JPH01243944A - Improvement of flavor and eating feel of fried snack confectionery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accomplish the title improvement by contact of fried snack confectionery with carbon dioxide in a semi- or supercritical state to readily and efficiently disperse the oil component localized on the surface layer of said confectionery into the entire confectionery. CONSTITUTION:Carbon dioxide in a semi- or supercritical state (pref., under a pressure of 60-300kg/cm<2> at 25-70 deg.C) and fried snack confectionery are brought into contact with each other to disperse the oil component localized on the surface layer of said confectionery into the entire confectionery.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for improving the flavor and texture of fried snacks (referring to snacks that contain a large amount of oil and fat due to deep-frying; the same applies hereinafter). It is concerned with producing a product that has a mild flavor and is free from the greasiness that is common in fried snacks.

(Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Fried snacks are often manufactured by frying dough, generally called fried dough, at a temperature of about 130 to 200°C. Its characteristics include that the dough has a high degree of puffiness and has a light texture, and that the flavors of the dough and frying oil go well together and are fragrant. That is, one of the reasons why fried snacks are delicious is that they contain frying oil. However, if this frying oil is present excessively or unevenly in the confectionery dough, the confectionery will feel greasy and taste unpleasant when eaten.

Conventionally, such excess frying oil has been removed by, for example, the following method.

1) Place the obtained confectionery on a mesh conveyor, etc., and let the frying oil fall naturally or give a disturbance to the conveyor to remove the frying oil.

2) Put the obtained confectionery in a centrifuge to separate the oil,
Remove.

3) Blow out the oil with pressurized air.

However, for example, with method 1) above, the amount of oil removed cannot easily reach the desired level, and 2) or 3)
In this method, the number of revolutions or wind speed must be increased to remove the oil, which may result in the confectionery itself being crushed, which is not practical.

In particular, method 3) has the disadvantage that oil from areas not directly exposed to air cannot be removed at all, and in any case, it has not been possible to obtain sufficiently satisfactory results.

Therefore, in recent years, research has been conducted on the extraction and removal of oil contained in fried snacks using supercritical carbon dioxide (hereinafter referred to as CO2) as an extractant (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-127
961, JP-A-57-501660, etc.), but this method removes not only the oil content but also the unique flavor of the fried snacks themselves, and as a result, it is not possible to obtain delicious products.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As a result of intensive study on a method for overcoming the above-mentioned problems and improving the flavor and texture of fried snacks that are industrially advantageous, the present inventors have found that The present invention was completed after learning that the object of the present invention could be easily achieved by using CO2 in a critical state to disperse the oil that is unevenly distributed on the surface of fried snacks throughout the structure thereof.

In the present invention, the pressure of subcritical or supercritical CO2 introduced into the high-pressure container containing snacks is 50 to 50.
0 to 3/cIIt1 preferably 60 to 30Q K'j
/ crA, temperature is 25-100'C1 preferably 25
Dispersion of oil is carried out at a temperature in the range of ~70°C.

In the present invention, the subcritical state refers to a subcritical state (Sub-crit i Ca I) or
Near-critical liquid
It is also called the (Al 1iquid) state, and although there is no uniform definition of it, common sense states that 1.00>Temperature (T)/Critical temperature (Tc)>Q
, 95 areas. For CO2, this corresponds to around 30°C to 16°C. This region is clearly not a supercritical region, nor is it simply a liquid phase region.

This is the boundary region between the liquid phase region and the supercritical region, where large changes and fluctuations in physical properties occur, and it is a region that is extremely unstable and activated in terms of properties. It is now recognized as a remarkable area with a strikingly different appearance.

Also, CO2 in the supercritical region is 31.0℃, 72.9a
It is in a state above the critical point of tm, has a density close to that of a liquid, and a large diffusion coefficient close to that of a gas, so it can extract various compounds quickly and in large quantities, and the extractant can be easily separated. have To carry out the invention,
First, CO2 in a subcritical or supercritical state is introduced into a high-pressure container containing fried snacks to be processed.
After instantly dissolving the oil unevenly distributed in the surface layer of the confectionery, the oil dissolved in CO2 is dispersed throughout the confectionery tissue by a reduced pressure operation.

