JP6900600B2 - How to make snacks - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a snack confectionery, providing a snack confectionery having a texture suitable for the consumer group, and relating to a method for producing a snack confectionery that matches the health consciousness of consumers.

Conventionally, there are puffed snacks made from vegetables such as potatoes and grains. This snack confectionery is generally produced, for example, by frying sliced potatoes in high-temperature oil, or frying a work that has been prepared into a required shape by mixing a leavening agent into the raw material with a fryer or the like. As described above, most of the conventional puffed snack foods are generally fried in oil and are high-calorie foods.

The oils used here are edible vegetable oils and fats obtained by heating and refining raw material oils and fats for deodorization, and hydrogenated oils and fats obtained by hydrogenating vegetable oils and fats, and have oxidative stability and heat resistance as compared with cold pressed oils and unrefined oils. Due to its excellent properties, it has been widely used in the food industry and processed foods as an oil for cooking.

This heat-refined edible vegetable oil is treated at a high temperature of about 250 degrees Celsius in the refining process to produce trans fatty acids. Hydrogenated fats and oils contain trans fatty acids produced by hydrogenation. In recent years, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased total blood cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels when trans fatty acids are ingested in large amounts over a long period of time, resulting in ischemic heart disease such as obesity, myocardial infarction and angina. In order to increase the risk of such factors, a notice was issued to prohibit the use of processed vegetable oils and fats containing a large amount of trans fatty acids such as margarine. In addition, an increasing number of countries are obliging labeling of foods containing trans fatty acids above a certain level.

If so, it would be sufficient to provide snacks that do not use oil, but as a practical matter, when it comes to manufacturing snacks that do not use oil, the manufacturing method is not easy.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a method for producing a snack confectionery that is not fried in oil has been proposed. In this manufacturing method, potato pellets are molded in the pellet molding step, the pellets are once dried in the pellet drying step, the pellet moisture content is adjusted to 14 to 23% by weight in the pellet moisture content adjusting step, and the swelling step is performed. In, the pellets are expanded by pressurization and heating to make unglazed, and in the seasoning step, the seasoning is attached to the surface of the expanded confectionery by spraying oil, and in the baking step, the expanded confectionery is baked by far infrared rays to produce the expanded confectionery. To manufacture. In addition, with this manufacturing method, it is also possible to make snack foods that do not require seasoning depending on the raw material.

According to this manufacturing method, it is possible to obtain a puffed confectionery with a crispy texture peculiar to snack confectionery without frying in oil.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-187644

However, according to the method for producing snack foods described in Patent Document 1, there are the following problems.
That is, according to the conventional snack confectionery, by pressurizing and heating the pellets in the swelling step to swell, it is possible to create a crispy texture peculiar to the snack confectionery, but how to make the crispy texture. No idea has been made to put it out. In other words, crispy snacks that matched the texture of different consumer groups were not offered. For example, snacks with a soft texture are desired for children and the elderly so that they do not get stuck in the throat or get caught between teeth, but for young people, it is better to have a certain crispness. In some cases. In the past, it has not been possible to provide snacks with this crispy texture changed according to the expected consumer base.

In addition, according to the conventional method for producing snack foods, although it is not fried in oil, a small amount of oil is sprayed in the seasoning process after heating and pressurizing the pellets to expand them, and even a small amount of oil is used. Therefore, there was a problem that it could not be said to be a snack confectionery that does not use oil in the original sense. This makes it impossible to provide snacks that can fully meet consumers' health consciousness.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a snack confectionery having a texture suitable for the consumer group, and to provide a method for producing a snack confectionery that does not use any oil and is suitable for the health consciousness of consumers.

The present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a molding step of molding a raw material consisting of potatoes cut to pellets in 10~20mm square diced, 60 ° C. the material is molded in the molding step 80 A branching step of pregelatinizing the starch contained in the raw material by branching at a temperature in the range of ° C. for a time in the range of 10 to 15 minutes, and a water content of 5 to 20% of the raw material branched in the branching step. By a drying step of drying to a ratio and a swelling step of heating and pressurizing the raw material dried in the drying step at a temperature in the range of 100 to 300 ° C. and a pressure of 700 to 3000 kg / cm2 to swell. Provided is a method for producing a snack confectionery, which comprises producing a snack confectionery capable of obtaining a crispy texture by generating air bubbles in the entire inside of the dough after swelling.

