JP2000342183A - Solid instant cocoa and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a solid instant cocoa with excellent meltability, flavor and palate feeling, takable even directly by adding an emulsifier to a stock such as cocoa powder to make an oil-in-water type emulsified product which is then dried under specific conditions and cut to pieces. SOLUTION: This solid instant cocoa is obtained by the following steps: an emulsifier spiked with pref. 0.1-0.7 wt.% of lecithin is added to a stock comprising cocoa powder, carbohydrates and pref. 0.5-3 wt.% of gelatin with an oil fraction of the total solid content being 2-40 wt.%, water is then added to the resultant mixture to effect dissolution so as to be 15-25 wt.% in water content to make an oil-in-water type emulsified product which, in turn, vacuum- dried at <=90 deg.C without freezing to afford a block-shaped dried product which is then coarsely crushed or cut to pieces to obtain the objective solid instant cocoa with a bulk density of 0.05-0.12 g/mL and a size of 550 mm×50 mm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a solid instant cocoa and a method for producing the same, and more particularly to an instant cocoa which can be consumed as it is and is immediately soluble in hot water or warm milk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional instant cocoa, there is widely known a cocoa powder mixed with a saccharide, a milk powder and the like, a powdered one, and a granulated powder obtained by wet granulation using sugar or the like as a binder. . Solid dried foods include solid honey (Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-11181), solid miso soup (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-56396), instant solid porridge (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-87909), and solid cocoa (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-214780). No. 6) and solid soup to which a foaming agent is added (JP-B-06)
No. 57131) is known. Cocoa powder itself in the form of granules (JP-A-11-69945)
There is. However, these are dissolved in hot water, warm milk, etc., or restored by wetting and eaten,
No product has the added enjoyment of eating like a confection. In addition, these solid dried foods are all manufactured using a freeze-drying method as a drying method, and do not provide a porous product that provides an appropriate texture, but require the labor of freezing in advance. Also, the equipment is expensive.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a solid instant cocoa having a texture that can be eaten as it is and having a solubility not inferior to that of the instant cocoa.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors added an emulsifier to a raw material containing cocoa powder and saccharide, and containing 2 to 40% by weight of oil in total solid content, and further hydrolyzed. After the oil-in-water emulsion is formed, the oil-in-water emulsion is vacuum-dried without freezing to obtain a block-shaped dried product in which the saccharide in the raw material is integrated as a skeleton, and the dried product is dried. By crushing or cutting, it has been found that a solid instant cocoa having the same solubility as that of the conventional instant cocoa and having a texture that can be eaten like a confection can be obtained, and the present invention has been completed. The details of the present invention will be described below.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As a method for producing a solid instant cocoa of the present invention, the following method is mainly mentioned. First, cocoa powder as the main raw material, if necessary for saccharides, fats and oils, milk powder, fragrances and the like, if necessary, are heated and mixed in a powdery or molten state, and the oil content in the total solid content is 2 to 2. 40% by weight
Adjust so that The oil content may be adjusted after the addition of the emulsifier. Carbohydrates are important because they serve as a skeleton of the dried product, and are desirably about 30 to 60% by weight of the total solid content. The sugars mentioned here are sugars such as sugar and glucose, and starch and their decomposed products.If the sugar crystals are dissolved by the subsequent hydrolysis, the sugars in the dried product become amorphous and become hygroscopic. Is extremely intense, so that the proportion of sugars, such as sugar, lactose, glucose and fructose, which can exist as crystals among the carbohydrates is preferably 40% by weight or less based on the total solid content. Other saccharides such as dextrin having a DE value of 10 or less and a low degree of decomposition, starch and the like can be added to the raw materials as excipients.

[0006] The oil content, that is, the fat content in the total solid content has a great influence on the swelling state (foamability) of the emulsion during vacuum drying. In order for the final product to have a good texture (hardness), the fat content in the total solid content must be 2% by weight or more. When the fat content is less than 2% by weight, the dried product swells like cotton candy and is so porous that the solubility is extremely good, but it is very brittle and soft, so the texture is poor and the shape is preserved. It is not suitable for distribution as a product because it has no property. When the fat content in the total solid content exceeds 40% by weight, the degree of swelling is low, and the dried product has very hard physical properties. The properties also deteriorate significantly. As the kind of the fat used for adjusting the oil content, a solid fat having a melting point of about 25 to 35 ° C. is preferable. For example, when a cocoa butter substitute fat is used, a preferable texture can be obtained. Further, if chocolate, almond paste, cream, or the like is used as an added fat, it is possible to add a flavor derived from the raw material to the final product.

