IE921956A1

IE921956A1 - Butterfat-based edible fat product and process for the¹production thereof

Info

Publication number: IE921956A1
Application number: IE195692A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Korstin Christensson; Rickard Lofgren
Original assignee: Svenska Mejeriernas Riksforeni
Priority date: 1991-06-17
Filing date: 1992-07-01
Publication date: 1992-12-30
Also published as: AU2148892A; SE9101860D0; WO1992022215A1; SE9101860L

Abstract

A preferably spreadable, butterfat-based edible fat product having a fat content of 25-70 % by weight, and a process for the production thereof are described. The fat of the product is composed of butterfat from cream and, optionally, vegetable oil. The product is a water-in-oil emulsion which is stablilised with gelatin. It may also contain small amounts of salt and aroma substances. The aqueous phase may consist of or contain skim milk. The product is produced by mixing cream with the other components included in the edible fat product, pasteurising, cooling and phase-inverting the mixture, whereupon the emulsion formed is worked and finely divided. Alternatively, cream is mixed with a small amount of the desired gelatin quantity and water quantity, and with all the other components, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled, and phase-inverted and, subsequently, mixed with a pasteurised mixture of the remainder of the gelatin quantity and water and/or skim milk, whereupon the emulsion formed is worked and finely divided.

Description

THE PRODUCTION THEREOF The present invention relates to a butterfat-based edible fat product, preferably spreadable, having a fat content of 25-70% by weight, and a process for the production thereof.

In recent years, there has been a general tendency towards making food products. Including edible fat pro10 ducts, of lower fat content. This has been achieved by adding a large amount of water to the fat. However, this results in great difficulties in keeping the final emulsion of water in fat sufficiently stable. In order to stabilise the emulsion, use has therefore been made of various additives, which is not always an acceptable solution, considering the consumers' interest in having as few additives in food as possible.

EP 312,514 discloses a margarine which is spreadable at refrigeration temperature and whose fat phase is mainly made of fat in the form of butteroil. The emulsion is stabilised by the addition of, inter alia, starch. Moreover, the edible fat contains, inter alia, a protein concentrate. When making this product, a water-in-oil emulsion is prepared, which is cooled and worked. In this context, it may happen that the emulsion is spontaneously phaseinverted to an oil-in-water emulsion which then cannot be phase-inverted back to a water-in-oil emulsion.

Furthermore, SE 7800900-8 discloses a butter-like edible fat which has been made spreadable at refrigeration temperature, 6-8®C, by adding a vegetable oil to a temperature-processed cream. The fat content of this butterfatbased edible product is about 80% by weight, about 15-30% by weight of the entire fat quantity being oil. This product is made by churning the mixture of cream and oil, which restricts the possibilities of reducing the fat content .

The present invention has made it possible to produce an edible fat product based on butterfat from cream, said product having a low fat content and a perfectly pure and neutral butter flavour and preferably being spreadable.

The butterfat-based edible product according to the invention has a fat content of 25-70% by weight and is characterised in that it consists of a water-in-oil emulsion comprising -70% by weight fat, 100-40% by weight of the fat 10 being butterfat from cream and 0-60% by weight of the fat being vegetable oil, 0.5-5% by weight gelatin, 0-2.5% by weight salt, 0-0.5% by weight aroma substances, the balance being water and/or skim milk up to 100% by weight, and in that it has been produced by cream having a fat content of 11.8 - about 80% by weight Al) being mixed with the other components included in the edible fat product, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted, or A2) being mixed with a small amount of the desired gelatin quantity and water quantity, and with all the other components, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted and subsequently mixed with a pasteurised mixture of the remainder of the gelatin quantity and water and/or skim milk, B) whereupon the water-in-oil emulsion formed is worked and finely divided.

All contents are calculated on the basis of the final edible fat product, except the amounts of butterfat and vegetable oil in the fat.

For a spreadable, butterfat-based edible fat product, the fat comprises at least 5% by weight of vegetable oil.

The edible fat product according to the invention preferably has a fat content of 35-45% by weight, and ocpocially a fat: oontont of about: 40% by weight ie preferred.

The invention also relates to a process for the production of the butterfat-based edible fat product as defined above, said process being characterised by Al) mixing cream with the other components included in the edible fat product, pasteurising, cooling and phase-inverting the mixture, or A2) mixing cream with a small amount of the desired gela10 tii-i quantity end wdter quantity and with all me other components, pasteurising, cooling and phaseinverting the mixture and subsequently mixing it with a pasteurised mixture of the remainder of the gelatin quantity and water and/or skim milk, B) subsequently working and finely dividing the emulsion formed.

