GB1573041A - Meat and/or vegetable food products and method of manufacturing same - Google Patents

Description

(54) MEAT AND/OR VEGETABLE FOOD PRODUCTS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME (71) We, CADBURY TYPHOO LIMITED, a British company of Bournville, Birmingham B30 2LU, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a food and to a method of manufacturing same and is more particularly concerned with the manufacture of a dried food product.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dried food product comprising pieces of dried food and a dry coating of a sauce-making mixture which is detachably adhered to said pieces whereby when the dried food is re-constituted with an aqueous liquid, e.g. water, the sauce-making coating becomes detached from the pieces to produce a sauce.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a dried food product comprising the steps of moistening the surfaces of pieces of dried food, applying a coating of a sauce-making mixture to the moistened pieces so that the sauce-making mixture adheres to the surface of the pieces, and drying the thus-coated pieces so that the latter have a dry coating of the sauce-making mixture detachably adhered thereto.

Generally, it will be necessary to repeat the steps of moistening and applying sauce-making mixture a number of times until the desired amount of sauce-making mixture has been applied to the pieces.

The dried food which is used is preferably dried meat and/or meat substitute. It is however possible to use pieces of dehydrated vegetable as a partial or total replacement of the meat and/or meat substitute.

The coating on the dried food can also serve to enhance the otherwise unappetising appearance of the dried food.

The expression "pieces" as used herein is intended to include particles of dried food which are of a size corresponding to that of particles of minced meat and relatively large chunks of dried food such as can be found in stews and pies.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a block diagram showing a preferred method of preparing a dried food product according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, chunks of textured vegetable protein (TVP) are fed from a hopper 10 to a revolving pan 11 which is arranged to rotate about an axis which is disposed at 30"C to the horizontal. Water from a tank 12 is then sprayed into the pan 11 in order to moisten the surface of the TVP chunks. In the meantime, dry powdered ingredients are separately weighed in a vessel 13 and then passed to a mixer 14 where a sauce-making mixture is formed. This sauce-making mixture is then passed into the revolving pan 11 to coat the moistened TVP chunks. In order to produce the correct amount of coating on the chunks, the process of moistening and coating is effected five more times with sufficient water being employed to ensure that the coating adheres to the chunks but that the chunks do not agglomerate through the use of excessive water. The coated TVP chunks at this stage typically have a moisture content of 11.5 % by weight and consist basically of 50% by weight of TVP chunks, 41 % by weight of the sauce-making mixture and 9% by weight of water added from tank 12. The remaining 2.5% moisture content of the product is present as a result of moisture being present in the TVP chunks and/or the ingredients of the sauce-making mixture. In the revolving pan 11 100 ibs of food is processed in one hour. The coated TVP chunks are then fed out of the revolving pan 11 along a line 15 to a drying oven 16 where they are dried on open racks in the drying oven 16 for two hours at 80C C with a volume flow rate of 0.62 cubic metres per second of drying air. The resultant dried food has a moisture content of 6% by weight and is then passed to a cooler 17 where it is cooled down to room temperature and then passed to a packer 18 where it is hermetically sealed in packs for distribution and sale. The amount of sauce-making coating provided on the TVP chunks is arranged to be sufficient to produce the correct amount of sauce at the correct consistency per chunk when reconstituted using the amount of water specified for the weight of chunks used. Thus, it is possible to use any desired number of coated TVP chunks and obtain the correct amount of sauce. This would be difficult to attain if the sauce-making mixture were simply provided loose in a packet with TVP chunks.

The above-described process can be used to produce any of the dried food products listed in Examples 1 to 5 hereinafter.

EXAMPLE 1 - Basic Stew Product 50 TVP Chunks or Dried Beef Chunks 13 Flour 12.5 Onion Powder 7.5 Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein 5.0 Cadbury Compliment * (a blend of hardened vegetable oils and glucose syrup solids) - * a Registered Trade Mark of Cadbury Limited.