[0007] Gelatin can also be used as an auxiliary material. The addition of gelatin is effective for improving the texture of the product to strengthen the skeleton of the carbohydrate in the dried product, and 0.5 to 3.0% by weight of gelatin based on the total solid content is added. As a result, it is possible to suppress foaming during drying and to impart a favorable texture with appropriate hardness without impairing the solubility of the final product. Addition of more than 3.0% by weight makes the texture of the final product too hard. In the case of adding gelatin, it is preferable to swell in advance in a part of the added water, dissolve it by heating, mix it with the raw material, or add it at the time of preparing the emulsion later.

Next, the oil component in the raw material is emulsified into an oil-in-water type,
In addition, an edible emulsifier is added for the purpose of improving the solubility of the final product. The amount added depends on the type of the emulsifier, the oil content in the blending, and the like. However, when using a sucrose fatty acid ester of HLB16, about 0.2 to 1.0% by weight of the total solid content is appropriate.

[0009] Apart from the purpose of emulsification, expansion (foamability) during vacuum drying can be adjusted by adding lecithin. When lecithin is added in an amount of 1% by weight or less, preferably 0.1 to 0.7% by weight, based on the total solid content, swelling is suppressed and the dried product can be made into an appropriate porous state. If lecithin is added in an amount of 1% by weight or more, the oil-in-water emulsified state is broken, oil oozes out, and a flavor and odor originating in lecithin is also unfavorable in flavor.

Next, the water content in the emulsion is 15 to 25% by weight.
Water so that it becomes
The mixture is dissolved by heating to 0 ° C. to form an oil-in-water emulsion. If the water content is less than 15% by weight, the foaming property is poor due to high viscosity, and the final product is hard and poorly soluble. Bleeding may also occur. On the other hand, when the water content of the emulsion is more than 25% by weight, the emulsion stability is good, but the viscosity of the emulsion is reduced, causing rapid expansion during vacuum drying. The upper limit is 25% by weight. From the viewpoint of the emulsified state and the swollen state upon drying (foamability), and the solubility and texture of the final product, the water content in the emulsion is optimally about 20% by weight.

[0011] As the added water for forming an emulsion, if water derived from a hydrated substance is used instead of water itself, the flavor derived from the raw material can be imparted to the final product. Particularly useful hydrates include milk and fresh cream. When the hydrate and gelatin are used, it may be used directly as a solution for swelling gelatin, or may be used after mixing a previously prepared gelatin solution with the hydrate.

The emulsion obtained by the above method is vacuum-dried without freezing at a degree of vacuum of 25 mmHg or less, 90 ° C. or less, and a water content of 3.0% by weight or less without freezing.
At this time, since the emulsion is dried while foaming in a vacuum state, a porous dried product can be obtained unlike a freeze-dried product. As a condition for vacuum drying, it is necessary to keep the product temperature during drying at 90 ° C. or less in order to prevent flavor damage such as burnt smell. The dried product thus obtained is in the form of a block in which cocoa powder, milk powder and the like are integrated with a saccharide as a skeleton.

[0013] Since the block-shaped dried product is large as it is, it is difficult to dissolve as an instant cocoa, dissolve easily, and easily eat it as it is.
It is necessary to crush or cut to an appropriate size. The smaller the product size, the better the solubility. However, considering that the product is eaten as it is, the size is preferably 10 mm × 10 mm or more and 50 mm × 50 mm or less. If it is larger than this, the solubility is clearly inferior to conventional granular instant cocoa. It is also possible to fill the emulsion in a cell of an appropriate size in advance and then dry it.However, since the swelling occurs during drying, the degree of swelling inevitably occurs, and from the viewpoint of obtaining a product of a certain size. It is desirable to crush and cut after drying.

The density of the dried product satisfying both the solubility and the texture is as follows.
and the bulk density measured in a 1 l beaker is 0.05-0.
The range of 12 g / ml was optimal.

[0015]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but these do not limit the present invention.

