting mixture was rolled to a thickness of 1.2mm by rollers, and thus a web of raw nood}e material was obtained.
This web (686 parts) was sprayed uniformly with water by a spray gun, to cause water to be carried on the surfaces of this web in an amount 30~ relative to the - 30 - ~

-~, '' ~' ' ' ' ' , 11~1985 original weight of the web. The resulting web was steamed f~qkm ~
at a gauge pr~ssure of }.¢4~fe~ for 2 minutes, followed by preliminary drying for 3 minutes by heated air at 90C which was passed at the speed of 15m/sec, thereby adjusting the water content of the web to 25%. Thereafter, ' the web was cut, by means of No. 20 cutter having a straight cutting edge, into individual raw noodles of 1.5mm in breadth. These noodles were further dried by hot air at a temperature of 100C with an air speed of 20m/sec until the water content of these noodles became 7% to obtain the instant cooking dry noodles of the present invention. The ~-convention degree of starch in the instant cooking dry noodles thus obtained was noted to be 97~.

Example 2 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles of the present invention excepting that the surfaces of the web of raw noodle material were not applied with water.

Example 3 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles of the present invention excepting that the web was prepared by the use of a pressure-extruder in place of rollers.

. ;.. . :

Example 4 The procedure similar to Example 2 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles excepting that the web was prepared by the use of a pressure-extruder.

Control 1 In the procedure of Example 1, the steaming step was omitted, and thus instant cooking dry noodles were obtained.

Control 2 In the procedure of Example 1, the preliminary drying step was omitted, to obtain instant cooking dry noodles.

Control 3 The web of Example 1 was used. This web was cut into individual raw noodles of 1.5mm in breadth by the ` use of No. 20 cutter having a wave-like cutting edge.
Thereafter, these noodles were steamed for 2 minutes at a gauge pressure of l.Okg/cm2, followed by drying these steamed noodles by hot air at 100C at an air speed of 20mjsec until the water content of the noodles became 7%, and thus instant cooking dry noodles were obtained.

; Control 4 - The procedure similar to Control 3 was carried .

: :

out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles excepting that the web of raw noodles material of Example 3 was used.

Control 5 The procedure similar to Control 3 was carried out excepting that a mixture material having the same composition as that of the web of Example 1 was directly extruded through a die to obtain raw noodles of straight cord shape of 1.5mm in breadth and 1.2mm in thickness and having a rectangular cross section.

Control 6 ; The procedure similar to Control 3 was followed to obtain instant cooking dry noodles excepting the use of a web of raw noodle material of 1.2mm in thickness which was prepared by mlxing 500 parts of wheat flour with 1 part of solution of the "kansui" composition, 10 parts of sodium chloride, 175 parts of water and 83 parts of aqueous emulsion of an edible oil consistiny of 900 parta of water, 100 parts of salad oil and 2 parts of an ester of saccharose and palmitinic acid, and then molded by rollers.

With respect to the instant cooking dry noodles obtained in Examplesl - 4 and Controls 1 - 6, evalua-tion was made of the sense, feel and taste of the transformed (cooked) noodles when eaten, and determina-..
; .,, , , : "
- . , ' ' ' tion was made of the degree of blister-like bubble-formations in the surfaces of the webs of raw noodle material, and of the degree of sticking between individual noodles. The result is shown in Table 1.
(continued to the next page) : : :
:;:
::

:

: :

', ,; `, ,, .: , , ' , ~. ' , ~ ' 113~985 _ o ~ I ~ _ ~ o cr~ o _~ _ i U~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~1 O ~ O ~1 OD
0~ O ~ ~1 ~ ,0~, O ~ O O ~D' ~
o ~ P~ ~ C~ o ,~ o ~ er O ~XUl P~ ~D ~ O ~n o a~ ~ o _, o ooo P~ ,, ,, o ~ o _ _ o o o o ~ _~ o ~ o ,~ o to o l o Ql a~ ~) o o o o ~ ~1 o ~1 o o ~ ~
oa~
~: o ooo C~ o ~1 o o o o o~

~1 O ~ C~ O O O O O O ~1 ~.~ ~ 1~ ;~ lC
~:: ~

.

