GB2201878A - Chocolate coating formulations for baked products - Google Patents

Abstract

Chocolate coating formulations for baked products such as biscuits and cookies have a novel fat component where the solid fat is at least 35% at 30 DEG C, at least 10% at 32.5 DEG C and not more than 5% at 35 DEG C, all such amounts being by weight of the fat component included in the formulation. As a result of these characteristics, the coating formulations can be used all year round without alteration and also without changing the coating conditions.

Description

CHOCOLATE COATING FORMULATIONS FOR BAKED PRODUCTS This invention relates to coating formulations for baked products, such as are commonly used in the manufacture of coated confectionery, cookie, biscuit and other bakery products, and is more particularly concerned with so-called "chocolate" coatings, which are applied to baked product items in the manufacture of partly or fully enrobed products. A wide range of such products are made and sold, including chocolate biscuits and cookies, chocolate-coated confectionery and snack bars and many others. It is necessary, for compliance with trade description rules in many countries, to apply the terms "chocolate", "chocolateflavour" and "chocolate-flavoured" accurately, depending upon the actual nature of the cocoa-derived materials involved.In this specification, the term "chocolate" is used in the ordinary way, to mean a coating which has a chocolate-like flavour and appearance, irrespective of the nature and origin of the ingredients used.

In the manufacture of many partly or fully coated "chocolate" edible products, a coating composition is used which consists essentially of fat, sugar and cocoa solids, possibly including milk and/or whey solids, as the main ingredients. The application of such coating compositions and control of the appearance and other properties of the coatings after application necessitates taking account of many conflicting factors. The nature and relative importance of the factors involved depend upon the particular kinds of products being made, but, in general, in any operation involving the use of a coating formulation, great care and close control have to be exercised, to achieve acceptable products with good keeping properties.Even so, the many possible effects of seasonally-variable factors such as relative humidity, ambient temperature and so on not only require the use of carefullycontrolled conditions, but also it is necessary to adjust the formulation of the coating composition, for instance to enable operating conditions which are suitable for use during the summer to be adapted, as required, so as to be suitable for use during the winter when a suitably varied coating formulation is to be applied. Of course, once the product has left the factory and entered the food distribution chain, it is subject to the prevailing environmental conditions, not only during transport and in the shop, but also in the home, and it is also subject to fluctuations in these conditions.It is in practice virtually impossible, given the current state of the art, to devise coating compositions which will operate satisfactorily under all likely sets of conditions and still be satisfactory in other respects.

Another group of factors over which close control of the coating compositions and their conditions of application is highly desirable and important, if consumer approval and acceptance of products is to be secured, relate to the various sensory parameters on which mouthfeel, i.e. the many sensations experienced on eating a product, is usually judged. "Chocolate" coatings and other components of edible products should desirably have a number of advantageous characteristics, including a relatively high initial hardness, a high melt-down rate in the mouth or "quickness" and ease of dispersion. Such components should also lack or at least show minimally a number of disadvantageous characteristics, including waxiness, gumminess, a tendency to coat teeth and residual greasiness.Furthermore, flavour-release characteristics, namely the ease and rate at which flavour is given up by the flavouring ingredients, such as cocoa and milk solids and sugar, and the character of that flavour, are intimately associated with fat melting characteristics.

Two sets of desirable attributes tend to be in conflict, because heat resistance generally is only achieved at the expense of toleration of a waxy mouthfeel. Also, there is a third set of factors, upon which the performance of acceptable coatings is judged.

These factors relate to the behaviour of coatings during processing. The principal aim in this respect is a coating which is flexible and resilient in manufacture. Thus, to be fully acceptable, a coating should be tolerant of changes in processing conditions, such as cooling temperature, residence time in a cooling tunnel and so on, and the "finish" of the coating should not be dependent upon the establishment of a precise set of conditions.

It has now been found that chocolate coating formulations or compositions, for use in the manufacture of baked edible products, can be made so as to maximise the desirable characteristics and minimise the undesirable characteristics, by incorporating into them, as the fat component, an ingredient having a specific range of properties which are related to the balance of solid fat content (SFC) and liquid oil content in the fat component. It has also surprisingly been discovered that coating compositions which achieve this desirable range of properties are also less dependent upon the effects of ambient conditions, so that it becomes possible to produce cocoa butter substitutes and other coating compositions which can be used under all likely climatic conditions.The invention thus allows the conventional need for summer and winter versions of chocolate enrobing formulations and other similar coating compositions to be dispensed with and provides the unexpected advantage of "all year round" formulations.

Additional advantages of the discoveries upon which the invention is based relate to the optimisation or elimination of added emulsifiers, reduction of the fat content and maximising of the heat resistance and hardness of such compositions, at elevated temperatures, while retaining desired viscosity values and handling characteristics.

