GB2311203A

GB2311203A - Edible product produced from bread crust material

Info

Publication number: GB2311203A
Application number: GB9606033A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian John Smith; Martin Peter Read
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-03-22
Filing date: 1996-03-22
Publication date: 1997-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 2016-03-22
Also published as: AU2037797A; GB9606033D0; WO1997035483A1; GB2311203B

Abstract

The invention provides a process for treating bread crust material (12) to provide a human food or other edible product, comprising applying a wetting material (15) to bread crust material, forming the wetted crusts into a sheet (17) or sheets of crust material, cutting and shaping as required the or each sheet to form the product (19) and drying the product to preserve its shape. A food product produced from bread crust material in the manner described can provide an edible base or container for other foods which can be eaten cold or reheated in a conventional or microwave oven. Alternatively, the treated bread crust material may provide an edible utensil for eating other foods.

Description

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING BREAD CRUST MATERIAL AND FOOD AND OTHER EDIBLE PRODUCTS PRODUCED THEREFROM The invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating bread crust material. The invention also relates to food and other edible products produced from bread crust material.

The production of bread in tins in the baking industry is common place, and likewise the process of slicing the bread after baking and pre-wrapping the sliced loaf for delivery to customers. The commercial tinned sliced loaf has been long established.

A more recent development has been the large scale commercial production of ready to eat sandwiches in factories dedicated to these products. In the commercial sandwich industry, it is usual for the two end slices on each tinned loaf, i.e. the crusts", to be rejected, and designated as scrap or perhaps used as food for animals.

The scrap crusts generated by this industry can be measured in hundreds of thousands per day between relatively few factories. It is an object of the invention to make use of this source of supply of bread crusts and/or bread crust material generally to provide a food product for human consumption and/or other edible products produced therefrom.

According to the invention there is provided a process for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other edible product, comprising applying a wetting material to bread crust material to render the material more pliable, forming the wetted crust material into a sheet or sheets of crust material, cutting and shaping as required the or each sheet to form the product, and drying the desired product to preserve its shape.

The bread crust material is preferably whole crusts and/or pieces of crust, or comminuted crust material.

Preferably the step of wetting the crust material is performed by spraying, dipping, or passing the crust material through a curtain of wetting material which may be water or other liquid foodstuff or a mixture thereof.

It is also preferred that the wet sheet crust material is cut and shaped by cutting and moulding or stamping. For example, the material may be cut and moulded into the form of an edible base or container for other food material. Alternatively, the material may be cut and moulded into an edible utensil for eating other foods.

The invention also provides an apparatus for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other edible product, comprising means for applying a wetting material to bread crust material, roller means for forming the wetted crust material into a sheet or sheets of crust material, cutting means for cutting and shaping as required the or each sheet to form the desired product, and means for drying the product to preserve its shape.

The invention further provides a human food or other edible product formed by a process or an apparatus as defined above. In particular, the product can be dried sufficiently to provide required textural, functional and organoleptic properties, including a shelf life of several months or more without refrigeration.

In one form of the invention, the product is an edible base or container for other food material. The food product can be eaten cold or hot after being reheated in a conventional or microwave oven, with or without a topping or filling of other foods. The product can be made in the form of a container which is edible and capable of holding without leakage moist, hot or cold foods of thick or flowing consistency.

The invention still further provides an edible product formed from bread crust material wherein the product is an edible utensil for eating other foods, e.g. cutlery, or a plate, or a cup/mug.

If desired, any of the above products may have further comestible material added or mixed therein, e.g. for flavouring the product. The further material may be mixed with the starting bread crust material or added subsequently during the treatment process.

By way of example, specific embodiments in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional tinned sliced loaf indicating the end crusts for use in this invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a specially formed loaf as an alternative or additional source of supply of bread crust material; Figure 3 shows apparatus for treating bread crust material to provide an end product for human consumption; Figures 4 to 7 illustrate different forms of end product as human food products; and Figures 8 and 9 illustrate alternative end products as edible utensils for eating other food.

This example concerns the treatment of bread crust material for the production of human food or other edible end products. Referring to the drawings, the source of supply of bread crust material may conveniently be the scrap end crusts 10 of a conventional tinned sliced loaf 11 shown in Figure 1.

It will be appreciated that similar scrap consisting of side, top and bottom crusts may also be used or mixed with the end crusts 10. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 2 shows a specially prepared loaf 21 which is baked thin enough to use whole or in this embodiment, sliced generally longitudinally along dash line 23 to provide two halves 22, both of which are crusts.