` ~

``, ` ' .' ~ :".....

- ~13~98S

As will be clear from the result shown above, the products of the present invention obtained ln ExampleSl - 4 were found to be superior to Controls 1 -6 with respect to the degree of sticking between noodles, the ability of dry noodles to transform to cooked state when immersed in hot water, and the sense, feel and taste of the cooked noodles when eaten.

Control 7 Same web of raw noodle material as that of Example 1 was shaped, by No. 20 cutter having a straight cutting edge, into individual raw noodles of 1.5mm in breadth. To these raw noodles (686 parts) was uniformly sprayed by a spray gun a solution of emulsion consisting of 900 parts of water, 100 parts of saladoil and 2 parts of ester of saccharose and a high molecular fatty acid.
The amount of this emulsion adhering to the surfaces of the raw noodles was 30%. Based on the absolute weight of the noodles, 2.1% of salad oil, 20.8% of water, and 0.04% of the ester of saccharose and palmitinic acid serving as the emulslon adhered to the surfaces.
Thereafter, the resulting raw noodles were steamed for 2 minutes at a gauge pressure of l.Okg/cm2, and then the steamed noodles were dried by hot air at 100C at an air speed of 20m/sec until the water content of the raw noodles became 7%, Thus, porous instant cooking dry noodles having fine pores were obtained.

~, -` 113198S

Next, quality of the products of Examples 1 - 2 (the present invention) and of Control 7 was evaluated at the time immediately after manufacture and at the end of I year. ~ The result of evaluation is shown in S Table 2.
(continued to the next page) .

.

:: :, ; ~`

:.

: ~ ~' ,':, ` 13~31~85 o ~

~Z ~ ~t~
N W ~ O O O N O _ '7 CO O r ~ ~ ~ O

n ~ ~ ~ ~
~ 1~, ~ ~

-- 3~ --113~85 As will be apparent from the result shown above, Examples 1 - 2 (the present invention) were found to be superior to Control 7 (non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles obtained by spraying an aqueous emulsion of edible oil onto the surfaces of raw noodles) with respect to POV, COV and AV which are indices of degradation of quality, and the durability in storage for an extended period of time.

Example 5 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out excepting that the water content of the web of raw noodle material was changed to the value shown in Table 3. The result of evaluation of the product is shown in Table 3.
Though not shown in Table 3, the mixture of raw noodle material having a water content of 50~ by - weight was subject~d to rolling in an attempt to form -~ a web. However, this mixture sticked to the surfaces A ~ rollers, and it was not possible to form a web.
; 20 (continued to the next page) ` ' ~

Table 3 Water content of raw web (~) , .
No. of blister-like formations in 84 0 0 0 0 surfaces of web No. of mutually sticking noodles:

over 6 O O O O O
Appearance of noodles P G G G G
(how well molded) Stick to teeth 13 0 0 0 0 (No. of persons) Short of resiliencY 13 0 0 0 0 Excessive resiliency 2 2 0 0 1 ( - do -( - do - ) 18 4 O O O
Excessively smooth ~ O O O 1 3 _ , Feel like raw wheat 16 0 0 . ( - do - ) _ : : Evaluation when eaten 3 8 10 9 8 (points) Note: G represents Good.
P represents Poor.
:: :

. . :

~ ,.. ~ :

',~

1131~85 Example 6 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out excepting that the starting mixture of Example 1 further contains 25 parts of egg yolk powder and that the water content of the web of raw noodle material is changed to that shown in Table 4. The result of evalua-tion of this Example is shown in Table 4.
Though~ not shown in Table 4, the mixture of raw noodle material having a water content of 50% by weight was subjected to rolling in an attempt to form a web. .However, this mixture sticked to the surfaces of rollers, and it was not possible to form a web.
(continued to the next page) .