According to an aspect of this invention, a fat component, for incorporation with other ingredients such as a sugar component and cocoa solids into a chocolate coating formulation or composition, has a solid fat content which is at least 35% by weight at 300C, at least 10% by weight at 32.50C and not more than 5% by weight at 350C. Preferably, the fat component has a solid fat content of at least 80% by weight at 200C and, more preferably, the aforementioned maximum and minimum values are at least 40% at 300C, at least 20% at 32.50c and not more than 2% at 350C. In the remainder of this disclosure, solid fat content (SFC) is represented as N and a number suffix indicates the Celcius scale temperature at which an SFC has been measured.Thus, in carrying out the invention: N30 > , 35%, N32.5 > , 10% and N35 < 5%, preferably: N20 > 80% and: N30 > 40%, N32.s > , 20% and N35 < 2%, all percentage amounts being by weight. These values are determined by the IUPAC standard method (2.323) of solid fat content determination, in fats, without special pre-treatment using pulsed NMR in parallel measurements. The hardness of flat bars of the resultant chocolates, in formulations similar to those given in the examples below, as measured by an ASTM D5, IP49 standard needle, with a total needle and plunger weight of 50 g in an SUR penetrometer, is preferably < 6mm penetration depth at 300C and, more preferably < 4mm.

Enrobed biscuits should not "block" at 300C, preferably > , 330C, according to standardised test procedures, at which temperature they should also show no finger-marking and should retain high gloss.

It is known that cocoa butter substitutes (CBS's) can conveniently be classified according to their content of lauryl derivatives. Common examples of fats high in lauric acid and therefore conveniently termed "lauric fats" are those derived from palm kernel and coconut oils, while fats low or even deficient in such fatty acids are conveniently termed "non-lauric fats", examples of which are soya bean oil, cotton seed oil and palm oil. Lauric fats usually have good melt-down characteristics, including a rapid rate of melting, minimum waxiness and low viscosity, while non-lauric fats tend to be waxy, without good mouthfeel and of poor heat resistance.The term "lauric fats" used in the context of cocoa butter substitutes is readily understood by those familiar with the technology to include natural fats of this type, which have been modified by employing such techniques as fractionation and/or hydrogenation and/or other processes known to the oils and fats technologist, so as to modify the melting characteristics of such fats, in order to conform to the parameters given above.

It has been found that coating compositions according to the invention, having additional very desirable properties, can be surprisingly formulated on the basis of certain fats of the non-lauric type. In the context of cocoa butter substitutes, it is readily understood that fats of this type are often prepared from liquid vegetable oils, by processes such as selective hydrogenation and/or fractionation.

Additional properties of formulations so made include excellent glossiness and gloss retention, excellent shelf-life under all likely long-term storage conditions arising in practice and also good resilience and tolerance in processing.

The following are examples of typical chocolate coating formulations which are illustrative of the formulations of the present invention, though without implying any limitation. These coating formulations were prepared according to standardised procedures and refining was carried out, so as to ensure constancy in particle size distribution.

LAURIC TYPE NON-LAURIC TYPE Fat 30.00% 31.00% Sugar 53.165% 52.25% Cocoa powder 8.4% 8.32% Skim milk powder 4.0% 3.96% Demineralised whey powder 4.0% 3.96% Vanillan 0.05% 0.05% Salt 0.06% 0.06% Lecithin 0.325% 0.40% The heat resistance and rheological characteristics, including viscocity and yield value, of the above coating formulations have been optimised with respect to the particle size distributions of the fat-free solids for biscuit coatings, by adjusting fat and emulsifier levels to the minimum amounts necessary for ease of handling and application in the factory.

It has also surprisingly been established that coatings, having good heat resistance and mouthfeel characteristics, exceptional gloss and gloss retention characteristics and bloom-free shelf-life under a variety of storage temperatures, can be obtained from CBS's based upon a selectively hydrogenated/fractionated vegetable oil blend. These formulations do not exhibit the waxy mouthfeel normally associated with such fats and conform to the solid fat/liquid oil ratios laid down above. The balance of desirable attributes referred to and observed in the resultant coatings appears to be related to the temperature at which the fractionation step was carried out.

Claims (9)

CLAIMS:

1. A chocolate coating formulation, suitable for use in the manufacture of partly or fully enrobed baked products, which comprises a fat component, a sugar component and cocoa solids, wherein the fat component comprises solid fat and liquid fat and the solid fat content, by weight of the fat component, is at least 35% at 300C, at least 10% at 32.50C and not more than 5% at 350C.

2. A coating formulation according to claim 1, wherein the sold fat content, by weight of the fat component, is at least 80% at 200C.

3. A coating formulation according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the solid fat content, by weight of the fat component, is at least 40% at 300C, at least 20% at 32.50C and not more than 2% at 350C.

4. A coating formulation according to any preceding claim, wherein the hardness, measured on a flat bar by an ASTM D5, IP49 standard needle, is less than 6mm penetration depth at 300C.

5. A coating formulation according to claim 4, wherein the hardness is less than 4mm penetration depth at 300C.

6. A fat component comprising solid fat and liquid fat and suitable for incorporation into a chocolate coating formulation in conjunction with a sugar component and cocoa solids, wherein the solid fat content, by weight of the fat component, is at least 35% at 300C, at least 10% at 32.50C and not more than 5% at 350C.

7. A fat component according to claim 6, having a solid fat content of at least 80% at 200C.

8. A fat component according to claim 6 or 7, having a solid fat content of at least 40% at 300C, at least zU% at 32.5uC and not more than 2% at 350C.

9. An enrobed baked product including a chocolate coating derived from a formulation according to any of claims 1 to 5 or from a formulation based upon a fat component according to any of claims 6 to 8.