Further, as a subsequent step of the swelling step, it is characterized by having a seasoning step of seasoning the swelled raw material without using oil. The seasoning step is characterized in that the seasoning is performed using a thickening polysaccharide.

Further, as a subsequent step of the seasoning step, it is characterized by having a firing step of firing the seasoned raw material.

In the present invention, as described above, the raw material is molded into a desired thickness, a desired size, and a desired shape, and the molded raw material is blanched at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time to pregelatinize the raw material. The blanched raw material is dried to a predetermined water content, and the dried raw material is heated and pressed at an appropriate temperature and pressure to swell, and the expanded raw material is seasoned with a thickening polysaccharide to season the blanched raw material. Since the raw materials are blanched, the manufactured snacks do not contain any fats or oils other than the fats and oils contained in the raw materials, and the snacks have a texture suitable for the consumer group. be able to.

It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the snack confectionery which concerns on embodiment of this invention. As a comparative example, it is an SEM image showing an example in the case of expansion processing without blanching. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 58 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 62 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 10 minutes. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 15 minutes. 6 is an SEM image showing an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 20 minutes.

Hereinafter, a method for producing a snack confectionery according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of a snack confectionery according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, potatoes are used as a raw material, and the potatoes are peeled and prepared (step S1).

Next, the prepared potatoes are molded into pellets (step S2). The pellets here are made by cutting potatoes, which are raw materials, into dice of 10 to 20 mm square.

Next, the finely chopped pellets are immersed in warm water for blanching (step S3). The purpose of this blanching is to prevent browning of the pellets (the color turns brown over time and the color becomes worse), but more than that, the starch is pregelatinized to a predetermined state (predetermined). The purpose is to provide a crispy texture by blanching).

Starch is divided into amylose and amylopectin according to its structure. Amylose is a linear molecule with a relatively small molecular weight. Amylopectin is a highly branched molecule with a relatively large molecular weight. Although the properties of amylose and amylopectin are different, they coexist in starch.

When this starch is suspended in water and heated, the starch granules absorb water and gradually expand, but when heating is continued, the starch granules eventually collapse and change into a gel. This phenomenon is called pregelatinization (gelatinization). Pregelatinization of starch occurs when water molecules enter the gaps between starch molecules that have a crystalline structure, the structure loosens, and each branch spreads in water. When the starch suspension is heated, it gradually becomes transparent from a cloudy state and rapidly increases in viscosity. The viscosity becomes maximum when the particles absorb the maximum amount of water, and the viscosity decreases due to the decay of the particles.

The degree of pregelatinization of starch by this blanching is closely related to the density and film thickness of bubbles generated inside the puffed confectionery in the next step of swelling, and the degree of density and film thickness of these bubbles is crispy. Brings a blanched snack.

In the present embodiment, the blanching of the pellets is preferably carried out by soaking in warm water at about 60 to 80 ° C. for about 10 to 20 minutes. When blanching is performed in warm water of 60 ° C. or lower for about 10 to 20 minutes, only a part of the starch particles is slightly pregelatinized, causing uneven generation of bubbles due to swelling, and the film thickness of the bubble film. Also gets thicker. Therefore, the texture becomes crispy like rice crackers, and the crispy texture peculiar to snack confectionery cannot be obtained.

On the other hand, when blanching is performed in warm water of 80 ° C. or higher for about 10 to 20 minutes, the starch is sufficiently pregelatinized, but the film thickness becomes thin, so that bubbles are generated due to swelling, but the bubble film is damaged. The part comes out. That is, since the bubble film is not uniform and clean, the texture and appearance of the snack food are deteriorated.

The blanched pellets are dried using a dryer so that the moisture content of the pellets has a desired swelling texture and is in the range of 5 to 20%, preferably 10 to 15% (step S4). .. In this case, by using a far-infrared firing machine, it is possible to dry in a short time, and it is possible to uniformly dry the pellet from the center to the end.

Next, the moisture-adjusted pellets are arranged on a hot plate of an inflator (heat press), heated and pressurized at a high temperature and high pressure, and instantly brought to normal temperature and pressure (step S5).