~ . , , i .

"` '``~

:` .

113i98S

Table 4 _ Water content of raw web (~) , . 20 25 30 40 45 .
No. of blister-like formations in 49 0 0 0 0 surfaces of raw web _ No. of mutually sticking noodles:
2 ` 0 0 0 0 0 over 6 0 0 0 0 0 Appearance of noodles PG G G G
(how well molded) _ Stick to teeth 13 0 0 0 Q
(No. of persons) _ Short of resilienCY 11 0 0 0 0 _ Excessive resiliency 1 2 0 0 0 _ Short of smoothness 18 2 1 0 0 , _ _ .
Excessively smooth 0 0 0 1 3 Feel like raw wheat 18 0 0 0 0 ( - do - ) .
Evaluat1on when eaten 38 9 9 8 .

Note: G represents Good.
P represents Poor.

113~85 From the result shown above, it was found that, even when the water content of web of raw noodles material was lowered to 25~, a desirable result was obtained.

Example 7 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out excepting that the water content of the web after preliminary drying was adjusted as shown in Table 5 by changing the length of time of the preliminary drying step at 90C. The result is shown in Table 5.
tcontinued to the next page) .

~131~85 Table 5 :
Water content after preliminary drying (%) .

, No of blister-likeO O O O O O
surface of raw web No. of mutually sticking noodles:
2 o O O O 0 21 4 o O O O O 10 over 6 O O O O 0 8 _ , Appearance of noodles P P G G G P
(how well molded) Stick to teeth O O O O 0 9 (No. of persons) Short of resiliency 2 0 0 0 0 0 ( - do -Excessive resiliency 10 7 10 0 1 6 ( - do - ) Short of smoothness 6 3 0 0 0 0 _ _ Excessively smooth O O O 0 3 10 .
Feel like raw wheat flour O O O O O O
( - do - ) . _ Evaluation when eaten (points) 2 4 9 10 8 4 , Note: G represents Good.
P represents Poor.

.

1131~?85 As will be clear from the result shown above, the water content of the web after preliminary drying is required to be adjusted to 15 - 35~ by weight, preferably 18 - 30~ by weight.

Example 8 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles excepting that the sodium chloride content of the raw web of noodle material was varied as shown in Table 6.
(continued to the next page) ~ , ~

..
:: , . .:
- , :

1131~85 Table 6 , Sodium Chloride content of raw web of noodle material 0% 0.5~ 4% 8~ 10 _ Appearance of noodles G G G G P
(how well molded) _ _ _ _ Short of smoothness 1 0 0 0 0 (No. of persons) . _ Excessively smooth O O O 0 8 Stick to teeth 1 0 0 0 0 _ _ Cut well by teeth O O O 0 6 _ Cut poorly by teeth 3 2 0 0 0 _ Short of resiliency 1 0 ~ O O

Excessive resiliency O O O 0 4 Feel like raw wheat flour 3 2 0 0 1 Salty taste senjsed O O 0 3 16 _ Water absorbability 118 122 129 132 135 (%) Evaluation when eaten 8 9 10 9 2 (points) Notes: G represents Good.
P represents Poor.
2.0~ content is mentioned in Example 1.

, . :
~ .
.. :.
. ~ -~:
.. . . .

1131~8S

As will be clear from the above-mentioned result, the sodium chloride content of raw web of noodle material is preferably in the range of 0.5% - 8.0% by weight.

Example 9 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles of the present invention excepting that the sodium chloride content of the raw web of noodle material was set at 0% and that the thickness of this web was varied as shown in Table 7.
: 10 tcontinued to the next page) ~: :

~:

- 47 ~

,~
:, :
:: . . . .