Dispersion can be carried out by injecting CO2 into a high-pressure container until a predetermined pressure is reached, or simply by reducing the pressure. However, if necessary, it is possible to recycle the CO2 for several minutes, but if the recycling time is too long, the oil content will run out, which is not preferable.

(Operation) CO2 in a subcritical or supercritical state has a density close to that of a liquid and a large diffusion coefficient close to that of a gas, and because of these characteristics, various compounds can be extracted quickly and efficiently in large quantities.

Generally, CO2 in a subcritical or supercritical state is used as an extractant for less polar compounds, especially flavor components and oils, because of the above-mentioned properties. The process works by dissolving the components and dispersing them throughout the confectionery tissue.

If the pressure and temperature are too low, CO2 will become liquefied and oil will not be dispersed properly.If the pressure and temperature are too high, the equipment cost will increase, causing problems in economic efficiency, as well as taking time to depressurize the confectionery. In some cases, the oil and flavor components inside dissolve into CO2 and are released at the same time as the pressure is reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to examine conditions for dispersing oil through experimental verification depending on the shape of the confectionery, oil content, etc.

(Example) EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be roughly described in detail with reference to Examples.

Example 1 Commercially available potato chips 1809 were placed in a 2p high-pressure container, and CO2 at a pressure of 140 kg/CIA and a temperature of 43° C. was introduced, the same conditions were maintained for 30 minutes, and then the pressure was reduced to atmospheric pressure. The oil content, flavor, and texture of potato chips obtained by this treatment were compared with those of untreated chips, and are shown in Table 1.

From these results, we found that simply introducing CO2 under the above conditions into a high-pressure container containing potato chips can improve the flavor of confectionery.
It was confirmed that the texture was improved.

Example 2 5 kg of fried snacks shaped into the shape of bone-in fried chicken and approximately 4 cm in length were placed in a 50 ρ high-pressure container, CO2 was introduced at a pressure of 150 Kl/cti and a temperature of 48°C, and the same conditions were maintained for 30 minutes. After that, the pressure was reduced to atmospheric pressure.

The oil content, flavor, and texture of this fried snack obtained by this treatment were compared with that of an untreated snack and one that was bubbled with CO2 for about 2 hours under the same conditions as above. The results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 From these results, it was found that simply introducing CO2 under the above conditions into the high-pressure container containing the confectionery improved the flavor and texture of the confectionery.

It was also confirmed that if CO2 was aerated under the same conditions, the oil content would decrease and the sweetness would disappear, but the flavor of the confectionery itself would also disappear.

(Effect of the invention) The present invention provides the following excellent effects.

(1) Using subcritical or supercritical CO2, the flavor and texture of fried snacks can be improved by not only removing the unevenly distributed oil on the surface layer but also dispersing it throughout the confectionery structure. Improved and innovative fried snacks can be produced.

(2) Separation from the extractant is easy with slight changes in pressure and temperature, and treatment can be performed at relatively low temperatures in an inert atmosphere. In addition, it is safe and hygienic because it can be expected to have bacteriostatic or bactericidal effects, and furthermore, it is easy to handle and allows efficient lipid dispersion.

(3) The process is extremely simple, processing can be carried out in a short time, and large-scale processing is possible.

Applicant: Steel Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Applicant: Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Improving the flavor and texture of fried snacks by using subcritical or supercritical carbon dioxide to disperse the oil that is unevenly distributed on the surface of the fried snacks throughout their structure. Law. (2) Subcritical or supercritical carbon dioxide has a pressure of 50
The method for improving the flavor and texture of fried snacks according to claim (1), wherein the temperature is 25 to 100°C.