The heating temperature in this case can be adjusted in the range of 100 to 300 ° C., and is preferably about 180 to 250 ° C. The pressurizing pressure can be adjusted in the range of 700 to 3000 kg / cm2, and is preferably about 2000 to 3000 kg / cm2. For the temperature and pressure of this hot plate, select appropriate conditions within the above range according to the desired texture of the snack food.

The pellets pressed at high temperature and high pressure spread in a circular shape, and at the same time, the water contained in the pregelatinized starch is instantly vaporized according to Boyle-Charles' law. At that time, air bubbles are generated inside the starch film formed inside the pellets, and immediately after that, by setting the temperature at normal temperature and pressure, curing occurs instantly, and dense air bubbles are uniformly generated inside the unglazed dough. This creates a unique crispy texture.

The swelling machine is not limited to the heat press method, and the pellets may be continuously swelled under the above-mentioned temperature and pressure by a drum type as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-27575.

Next, the unglazed unglazed food (hereinafter referred to as snack food) is sprayed with a non-oil spray of diluted thickening polysaccharide to form a binder, and for example, salt, glutamic acid, various seasonings, onion extract, beef extract, etc. Sprinkle with the seasoning of (step S6).

Examples of the thickening polysaccharide include guar gum, xanthan gum, tamarind seed gum, carrageenan, agar, pecti, tamarind gum, gum arabic, pullulan, soybean polysaccharide, and locust bean gum. These thickening polysaccharides have characteristics such as water solubility, edible property, film-forming property, and binding property, and due to these characteristics, the seasoning is retained on the surface of the swollen confectionery without using oil. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to produce snack foods that do not use any oil.

The snack confectionery that has been seasoned can be cooled at room temperature until the baking process is performed so that the sprayed seasoning can permeate the surface of each snack confectionery. However, in the case of snack foods that do not require seasoning, the seasoning step can be omitted.

The snack food obtained as described above is baked by far infrared rays (step S7). In this firing treatment, the remaining excess water is dried and fired so that the water content is 3% or less. By uniformly baking snacks from the surface to the inside using far-infrared electromagnetic waves, it is possible to produce snacks with a crispy texture, umami, and aroma. This firing treatment is preferably fired by far infrared rays, but may be another firing method and is not particularly limited.

The snack confectionery produced as described above is weighed per packaging bag by a weighing step through a sorting step (picking step) for making the variation in shape and color uniform. The snack confectionery weighed here is sealed in a packaging bag, then packed in a cardboard box or the like and distributed to the market.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be specifically described in the case where potatoes are used as a raw material. Here, unglazed chips are made from pellets made under different blanching conditions, and their cross sections are compared to verify the effect of pregelatinization.

First, the potatoes are peeled, and then the peeled potatoes are cut into dice to make pellets. The pellets are blanched at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined time. 3 to 5 are SEM images in which the temperature is changed at a constant time to test the optimum temperature conditions for blanching, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are SEM images in which the temperature is changed at a constant time and the time is changed. It is an SEM image which tested the optimum time condition of blanching.

Note that FIG. 2 is an SEM image showing an example in which expansion processing is performed without blanching as a comparative example. Further, in each SEM image of FIGS. 2 to 8, the left figure is an SEM image obtained by enlarging the cross section of the branched and pregelatinized pellets by 40 times, and the upper figure on the right side shows the cross section after expansion of 40. It is an SEM image magnified twice, and the lower figure on the right side is an SEM image obtained by magnifying the cross section after expansion 100 times.

As shown in FIG. 2, when swelling is performed without blanching, starch particles are distributed in cells in a spherical state (so-called β-starch state), and bubbles due to swelling are located near the surface. You can see that it is partially happening.

FIG. 3 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 58 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching was performed at a water temperature of 58 ° C, some starch particles were slightly pregelatinized, but it was found that the formation of swelling bubbles was uneven and the bubble film was thick. .. Therefore, the texture is crispy like rice crackers.

FIG. 4 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 62 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching is performed at a water temperature of 62 ° C, it can be seen that pregelatinization progresses and most of the blanching progresses, and bubbles after expansion are generated inside. As for the texture, a crispy texture peculiar to snack foods can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 8 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching is performed at a water temperature of 80 ° C., it can be seen that the pregelatinization is overall and pregelatinized. The bubbles after expansion are generated in the entire interior, and the film thickness is thin. As for the texture, although a soft and crispy texture can be obtained, there are places where the bubble film is damaged, so the texture is visible.