1131~85 Table 7 Thickness of Raw Web _ , 0.3mm 0.6mm 0.9mm1.2mm _ ~ppearance of noodles G
(how well molded) G G G
.
Short of smoothness O O O 1 (No. of persons) _ ( - do - ) O O O O
_ Stick to teeth O O O 1 Cut well by teeth 1 0 0 0 .
Cut poorly by teeth O O 0 3 Short of resiliency 1 0 0 1 . .
Excessive resiliencyO O O O
_ Feel like raw wheat flour O O 0 3 Water absorbability134 128 123 118 _ (points) 10 10 10 8 ;Notes: G represents Good.
P represents Poor.
1.2mm thickness corresponds to Example 8 (sodium chloride 0~

, :

;
.. :
. ~ ,. .

, ~.

As will be apparent from the result shown above, it is noted that, in case the sodium chloride content is o%~ the smaller the thickness of the raw web of noodle material is, the better feeling is obtained when eaten.

Example 10 The procedure similar to Example 1 was carried out to obtain instant cooking dry noodles excepting that the steaming time was variedl that the final drying temperature was set at 130~C and that the ~-conversion degree of the noodles after the final drying was vaired as shown in Table 8.
(continued to the next page) :
- , . - ~
..

-` ~131~3i8S

Table 8 .
~-conversion degree of 81 85 90 final product (%) . .
Steaming time 50 70 90 .
Appearance of noodles good good good (how well molded) Short of smoothness 2 1 0 (No. of persons) _ .
( - do - ) O O 1 _ ( - do - ) 4 0 0 _ Cut well by t)eeth O O 1 Cut poorly by teeth 3 0 0 ( - do - ) Short of resiliency 3 1 0 _ Excessive resiliency O O O
( - do -Feel like raw wheat 12 1 0 ( - do -_ : Evaluation when eaten 5 8 9 (points) As is clear from the above-mentioned result, the a-conversion degree of the noodles after the final drying requires to be 85% or more, preferably 90% or more.

1~3~85 Examples 11 and 12 and Controls 8 - 13 In order to more fully elaborate and characterize the non-fried pasta products of our invention as well as to compare the same with various prior patents a series of experiments were conducted as explained below. In these experiments Examples 11 and 12 are in accord with the present invention. On the basis of our studies comparisons were made and conclusions drawn evidencing the chemical, physically measurable, optically observable and ~ensory differences as between the products of our invention and those of prior procedures. These experiments are explained below on the basis of various tables, charts and appended electron photomicrographs.
The following patent documents were used for purposes of comparison: Control 13 is based upon U.S.
Patent 3,718,480 to Tremblay in accord with processing conditions stated in the specification of that patent;
Control 11 follows Example 2 of U.S. Patent 3,846,563 to Cunningham; Control 12 tracks the conditions stated in U.S~ Patent 2t037qO42; and Control 13 follows ~xample A of U.S. Patent 2,677,613.
Examples 11 and 12, in which noodles and spaghetti were prepared, are according to tbe presen~
invention while Controls 8 and 9 are variations of Example 11 (and thus not according to the invention) in which, respectively, excessive kneading was conducted and the steaming step was omitted.

.

The compositions of the starting materials used in the various examples and controls are as follows, all in parts by weight totalling 100 parts:
Example 11 - wheat flour70.9 egg yolk powder 4.3 salt 2.1 water 22.7 Example 12 - wheat flour74.1 salt 2.2 water 23.7 Controls 8 and 9 used the same recipe as Example 11.
Control 10 - wheat flour (durum) 36.9 wheat flour (Suisha)36.9 egg yolk powder 4.1 water 22.1 Control 11 - ~-converted wheat flour 46.8 ~ ~ wheat flour (durum) 11.7 ;: : egg yolk powder 3.2 salt 3.2 water 35.1 Control 12 - potato starah 45.4 raw yet yolk ~4.6 .~. ~,.
. .