Example 1 12.0 parts by weight of cocoa powder containing 12% oil, sugar 3
7.5 parts by weight, whole milk powder 15.0 parts by weight, skim milk powder 4.0
Parts by weight, 0.2 parts by weight of fragrance, dextrin (DE = 6)
8.0 parts by weight, 1.0 part by weight of sugar ester of HLB16, and 0.3 part by weight of lecithin were uniformly mixed, and 1 part by weight of gelatin was swollen in advance with 18 parts by weight of cold water and then heated to 60 ° C. To 25.0 parts by weight of gelatin solution, 78.0 parts by weight of the above powdery raw material, and vegetable oil 2 having a melting point of 32 ° C.
2.0 parts by weight was added, and the mixture was mixed and stirred while heating to 70 ° C. to obtain an oil-in-water emulsion (water content: 20% by weight). Next, the emulsion was thinly flowed on a tray, and the atmosphere pressure was 5 mm.
Vacuum drying was performed for 3 hours at a Hg of 70 ° C. or less (atmosphere temperature of 70 ° C.) to obtain a solid dried product having a water content of 1.0% by weight. After cooling the block-like dried product at 5 ° C. for 30 minutes,
It was cut to about 15 mm x 15 mm to obtain a solid instant cocoa. This solid instant cocoa was immediately soluble in hot water or warm milk, had a crisp texture, and could be eaten as it was.

Example 2 20.0 parts by weight of sugar, 9.0 parts by weight of cocoa powder, 15.0 parts by weight of milk chocolate, 10.0 parts of fresh cream
5 parts by weight, 4.0 parts by weight of whole milk powder, 20.0 parts by weight of milk
The mixture was dissolved and mixed in a 5 ° C water bath to obtain a mixture of 78 parts by weight. The milk chocolate used here was 20.00 parts by weight of cacao mass, 40.95 parts by weight of sugar, 20.00 parts by weight of whole milk powder, 18.50 parts by weight of cocoa butter,
Milk chocolate consisting of 0.50 parts by weight of lecithin and 0.05 parts by weight of fragrance. Further, 0.50 parts by weight of sucrose fatty acid ester of HLB16 was added to a solution prepared by dissolving 5.0 parts by weight of the above-mentioned milk chocolate in a hot water bath at 55 ° C., and then uniformly mixed. Then, 78 parts by weight of the mixture were mixed. After adjusting to 83.5 parts by weight, 16.5 parts by weight of water was further added and stirred and mixed to form an oil-in-water emulsion (water content: 20%).
% By weight). Next, this emulsion is subjected to an atmospheric pressure of 5 mmH.
g, vacuum drying at 70 ° C or less (ambient temperature 70 ° C)
The drying was carried out for a time to obtain a solid dried product having a water content of 1.0% by weight. Thereafter, it was cut into the same size as in Example 1 to obtain a solid instant cocoa. When this instant cocoa is dissolved in hot water or warm milk, it has the flavor of chocolate and raw cream derived from the raw materials, and is emulsified to give a solid instant cocoa with a full-fledged chocolate flavor with a smooth mouthfeel. Was.

Test Example 1 Powder raw materials were blended so that the oil content in the dried product was in the following seven stages, and the quality of the solid instant cocoa obtained by the same method as in Example 1 was compared except for that. . The results are shown in Table 1. In addition, the fat content of 0% used defatted cocoa powder from which the fat content of cocoa powder was removed by critical extraction.

[0019]

[Table 1] * 1: Fat is the fat (% by weight) in the dried product. * 2: Bulk density (g / ml) is 15 in a 500 ml container.
It was calculated by the weight when the solid instant cocoa cut into mm × 15 mm was put. * 3: Solubility is 70 g for 15 g of solid instant cocoa.
100 cc of milk warmed to ° C. was poured, and the mixture was stirred with a spatula at a rate of 2 times / second, and the time until the particles floating on the surface were completely dissolved was measured. When a commercially available powdered instant cocoa was measured by the above method, it was 28 seconds.
The allowable range of the solid solubility of the instant instant cocoa of the present invention is 6
It was within 0 seconds. * 4: Texture evaluation criteria ○: Moderate hardness (crisp texture) and good. Δ: Light and slightly insufficient texture. ×: too light. XX: too hard.

From the results shown in Table 1, it was found that it was necessary to adjust the raw materials so that the fat content was 2 to 40% by weight.

Test Example 2 A method similar to that of Example 1 except that gelatin was added in six steps in the range of 0 to 4% by weight as shown in Table 2 based on the composition of 4 in Table 1. The quality of the solid instant cocoa prepared by the above was compared using the same evaluation criteria as in Test Example 1.

[0022]

[Table 2]

From the results shown in Table 2, in order to satisfy both the solubility and the texture, the amount of gelatin added should be 0.2 to 3.
It has been found that the content is preferably 0% by weight.