In the case of conventional tinned loaves 11 (Figure 1), any of the available range of commercial varieties may be employed, such as white, brown, wholemeal or whole grain. The loaves may also be fresh or frozen. The same applies in the case of specially baked loaves 21 (Figure 2).

Further comestible material may be mixed with the starting bread crust material if desired, or added thereto during the treatment process, for example for giving a desired flavour to the final end product.

The starting material may be individual bread crusts or crust pieces, each of which is treated separately in the following manner to produce a respective end product. However, more typically, as will be described, the bread crusts 10, 22, whether whole or broken, and/or pieces of crust are collected and supplied from a hopper in the form of whole crusts and/or pieces of crust, or as comminuted or otherwise chopped crust material 12, together with other comestible material, if any, as desired.

In this embodiment, the bread crust and any other material 12, hereinafter referred to as crust material, is fed successively or partially overlapping on a moving conveyor to a wetting station 14.

At the wetting station, the crust material 12 is wetted by spraying from above using spray jets 15 disposed transversely of the moving crust material.

Alternatively, the crust material may be wetted by dipping or passing the crust material through a curtain of wetting material.

The wetting material may be water or edible oils or fats or any other liquid foodstuffs, or mixture thereof. Typically, the crust material 12 absorbs sufficient wetting material to double its weight.

However, by controlling the amount of wetting material pick up to give smaller or greater ratios, different product characteristics can be obtained.

The wetted crust material 12, which has become more pliable after the wetting step, is then passed through the nip of rollers 16 to squeeze and roll the crust material into the form of a sheet or a succession of sheets of crust material, each sheet being thinner and flatter than the original depth of crust material 12 from which it is formed. The rolled sheet material 17 may be in the form of individual separate pieces, each formed from one or more crusts or pieces of crust, or as in this embodiment a single continuous sheet 17 is formed from adjacent and overlapping crusts and/or pieces of crust. The thickness and the residue of moisture from the wetting material in the sheet or sheets is controlled by the pressure and gauge of the squeeze rollers 16 employed.

It will be appreciated that an equivalent continuous sheet 17 or sheets of crust material may be formed from a stream of comminuted bread crust material as the starting material.

The sheet 17 or sheets of moist crust material are then cut or shaped, or both cut and shaped, as required, into pieces 19 of the desired shape and size by any convenient cutting or shaping apparatus given the reference numeral 18 in Figure 2. For example, there may be employed any apparatus conventionally used in the biscuit or confectionery industry, which may involve stamping, reciprocating block cutting, rotary cutting or moulding, rotary wheel or saw cutting, band saw cutting, water jet cutting, die cutting, or wire cutting and die moulding. Scrap material removed during the cutting and shaping step may be collected and returned for re-use in a succeeding cycle.

The cut or moulded pieces 19 are then dried. For this purpose, there is provided a flat sheet of continuous or perforated material such as oven belting or a succession of baking sheets. Before drying, the flat or moulded pieces 19 can be placed in or on any mould to give a full three dimensional shape, profiled on upper and lower surfaces, or a two and a half dimensional shape profiled on one surface with a flat base. A restraining second piece of the mould can be applied to the exposed surface to avoid distortion during the drying step. Individual separate moulds can be employed, or the moulds can be an integral part of a continuous belt mechanism. In either case, the mould material must be able to withstand the process of the drying operation.

The drying operation may be achieved by using any of a number of drying systems commonly employed in the food industry. Typically, this is an oven 20 involving either a static heated chamber or, as in this embodiment, a moving belt 21 for conveying the crust pieces 19 through a heated tunnel. In either case, air temperature is controlled for a given time to provide a balance between drying the crust pieces 19 quickly without excessive heat which could burn the material being dried.

Air temperatures within the oven are typically between 1000C and 2500C. Control of the air temperature may also be used to toast the crust pieces 19 to give flavour or colour to the product. Di-electric or microwave heating may be used to achieve part, or all, of the drying step.

The dried crust pieces 19 are cooled or allowed to cool. The moisture content of the end product after drying and cooling is less than 10% in this embodiment, and may be between 1% and 6% to give a desired shelf life, without refrigeration, and texture to the product.

The cooled, dried product formed from bread crust material is then ready for consumption, but may be packed in barrier materials for reasons of hygiene to avoid contamination, and to avoid or minimise moisture pick-up during distribution and storage.