- 1il3~?85 Control 13 - wheat flour (durum) 45.3 egg yolk powder 5.7 foaming agent 2.8 salt 0.8 .
water 45.3 The type of product produced in each experiment, the primary starch component type and manufacturing workability observation are all reported in Table 9.
Physical, chemical and optical results are reported 10 in Table 10.
. (continued to the next page~

:: ;

., . . . ~

. : . ~ . .:: .: . ~ .

.

. . f : ;~ o ~ ':
~ IL;
:
/

. ~ . . .,; . . .
.. .

.. .
.. ~ . .

~131~85 ~g o a) ~ ~
0~ OD O ~ '~ ~
t~ ~o~ ~ _ o ~ ~ ~ ~ 3 ~ ~ ~ o x o _ ~ ~ 8 ~ ~ d ~ _ _ ~
~$~ ~ ~8 U~ U~ ~
,1 ~ ,, ~ C
o ~ a~ o c) . .~ o o ~ ~ o o o P ~O o~ ~ h ~ ~ N ~ .~
~:: 1'') . 3 ~ ~ 1~1 h ~
O O ' al C: 1~ J~ ~ Id O h h _I
~) ~ _ ~ 8 3~ ~
o o ~ ~8~ s~
O ~ . ~1 U~ h ' ~ ~rl ~ 1~ ~`I O
~ ~ 1~ O ~1 a) c~ ~ u~ ~ a) a~ ~ _ O ~ .. . z ~
.4 ~ ~ _ ~a,) ll ~ 1~) D ~ U ~ ~ a) ~
~ '_~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1'O ~ ~ O O
O :~ ~ rC ~ ~ h ~ O
h ~ ", ~ rl 11~
X _ _ ~'3 ~4 O~ _ ~: ~ u~
~o ~ ~u ~; i a~ o' ~jO~ ~ 3,~ ~ o o O~
_~ Xu~_ u~ t~ _ a-- .
dP ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ S~ ',Q~
g g o ~ ~ u ~ v v ~ 3, _ o ;:1 ~ u~ ~ u . .a _ 5 .
ss `

. -O r~ _ _ ~ O ~ ~00 3 ~ l ~ ~ ; d ~0 ~n~

.,~ ~ ~0~0 ~1 , Ir~

For convenience the processing conditions and operational parameters are set forth in Table 11, below, reference being made to the previous Examples 1 - 10 in respect to the present invention and the four U.S. Patents referred to above regarding Controls 10 - 13.
(continued to the next page) 1131~8S

i R U~ o ~, a) V ~

O C O ,~ V ~ o h S~ ~r ~ 'X >~Q >-~ 9 Sl I ~
, , ~ . .I a) 0 ~ 0~ ,0, ~e ~ e~, ~ e o ~ e B

~1 ~ ~ ~
U ~> ~> h ~ e ~ ., B :~
, ,1l ~ ~ ~ e e u ~ O
C) j ~ h E~ h ~r ~ 0~ 0 ~

~ ~ ~ -X~ ~ ~ ~ S~ -g ~ ~ B ID ¦

1 g ~ g ~ U 0- ~ O
s , ~ 7~ B
.. .
. ,~

~ g -~ . O

o`P ~ U~
. ~ h dP ~1 L: ~, O
~ G)h S ~D R `~ ' h ~ N -1 01 ~ 1 G~ -~1 Ei ~ O E~ O (I~
'a ~ h O O O ~t ~ o ~ 8 o ~ o ~ ~ h ~ ~
p,~ ~ p~ ~ N H O C~ .L) h ~