When making the edible fat product according to the invention, the starting product is cream having a fat content of 11.8 - about 80% which, as required, can be con20 centrated and/or diluted with water or skim milk, according to the desired fat content of the final product and depending on the amount of oil that is to be added. The cream is concentrated in conventional manner by means of a separator in one or two steps, depending on the desired fat content.

Subsequently the production can be effected in two alternative ways. In the first alternative, all components included are mixed at an increased temperature, and the entire mixture is pasteurised and then cooled, suit30 ably to a temperature in the range 5-25°C. The mixture, which is an oil-in-water emulsion (o/w emulsion), is then phase-inverted in a cooling cylinder and a crystalliser, whereby a stable water-in-oil emulsion (w/o emulsion) is obtained. This is further worked and finely divided in a series of cooling cylinders and crystallisers so as to obtain a suitable consistency of the final product.

After passing the last cooling cylinder, the product is advanced through a resting unit. After the resting unit the product has a temperature of 5-16°C.

In an alternative process, the cream is first mixed 5 with oil, if desired, and salt and aroma substances, and with a small amount of the desired quantity of gelatin dissolved in a small amount of water and/or skim milk.

This mixture is pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted in a cooling cylinder and a crystalliser, like in the first alternative. To the emulsion thus phase-inverted, i.e. the w/o emulsion, there is then added in line the remainder of the separately prepared aqueous phase with the rest of the gelatin, which has been pasteurised in advance. Subsequently the entire mixture is further processed in a series of cooling cylinders and crystallisers in the same manner as in alternative 1, and is allowed to rest in a resting unit, whereupon it is removed as a final product chilled to 5-16eC.

The emulsifying of the fat phase in the aqueous phase occurs at a temperature in the range 40-70°Cz preferably about 50°C. The speed of the cooling cylinders may be in the range 200-1300, preferably about 1000 rpm. The speed of the crystallisers may al3o be varied within a wide range, such as 100-1300 rpm, preferably 200 rpm.

By increasing or decreasing the speed of the cooling cylinders and the crystallisers in relation to each other, the properties of the final product may be modified .

For the product to be spreadable at refrigeration temperature, the fat phase should comprise at least 5% by weight of vegetable oil. The vegetable oil can be any liquid oil which is commonly used in edible fats, especially rapeseed oil or soybean oil.

The product and the process according to the inven35 tion brings a number of advantages as compared to priorart products and processes.

Since the starting product according to the invention is cream, and not butteroil, much aroma is maintained which otherwise disappears into the buttermilk when making butteroil, since cream fat globules with membranes are still left, undamaged. This also means that a large amount of the emulsifying substances, which occur naturally in cream, is still left, which in turn implies that no addition of emulsifying agents is required. Starting from cream further calls for less resources, since the step of making butteroil from cream is eliminated.

According to the invention, the cream is mixed with the other ingredients (or, in the alternative process, with the other ingredients, but only with part of the gelatin and water and/or skim milk), which means that before the phase inversion there is still a cream, i.e. an oil-in-water emulsion, which is subsequently phaseinverted. In the prior-art method of making an edible fat product based on butteroil (EP 312,514), a w/o emulsion is prepared which is then cooled and worked. In the cooling and working operation, a spontaneous phase inversion to o/w emulsion may occur and this cannot be inverted to w/o emulsion. The prior-art method thus is highly critical and may easily fail.

Since the components included are already pasteuris25 ed before the phase inversion, a stable product of high hygienic quality is ubLdiiieJ. There is no risk oi an undesired phase inversion taking place in a subsequent pasteurising step, as may occur in the method disclosed in EP 312,514.

To the product manufactured according to EP 312,514, there is added, inter alia, a buttermilk concentrate as stabiliser, which owing to the lactose and milk protein included therein results in a very strong taste. According to the present invention use is made of but a very small quantity of gelatin as stabiliser, which makes the taste more neutral and, consequently, more butter-like.

The content of lactose and milk protein will be of the 9ame size as (or insignificantly higher than) in normal butter of 80% fat, if the basis is cream concentrated to as high a fat content as possible (72-80% by weight of fat) which is then diluted with water.

Moreover, according to the present invention, use is made of a smaller number of additives than in the priorart edible fat products having a low fat content. It is even possible to use gelatin as the only additive to the mixture of butterfat and vegetable oil.

Furthermore, no hardened fat is required, but merely butterfat and, optionally, vegetable oil are used. Vegetable oil is added only to such an extent that, when desired, the final product is made spreadable.

The flavour is optionally adjusted by adding salt and/ or aroma substances.

The process is quick, simple and concentrated. No ripening period is required, and just a few, small storage tanks are needed. The equipment is also useful for other fat mixtures, and thus specific equipment for each desired composition of fat is not necessary.

The invention will now be described in more detail by means of the nonrestrictive Example below.