Figures 4 to 7 illustrate, by way of example, four typical forms of human food end product. In Figure 4, the product 30 is generally rectangular and similar to a biscuit. The product can either be eaten alone, or with a covering, e.g. cheese, or as a sandwich. Figure 5 shows a larger circular product 31 which could be used in a manner similar to a pizza base. In Figure 6, the product 32 has a surrounding wall 33 and comprises a container which is edible and capable of holding without leakage moist, hot or cold foods of thick or flowing consistency. Figure 7 shows a product 40 similar to the product of Figure 6, but having a generally oval shape. The product 40 of Figure 7 is also deeper and has a thinner wall 41.

Each of the products described can be eaten cold or hot after being reheated in a conventional or microwave oven. Each product may also be eaten alone or with a covering or as a sandwich (Figure 4), or with a more extensive topping (Figure 5), or with a filling (Figures 6 and 7), of other food or foods.

Products, for example, of the kinds shown in Figures 6 and 7 or similar products, may be formed, if desired, by cutting and shaping the wetted sheet material into a required form and subsequently or simultaneously joining two or more shaped parts together. The combined parts are then dried to preserve the shape of the product. In one embodiment, such a product may be open on one edge to enable it to be filled subsequently with other food, whether during production or before the product is eaten.

The invention is also applicable for producing other edible end products, in particular an edible utensil for eating other foods. For example, Figure 8 illustrates a typical knife 34, spoon 35 and fork 36, and Figure 9 illustrates a plate 37 and a cup/mug 38.

Each item 34 to 38 may be readily cut and moulded from the sheet 17 of crust material described above. Such items also have a beneficial use in a hospital or other environment in which it is required to use sterile articles and/or disposal is a problem.

Claims

1. A process for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other edible product, comprising applying a wetting material to bread crust material to render the material more pliable, forming the wetted crust material into a sheet or sheets of crust material, cutting and shaping as required the or each sheet to form the desired product, and drying the product to preserve its shape.

2. A process as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the bread crust material is either whole crusts and/or pieces of crust, or comminuted crust material.

3. A process as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the source of bread crust material is scrap crusts and/or crusts cut from whole loaves.

4. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wetting material is water or other liquid foodstuff or a mixture thereof.

5. A process as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the step of wetting the crust material is performed by spraying, dipping, or passing the crust material through a curtain of wetting material.

6. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including compressing the wet sheet crust material to reduce its thickness prior to cutting and shaping as required.

7. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wet sheet crust material is cut and shaped by cutting and moulding or stamping.

8. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the product is dried in an oven.

9. A process as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the air temperature in the oven is controlled between about 1000C and 2500C for a given time to provide a balance between drying the product quickly without burning and if desired to give the product flavour and colour.

10. A process as claimed in Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the dried product is cooled or allowed to cool, and the moisture content of the end product is between about 1% and 6%.

11. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the product has further comestible material mixed therewith, e.g. for flavouring the product.

12. A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wet sheet crust material is cut and moulded into the form of a human food product or an edible base or container for other food material.

13. A process as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the product is given a three dimensional shape, profiled on upper and lower surfaces, or a two and a half dimensional shape profiled on one surface with a flat base.

14. A process as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the wet sheet crust material is cut and moulded into an edible utensil for eating other foods.

15. Apparatus for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other edible product, comprising means for applying a wetting material to bread crust material, roller means for forming the wetted crust material into a sheet or sheets of crust material, cutting means for cutting and shaping as required the or each sheet to form the desired product, and means for drying the product to preserve its shape.

16. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 15, wherein the cutting means include stamping or moulding means for giving the product the required shape.

17. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 15 or Claim 16, wherein moulding means are provided to give the product the form of a base or container for other food material.

18. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 15 or Claim 16, wherein moulding means are provided to give the product the form of an edible utensil for eating other foods.

19. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 18, wherein the drying means is an oven.

20. A human food or other edible product formed by a process as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 14, or an apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 19.

21. A product as claimed in Claim 20, wherein the product comprises an edible base or container for other food material.

22. A product as claimed in Claim 20 or Claim 21, including other food material therewith, e.g. as a topping or filling, or mixed therein.

23. A product as claimed in any one of Claims 20 to 22, wherein the product is made in the form of a container which is edible and capable of holding without leakage moist, hot or cold foods of thick or flowing consistency.

24. An edible product formed from bread crust material, wherein the product is an edible utensil for eating other foods.

25. A process for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

26. Apparatus for treating bread crust material to provide a human food or other product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

27. A human food product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 4 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

28. An edible product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 8 and 9 of the accompanying drawings.