FI78225C - Process for making anhydrous butter oil - Google Patents

Description

78225

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of anhydrous concentrated oil, in which the cream used has a fat content of more than 30%, and in which the cream emulsion structure is inverted by crystallization, after which the w / o emulsified fat mass is melted and separated to separate the concentrated oil.

Traditionally, there have been two main areas in the manufacture of fat products; dairy butter production and margarine 10 production technology. In the dairy technique, one pulp stream, which is an o / w emulsion, is initially treated, usually cream and the pre-crystallized pulp stream is obtained by capturing two end product streams. The main product is 80% fat butter and the second stream is buttermilk as the aqueous phase.

15 Margarine is produced using a completely different technique. According to the traditional technique, two mass streams are initially mixed; at least 80% fat phase and the rest aqueous phase. These are mixed with a w / o emulsion which is crystallized by cooling it from a completely molten space 20 with a tubular heat exchanger with scrapers.

The present invention relates to the preparation of anhydrous concentrated oil. Swedish patent publication SE 306 870 discloses a related technique. Traditionally, concentrated oil has been made from butter by melting and separating the butter to give nearly 100% concentrated oil. In addition, methods are known for directly converting the cream emulsion structure into an o / w emulsion, whereby separation can be performed. This reversal of the emulsion structure takes place mainly by means of high pressure. Said SE publication presents 30 special separators in which the inversion is performed in the separator itself. The whole process takes place at a temperature of about 50-60 ° C, in which case the cream and the concentrated oil obtained are completely melted.

If the cream is cooled directly in a tube cooler, it does not naturally crystallize into butter but retains its o / w emulsion field. This is apparently due to the fact that the fat globules are inside the protein membrane, which is not broken at the beginning of the process.

DE 2241236 mainly reverses the emulsion structure of a 100% cream-40 stream. A small (5%) addition of vegetable or animal fats according to claim 2 and example 4 is irrelevant to the process. The method is likely to be based on breaking the protein membrane by pressure and heat treatment. This is indicated by the absolute deaeration required by the method and the unusually high temperatures (95..120 ° C) before cooling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,487 discloses a solution to the above problem by means of certain additives, emulsifiers. These convert the o / w emulsion structure to a w / o emulsion structure in the crystallization step. However, emulsifiers are undesirable additives and the process requires the use of high cured fats.

The object of the present invention is to provide a process for the production of concentrated oil which is more efficient, simpler, more hygienic and, in addition, avoids additives than known methods. The features of the manufacturing method according to the invention are clear from the appended claims.

According to the invention, two mass streams are initially mixed; o / w emulsion, cream and pure fat phase, concentrated oil or w / o emulsion having a fat content of more than 55%, most preferably at least 80% and having a w / o emulsion content of more than 10% in the mixture. By 100% w / o emulsion is meant herein a pure fat phase. The well-mixed mixture is then cooled from a completely molten state with a scrape tube condenser to give an initial crystallized w / o emulsion which can now be remelted and separated. Indeed, one surprising feature of the invention is precisely the reversal of the emulsion structure in the mixing and initial crystallization process. The operation of the method according to the invention is probably based on the fact that the pure fat phase breaks down the protein film of the fat flakes of the o / w emulsion already at the beginning of the process, its emulsion structure is completely turned off In this microscopic reaction, the w / o emulsion acts like a pure fat phase. Some of the advantages of the invention are that the cream used as an ingredient does not require gentle handling, e.g. in connection with pumping and 35 is not required without removal from the process as e.g. In the method of U.S. Patent No. 4,366,180.

In the following, the invention is illustrated by a detailed description of a manufacturing process applying the invention.

3,78225

Figure 1 shows the basic steps of concentrated oil production Figure 2 shows the most common equipment arrangement of the manufacturing process

Steps 1 and 2, Fig. 1 5 The preparation of the concentrated oil begins with the ratio of the o / w emulsion, in this case the cream, to the fat phase, i.e. concentrated oil. Water-soluble additives are added to the cream. If necessary, fat-soluble additives are added to the concentrated oil.

10 Step 3

The cream and concentrated oil are mixed together to give a mixture. The centrifugal pump used as a mass transfer pump mixes the mass efficiently. However, the emulsion structure of the cream is not yet reversed.

15

Step 4

Control of the crystallization process requires initial temperature stabilization. This is achieved through precisely controlled heating and cooling steps. In the heating step, the temperature of the mixture is raised to 65 ° C to ensure that all fat crystals melt. The cooling step typically stabilizes the outlet temperature at 40 ° C.

Step 5 25 Immediately before crystallization, the mass is stirred vigorously.

Step 6

The temperature of the pulp stream is rapidly lowered from a value corresponding to the fully melted state of 30, typically from about 40 ° C to 16 ° C. During cooling, the mass is mixed efficiently. During the initial crystallization, the cream emulsion structure turns into a w / o emulsion.

35 Step 7

The initial crystallized fat mass, which is correct for the emulsion structure, is melted.

Step 8 4 78225

The molten fat mass is separated to separate the aqueous and pure fat portions. A portion of the resulting concentrated oil is returned to the beginning of the production line, where it is mixed with the cream.

5

Process equipment, Figure 2

Both ingredient mass streams, o / w emulsion and fat phase are proportioned by dosing pumps 1 and 2, of which 10 mass streams are led to the same pipe 3. A centrifugal pump is used as the mass transfer pump 4. This transfers the mass through the temperature standard device 5 to the high pressure pump 6. The standard device 5 consists of a two-compartment plate heat exchanger. The high pressure pump 6 is a piston pump which presses the crystallizing mass stream 15 through the entire series of coolers 8 all the way to the separator 18. The radiator set 8 consists of mixing parts and a tube heat exchanger. First there is a premixing section 7 and immediately afterwards the cooling tubes 13 surrounded by an ammonia-filled jacket section 12. The tubes 13 are provided with scrapers 20 which continuously peel the crystallized mass from the inner surfaces of the tube 13. Immediately after the latter cooler tube 13 there is a heat exchanger 17 with which the fat mass is melted. The molten fat mass is passed to a separator 18.

The most important control of the crystallization process is the temperature control of the mass stream leaving the crystallization condenser. This is done by controlling the cooling capacity of the cooling pipes 13 and by controlling the ammonia pressure.

Separation is used to separate the concentrated oil and the aqueous portion. The water content of the separated concentrated oil is made low. The residual fat content of the separated aqueous portion is typically 1.5%. The resulting concentrated oil can be advantageously recycled in the process. The method gives an anhydrous concentrated oil made from a low-fat cream.

Claims (3)

5,78225 A process for the preparation of anhydrous concentrated oil in which the cream used has a fat content of more than 30% and in which the emulsion structure of cream 5 is inverted by crystallization, after which the w / o emulsified fat mass is melted and separated to separate the concentrated oil. an o-emulsion having a fat content of 55 to 100%, or a finished concentrated oil, in which the mixed molten stream 10 is passed to a rapidly cooling tube heat exchanger and said melting and separation are carried out immediately after this initial crystallization. Preparation method according to Claim 2, characterized in that the fat content of the cream is at least 75% and the w / o emulsion used is a recyclable finished concentrated oil. Preparation method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the initial crystallization is accompanied by continuous efficient mixing such that immediately before the tube cooler, in the tube cooler itself and immediately thereafter, the mass stream is stirred until at least 30% of the crystallizing fat has crystallized.