Example A spreadable edible fat product having a fat content of about 40% by weight is prepared according to the following recipe.

Cream (fat content 45.9% by weight) 56.7% by weight Vegetable oil 14.0% by weight Gelatin 3.0% by weight Salt 1.2% by weight Aroma substances 0.1% by weight Water/skim milk 25.0% by weight 100.0% by weight In order to simplify the adding of gelatin and salt, these are suitably first mixed with part of the water/skim milk at a temperature at which the gelatin is melted and liquid.

When required, cream (45.9-80%) is concentrated and/ or diluted with water or skim milk to a fat content of 46.3% by weight. The cream is mixed with the other ingredients at +50°C, pasteurised and then cooled again to +50’C. Subsequently, the mixture is passed through a cooling cylinder having a speed of 1000 rpm and a crystalliser having a speed of about 200 rpm for phase inversion of the mixture to a w/o emulsion. The emulsion is then worked and finely divided in one or more cooling cylinders and crys10 tallisers into a suitable consistency, whereupon it is allowed to rest in a resting unit. The final product has a temperature of about 14°C.

In an alternative process, a cream of 60% fat is prepared (the fat of which comes both from milk fat and from vegetable oil) which is mixed with 1 percentage unit of the gelatin, dissolved in part of the water/skim milk quantity, and with the remaining ingredients, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted, as described above, in a cooling cylinder and crystalliser at the speeds as stated above. An aqueous phase consisting of water/skim milk and the remaining part of the total addition of gelatin is prepared separately and is pasteurised and added in line” to the phase-inverted fat phase for the purpose of obtaining a product according to the above25 mentioned recipe. This results in a product having a fat content of 40%, which is further worked and finely divided, like in the first alternative, in one or more cooling cylinders and crystallisers, is allowed to rest and then removed as a final product at 14°C.

Composition of the final product (g/100 g) Protein 4 (3 being gelatin) Carbohydrate 1 Fat 40 Water 55

Claims

1. Butterfat-based edible fat product having a fat 5 content of 25-70% by weight, characterised in that it consists of a water-in-oil emulsion comprising 25-70% by weight fat, 100-40% by weight of the fat being butterfat from cream and 0-60% 10 by weight of the fat being vegetable oil, 0.5-5% by weight gelatin, 0-2.5% by weight salt, 0-0.5% by weight aroma substances, 15 the balance being water and/or skim milk up to 100% by weight, and in that it has been produced by cream having a fat content of 11.8 - about 80% by weight Al) being mixed with the other components included in the edible fat product, the mixture being pasteurised, 20 cooled and phase-inverted, or A2) being mixed with a small amount of the desired gelatin quantity and water quantity, and with all the other components, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted, and subsequently mixed 25 with a pasteurised mixture of the remainder of the gelatin quantity and water and/or skim milk B) whereupon the water-in-oil emulsion formed is worked and finely divided.

2. Edible fat product as claimed in claim 1, 30 characterised by being spreadable in that the fat comprises at least 5% by weight of vegetable oil.

3. Edible fat product as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised by having a fat content of 35-45% by weight. os

4. 6dxi>ie fat product as ci&xnied xn ciaxm 3, characterised by having a fat content of about 40% by weight.

5. Process for the production of a butter fat-based edible fat product having a fat content of 25-70% by weight, said edible fat product being a water-in-oil emulsion comprising 5 25-70% 0.5-5% by weight fat, 100-40% by weight of the fat being butterfat from cream and 0-60% by weight of the fat being vegetable oil, gelatin, by weight 10 0-2.5% by weight salt, 0-0.5% by weight aroma substances. the balance being water and/or skim milk up to 100% by weight, said process being characterised in that 15 cream having a fat content of 11.8 - about 80% by weight is used as starting product, said cream being Al) mixed with the other components included in the edible fat product, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted, or 20 A2) mixed with a small amount of the desired gelatin quantity and water quantity, and with all the other components, the mixture being pasteurised, cooled and phase-inverted, and subsequently mixed with a pasteurised mixture of the remainder of the gelatin 25 quantity and water and/or skim milk B) whereupon the water-in-oil emulsion formed is worked and finely divided.

6. Process as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the butterfat-based edible fat pro30 duct is made spreadable by the fat comprising at least 5% by weight of vegetable oil.

7. Process as claimed in claim 5 or 5, characterised in that, when required, the cream used as starting product is concentrated and/or diluted with water 35 or skim milk.

8. Process as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, characterised in that the water-in-oil emulsion form ed is further worked and finely divided one or more times 5 £. Process.as claimed in any of claims 5-8, substantially as described herein by way of Example.

9.

10. Edible fat product produced by a process as claimed in any of claims 5-9.