FIG. 6 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 10 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching is performed at a water temperature of 80 ° C. for 10 minutes, it can be seen that pregelatinization extends to the whole, bubbles after expansion are generated in the entire inside, and the film thickness is slightly thick.

FIG. 7 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 15 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching is performed at a water temperature of 80 ° C. for 15 minutes, it can be seen that pregelatinization extends to the whole, bubbles after expansion are generated in the whole inside, and the film thickness is thin.

FIG. 8 shows an example of blanching when the water temperature is 80 ° C. and blanching is performed for 20 minutes.
As shown in the figure, when blanching is performed at a water temperature of 80 ° C. for 20 minutes, pregelatinization extends to the whole, and bubbles after expansion are generated in the whole inside, but the film thickness is too thin, so that the bubble film is formed. It can be seen that the blanch is damaged and the blanch is generated.

From the above, it can be concluded that when potatoes are sliced into pellets, blanching is optimally performed in a water temperature range of 60 ° C. to 80 ° C. for a time range of 10 minutes to 15 minutes.

<Summary of the present embodiment>
To summarize the above, pregelatinization of the raw material is necessary for the swelling process, and in order to cleanly generate air bubbles inside the unglazed dough, pretreatment called blanching at an appropriate temperature and an appropriate time is required.

There is a close relationship between the pregelatinized state of starch in the raw material pellets and the density and film thickness of bubbles generated inside the snack food produced by the swelling process. Therefore, by changing the combination of the pregelatinization condition and the swelling processing condition, it is possible to make a snack confectionery having a crispy texture that can be beautifully swelled and suitable for consumers of various layers.

Further, by using the thickening polysaccharide diluted as a binder in the seasoning step, the seasoning can be retained on the surface of the puffed confectionery without using oil. Therefore, it is possible to provide snacks that do not use any oil and are suitable for consumers' health consciousness.

In the present invention, potatoes are used as a raw material, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to potatoes, and other potatoes may be used. Further, not limited to potatoes, various other grains, vegetables, fruits, seafood, meat and the like can be used as raw materials.

Further, a feature of the present invention is to enable a variety of products. For example, powdered or liquefied vegetables, tea leaves, fruits, and seafood are added as secondary ingredients to crushed and pulverized main ingredients such as potatoes and grains, and wheat flour, rice flour, and starch are added as auxiliary ingredients. It is also possible to add and knead the ingredients to make a raw material. In this case, it is not always necessary to add the secondary raw material and the auxiliary raw material, but by adding this auxiliary raw material, it is possible to improve the gelatinization of starch and the connection of the raw materials necessary for good bubble generation, which makes it crispy. You can make the texture.

The shape of the pellets does not necessarily have to be dice-shaped depending on the characteristics and composition of the raw materials, and by making the shape and size suitable for the mechanism of the inflator, it is possible to make snack foods having the same texture.

Claims (4)

A molding process in which a raw material made of potatoes is cut into 10 to 20 mm square dice and molded into pellets.
A branching step of blanching the raw material molded in the molding step at a temperature in the range of 60 ° C. to 80 ° C. for a time in the range of 10 to 15 minutes to pregelatinize the starch contained in the raw material.
A drying step of drying the raw material blanched in the branching step so as to have a water content of 5 to 20%, and a drying step.
A swelling step of heating and pressurizing the raw material dried in the drying step at a temperature in the range of 100 to 300 ° C. and a pressure of 700 to 3000 kg / cm2 to swell the raw material.
A method for producing a snack confectionery, which comprises producing air bubbles in the entire inside of the dough after swelling to obtain a crispy texture. The method for producing a snack confectionery according to claim 1, further comprising a seasoning step of seasoning the swollen raw material without using oil as a subsequent step of the swelling step. The method for producing a snack confectionery according to claim 2, wherein in the seasoning step, seasoning is performed using a thickening polysaccharide. The method for producing a snack confectionery according to claim 2 or 3 , further comprising a baking step of baking the seasoned raw material as a subsequent step of the seasoning step.

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