4.0 TVP coarse dust 3.15 Tomato powder 2.0 Sugar 1.75 Salt 0.6 Dry Colouring matter 0.5 Pepper EXAMPLE 2 -- Peppery Stew Product 50 TVP Chunks or Dried Beef Chunks 13.9 Flour 10. Tomato powder 6.75 Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein 4.25 Salt 2.25 Chilli pepper powder .275 Dry Colouring matter 0.75 Mono-sodium Glutamate 12.5 Onion Powder EXAMPLE 3 - Beef Curry Product 42.0 TVP Chunks or Dried Beef Chunks 16.2 Flour 6.5 Sultanas 6.2 Onion Powder 5.1 Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein 4.0 Diced Mixed Vegetables 4.0 Diced Dried Apple Pieces 3.5 Curry Powder 3.3 Tomato Powder 3.2 Cadbury Compliment* 3.0 Diced dried coconut pieces 1.4 Sugar 1.0 Salt 0.4 Colouring matter 0.1 White pepper 0.1 Herbs and spices EXAMPLE 4 - Beef & Vegetable Product 46.5 TVP Chunks and Dried Beef Chunks 16.7 Flour 10.0 Sliced Dried Mixed Vegetables 8.0 Onion Powder 6.5 Hydrolyzed vegetable protein 6.0 Cadbury Compliment * 3.5 Tomato powder 2.0 Sugar 0.5 Colouring material .2 Herbs and spices .1 White pepper EXAMPLE 5 - Chicken Supreme Product 48.6 Dried Chicken Chunks 23.4 Colorite (a product of Dean Foods, U.S.A., containing dried glucose syrup, veget able fat, sodium caseinate, emulsifying salts, sodium silico aluminate, emulsifers and colouring matter) 14.1 Flour 4.6 Chicken Fat Powder 3.5 Salt 2.9 Chicken Flavouring 2.3 Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein 0.6 White pepper In the above Examples, the products can be utilised simply by adding cold water to the product and then simmering in a covered pan to produce a food consisting of the meat or TVP chunks in a sauce having a pleasant consistency, the proportions of water to product and the cooking times being set out in the Table below.

TABLE Product Product weight Water Cooking time Example 1 85g 1 litre 50 minutes Example 2 62.5g 1 litre 90 minutes Example 3 200g 1 litre 30 minutes Example 4 200g 1 litre 30 minutes Example 5 200g 1 litre 45 minutes Thus, broadly, the product can be used in an amount of 62-200g./litre of water and cooked for from 30 to 90 minutes.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A dried food product comprising pieces of dried food and a dry coating of a saucemaking mixture which is detachably adhered to said pieces whereby when the dried food is re-constituted with an aqueous liquid, the sauce-making coating becomes detached from the pieces to produce a sauce.

2. A dried food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dried food pieces are dried meat, dried meat substitute and/or dried vegetable pieces.

3. A method of manufacturing a dried food product comprising the steps of moistening the surfaces of pieces of dried food, applying a coating of a sauce-making mixture to the moistened pieces so that the sauce-making mixture adheres to the surface of the pieces, and drying the thus-coated pieces to that the latter have a dry coating of the sauce-making mixture detachably adhered thereto.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pieces of dried food are dried meat, dried meat substitute and/or dried vegetable pieces.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein after the coating application step and before the drying step, the mixture comprises 50%by weight of the dried food pieces, 41 %byweight of the sauce-making mixture and 9% by weight of water.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the moistening and coating applying steps are effected in a rotatable container in which the pieces of dried food being moistened and coated are contained.

7. A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the sauce-making mixture is formed before the coating applying step.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, when appended to claim 6, wherein the ingredients of the sauce-making mixture are mixed in a container and then passed to the rotatable container.

9. A dried food product substantially as hereinbefore described in any one of Examples 1 to 5.

10. A method of manufacturing a dried food product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

11. A dried food product when produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 8 and 10.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (11)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. In the above Examples, the products can be utilised simply by adding cold water to the product and then simmering in a covered pan to produce a food consisting of the meat or TVP chunks in a sauce having a pleasant consistency, the proportions of water to product and the cooking times being set out in the Table below. TABLE Product Product weight Water Cooking time Example 1 85g 1 litre 50 minutes Example 2 62.5g 1 litre 90 minutes Example 3 200g 1 litre 30 minutes Example 4 200g 1 litre 30 minutes Example 5 200g 1 litre 45 minutes Thus, broadly, the product can be used in an amount of 62-200g./litre of water and cooked for from 30 to 90 minutes. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A dried food product comprising pieces of dried food and a dry coating of a saucemaking mixture which is detachably adhered to said pieces whereby when the dried food is re-constituted with an aqueous liquid, the sauce-making coating becomes detached from the pieces to produce a sauce.

2. A dried food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dried food pieces are dried meat, dried meat substitute and/or dried vegetable pieces.

3. A method of manufacturing a dried food product comprising the steps of moistening the surfaces of pieces of dried food, applying a coating of a sauce-making mixture to the moistened pieces so that the sauce-making mixture adheres to the surface of the pieces, and drying the thus-coated pieces to that the latter have a dry coating of the sauce-making mixture detachably adhered thereto.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the pieces of dried food are dried meat, dried meat substitute and/or dried vegetable pieces.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein after the coating application step and before the drying step, the mixture comprises 50%by weight of the dried food pieces, 41 %byweight of the sauce-making mixture and 9% by weight of water.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the moistening and coating applying steps are effected in a rotatable container in which the pieces of dried food being moistened and coated are contained.

7. A method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the sauce-making mixture is formed before the coating applying step.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, when appended to claim 6, wherein the ingredients of the sauce-making mixture are mixed in a container and then passed to the rotatable container.

9. A dried food product substantially as hereinbefore described in any one of Examples 1 to 5.

10. A method of manufacturing a dried food product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

11. A dried food product when produced by the method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 8 and 10.