V ~ ~ > ~ ? h S ~ V '-~ V V

.
.
u~ 3 X ~a R

N 4-1 H O O a~
h ~ ~ h . ~ X
O ~ w a ~ ~ e h ë
z - e o u) O ~ a) R ~ ~: e aJ O ~ ~" 4~
~1 ~ ~ o ~ f3 ~ ~ q ~ h O rl ~ O
N ~ u ~ O ~1 ~i O h ~_1 h N o ~ R O nl ~: ~ h r-l h ~D 1~ ~ ~ O
~ . ~ æ ~ N O 3 ~ m ~ ~ ~ h ~ h~
a) ~ - .~ ,c ~ h 41 ~1 o ~ ,, .~ ~ ~ e ~ ~
1~ h g O .~
t E~ ~ ~ o ~o ~
~A t) x ~ ~ ~ O X 'J~ ~ ~
æ r~ ~ e U~
.. ~ ~
. _ ~ 3 ~ N O ~
~ ~ o ~ -O C) .C E3 ~ ~
O ~ 1 X ~J ~ ~ o u2 ~ I ~ O - O h --I Nt~l o 0 13 ~1 In ~ (~ O
,, ho O O ~ 'r h ~) ).1 (-. o ~ N
O ~ ~

8 ,~ P .
.

__ ~
.~ 3 .
' 8 ~ ~. .~

:~
`:
:: :
`

Each of the products produced and observed, as reported above except for Controls 12 and 13, was grossly observed and an electrophotomicrograph was made.
These photos are Figures 1 - 10 of this application; all are enlarged 300 times.
Fig. 1 is the photograph of the surface of the noodle shaped product of Example 11 in which numerous small pores are noted randomly distributed over the sur-face of the product; several larger flattened starch particles are also apparent. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the noodle of Example 11 showing several pores communicating with each other.
Fig. 3 is a cross-section of spaghetti according to Example 12 showing a very large number of pores, including several pores of relatively substantial size.
Fig. 4 is a photo of the surface of the noodle product of Control 8, a variation of Example 11 in which the dough was excessively kneaded, showing only a few isolated pores.
Fig. 5 is a photograph of the surface of product of Control 9, a variation of Example 11 but without steaming, showing intact, unflattened starch particles.
Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the same piece showing a few pores, not interconnected, and a few starch particles.
Fig. 7 is the photograph of the surface of the product of Control 10 showing only a few pores and 11;~1~8S

several starch particles that were not flattened during processing. The cross-sectional view of this product in Fig. 8, taken with the surface view, illustrates that the pores are not interconnected.
Fig. 9 shows the surface of Control 11 is devoid ~t~ ,r~
A f pores but does contain several non-flattened starche~
particles as are shown in the cross-sectional view of Fig. 10 in which a few pores can be seen as well.
As stated above, according to the present invention, there is first prepared a web of raw noodle material containing from 25 to 45% by weight of water.- With or without external application of water to the surfaces of this web, the web itself is steamed, so that there is caused no such sticking between individual noodles as encountered in the prior art in which the raw web is s cut into noodles. The steamed web is subjected to pre-liminary drying to adjust the water content to 15 - 35 by weight, and then the web is shaped into individual noodles, and thus mutual sticking of noodles is avoided. t ~hese noodles are further dried to provide final product until the water content becomes 13% or smaller by weight.
Thus, the product dry noodles contain no mutually stick-ing portions and no blister-like bubble-formatiQns in the surfaces of noodles. When immersed in hot water, the dry noodles are easily transformed into edible cooked or t boiled state within a short period of time, and give good feel, sense and taste to their eater. Besides, - 61 - s ~ , , ` ' 1131~85 1~Y
` these ~x~ noodles stand stable for long-term storage.
As such, the method of the present invention is industrial-ly quite useful and can be effectively applied to many kinds of instant foods.

Claims (18)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles having water content of 13% or less by weight, and consisting essentially of at least one starch-containing component selected from wheat flour and wheat flour mixed with other grain powders, starches or both, the starch contained therein having an .alpha.-conversion degree of at least 85% as measured by the diastase enzyme process, said noodles having a fine porous texture providing communication between the external surfaces of said noodles with the interior portions thereof by a network of fine pores, and being capable of transforma-tion into an edible cooked or boiled state within a short period of time when immersed in hot water, said noodles having non-coated smooth surfaces substantially devoid of blister-like bubble-formations, said noodles being sufficiently durable to withstand storage for at least one year without substantial change in quality, devoid of portions sticking to adjacent noodles, and yielding a non-sticky good sense, feel and taste when transformed to said edible cooked state.

2. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles according to Claim 1, in which said noodles contain sodium chloride in an amount not exceeding 8% by weight based on the weight of said starch-containing component.

3. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles according to Claim 1 or 2, in which said noodles contain an effective amount of at least one of an improving agent for noodles, a seasoning agent, and a viscous binding agent.

4. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the noodles contain an improving agent selected from the group consisting of di-sodium phosphate, glycerin monostearate, potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium phosphate, sodium phosphate, glycerin fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester, lecithin, propylene glycol, D-sorbitol, sodium starch phosphate, sodium caseinate, L-lysine hydrochloride, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, chlorella, active gluten, and combinations thereof.

5. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles according to Claim 1 or 2 in which the noodles contain a viscous binder selected from the group consisting of egg yolk, water-soluble gums, cellulose sodium glycolate, sodium polyacrylate, sodium alginate, and combinations thereof.

6. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles according to Claim 1 or 2 in which the noodles contain a seasoning agent selected from the group consisting of spices, extracts, sodium glutaminate, sodium inosinate, guanylic acid, succinic acid, and combinations thereof.

7. Non-fried oil-free instant cooking noodles according to Claim 1 or 2, in which said noodles have an average pore volume of about 0.07 to about 0.4% ml/g.

8. A method of manufacturing non-fried oil-free instant cooking dry noodles, comprising the steps of:
(a) preparing a mixture of raw noodle material consisting essentially of at least one starch-containing component selected from wheal flour and wheat flour mixed with other grain powders, starches or both, and having a water content of from 25 to 45% by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing component while avoiding to the extent possible kneading the mixture during mixing, (b) forming the mixture of step (a) into a web, (c) steaming said web until said starch therein has an .alpha.-conversion degree of at least 85% as measured by the diastase enzyme process, (d) subjecting the steamed web to preliminary drying to adjust the water content of said web to 15 -35% by weight, (e) shaping said web into individual noodles, and then (f) further drying said individual noodles until the water content of said noodles is reduced to at most 13% by weight relative to the weight of the noodles thus dried.

9. A method according to Claim 8, in which said raw noodle material contains sodium chloride in an amount not exceeding 8% by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing component.

10. A method according to Claim 8, in which the water content of said mixture of step (a) is between 30 and 40% by weight relative to the weight of the starch-containing component.

11. A method according to Claim 8, in which said web of raw noodle material is prepared by rolling the mixture of said material.

12. A method according to Claim 8, in which said web of raw noodle material is prepared by extruding the mixture of said material.

13. A method according to Claim 8, further comprising the step of externally applying water to the surfaces of said web of raw noodle material prior to the web being subject to said steaming step (c).

14. A method according to Claim 13, in which said application of water causes the surfaces of said web of carry water thereon in an amount not exceeding 100% by weight relative to the weight of said web.

15. A method according to Claim 8, in which said steaming is carried out at a gauge pressure of 0.5 - 1.5 kg/cm2 until said degree of .alpha.-conversion is achieved.

16. A method according to Claim 8, in which said preliminary drying step (d) is performed at a temperature up to 110°C until said water content of said web is reduced to 15 - 35% by weight relative to the weight of the web.

17. A method according to Claim 8, in which said further drying step (f) is carried out at a temperature of 55 - 160°C until the water content of the noodles is reduced to 13% or less by weight relative to the weight of these noodles.

18. A method according to Claim 8, in which said preliminary drying step (d) and said further drying step (f) are performed by hot air heating, infrared heating, microwave heating, or combinations thereof.