Test Example 3 Based on 4 in Table 1, the formulation was based on lecithin and 0 to 0
Table 3 shows the results of comparing the quality of the solid instant cocoa obtained by the same method as in Example 1 except that it was added in 6 steps in the range of 2% by weight. (Evaluation criteria are the same as Table 1.)

[0025]

[Table 3]

From the results shown in Table 3, it was found that the appropriate amount of lecithin added was 0.1 to 0.7% by weight.

Test Example 4 The amount of water added to the emulsion was adjusted to 10 to 10%.
Table 4 shows the results of a comparison of the quality of the solid instant cocoa obtained by the same raw material blending and method as in Example 1 except that the amount was changed to be in the range of 35% by weight.

[0028]

[Table 4] * 1: Emulsion stability evaluation criteria ○: Stable and good. Δ: The emulsion state is apparently maintained, but the phase is slightly unstable due to phase change due to stirring or temperature change.

From the results shown in Table 4, the water content of the emulsion was 15
It was found that it was necessary to add water or hydrate so as to be in the range of の 25% by weight.

Test Example 5 The solubility of solid instant cocoa obtained by cutting the block-shaped dried product obtained in Example 1 into the following six-stage product sizes was determined according to the method described in Test Example 1. The comparison was made according to the following. In the table, 5 mm indicates a size of 5 mm × 5 mm.

[0031]

[Table 5] Evaluation criteria A: Good (equivalent to ordinary instant cocoa) B: It takes a little time until the particles are loosened, but good. (Slightly inferior to ordinary instant cocoa) ×: Obviously poorer in solubility than ordinary instant cocoa.

As shown in Table 5, it was found that the size of the solid instant cocoa was desirably cut to 50 mm × 50 mm or less.

Test Example 6 The drying temperature at 70 ° C. or less (the ambient temperature was set at 70 ° C.) for 2 hours, and the water content was reduced to 2% by weight or less, with the vacuum drying temperature and the product temperature of 70 ° C. or less for 3 hours as standard in Example 1. After drying, the vacuum drying temperature (atmospheric temperature) was further increased and drying was performed for 1 hour to obtain a dried product having a water content of 1% by weight or less. The final product temperature and flavor of the dried product were evaluated, and the temperature conditions during vacuum drying were tested.

[0034]

[Table 6]

From the results shown in Table 6, it was found that it is not preferable to perform vacuum drying at a temperature where the product temperature exceeds 90 ° C., and it is preferable that the temperature be 90 ° C. or less.

[0036]

According to the present invention, there is provided a solid instant cocoa having a cocoa or chocolate flavor, which can be eaten as it is, or which can be dissolved in hot water or warm milk for drinking and excellent in portability and solubility. Is done. Further, the solid instant cocoa according to the present invention is heat-resistant, and even at a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of cocoa butter or the added fat or oil, since the blocking due to oozing and recrystallization of the fat or oil does not occur, ordinary instant cocoa powder is used. It is possible to contain a large amount of oil as compared with. This is considered to be due to the fact that the skeleton is formed in such a manner that water-soluble sugars, proteins and the like surround the oil and fat particles. Further, in terms of flavor, characteristics such as richness and mellowness from oils and fats, and smoothness not found in ordinary powdered instant cocoa can be imparted by emulsification and drying.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An emulsifier is added to a raw material containing cocoa powder and saccharide, and containing 2 to 40% by weight of oil in total solids, and further hydrolyzed to form an oil-in-water emulsion. The bulk density of the oil-in-water emulsion is produced by crushing or cutting a block-shaped dried product obtained by vacuum-drying the oil-in-water emulsion at a temperature of 90 ° C. or lower without freezing.
A solid instant cocoa having a size of 0.12 g / ml and a size of 50 mm × 50 mm or less. 2. The solid instant cocoa according to claim 1, wherein the raw material contains 0.5 to 3% by weight of gelatin. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein lecithin is added in an amount of 0.1 to 0.7% by weight as an emulsifier.
The solid instant cocoa according to 1. 4. An emulsifier is added to a raw material containing cocoa powder and saccharide and having an oil content of 2 to 40% by weight in the total solid content, and further hydrolyzed so that the water content becomes 15 to 25% by weight. Solidified by crushing or cutting a block-shaped dried product obtained by vacuum-drying the oil-in-water emulsion at a temperature of 90 ° C. or lower without freezing the oil-in-water emulsion. A method for producing instant cocoa.