Method for producing a fried noodle

Abstract

A method for producing an instant fried noodle, comprising: a dough preparation step of preparing a dough by adding water to a raw material powder and kneading; characterised by: a noodle forming step comprising extrusion of the dough through a heated die to fry the dough to provide the instant fried noodle; wherein the dough preparation step comprises including a fat or oil in the dough.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR PRODUCING A FRIED NOODLE

[0002] Field of the invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a method for producing an instant fried noodle.

[0004] Background of the invention

[0005] In the traditional process for preparing instant fried noodles, wheat flour or starch is blended with conventional noodle materials such as a mixture of alkali metal carbonates and phosphates, seasoning and water to form a dough which is kneaded, rolled into sheets and cut into strips having a typical width of 0.6 to 3.0mm. The raw noodles are then steamed to gelatinise the starch, after which they have a moisture content of about 29 to 35% by weight and afterwards fried in oil for from about 1 to 2 minutes at a temperature of from 125° to 160°C. Typically, the fried noodles contain from 13 to 23% by weight of oil and have a moisture content of from 3 to 8% by weight. A traditional process for preparing instant fried noodles is shown in FIG. 1.

[0006] The raw material cost and energy for heating the oil contributes to a significant part of the processing costs. Efforts have been made to reduce the amount of oil and the amount of heat used. Such efforts typically involve reusing or recycling the oil, prepare the dough in a manner which reduces the amount of oil taken up by the noodle (e.g. EP0754409, EP3420826, and EP3583855), or reducing the cooking temperature or cooking time. Efforts have also been made to reduce the fat / oil content of fried noodles for dietary and / or health reasons. There remains a desire for a method of preparing fried noodles that simplifies the manufacturing process and uses less resources, while still providing a consistent product that is enjoyed by consumers.

[0007] Summary of the invention

[0008] The objective of the present invention is to improve the state of the art and, in particular, to provide a method of preparing instant fried noodles that simplifies the manufacturing process and uses less resources, while still providing a consistent product that is enjoyed by consumers, or to at least to provide a useful alternative to existing instant fried noodle manufacturing processes.

[0009] Consequently, the objectives of the present invention are achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims further develop the concept of the present invention. The present inventors propose to solve the above problems by providing a method for producing an instant fried noodle, comprising: a dough preparation step of preparing a dough by adding water to a raw material powder and kneading; characterised by: a noodle forming step comprising extrusion of the dough through a heated die to fry the dough to provide the instant fried noodle; wherein the dough preparation step comprises including a fat or oil in the dough.

[0010] The present invention also provides an instant fried noodle obtainable by any of the methods of the present invention.

[0011] Detailed description of the invention

[0012] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013] Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:

[0014] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a traditional process for preparing instant fried noodles.

[0015] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a method of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a method of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 4A shows noodles prepared according to the method of the present invention after extrusion and before cooking in water.

[0018] FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C show noodles prepared according to the method of the present invention after extrusion and after cooking in water.

[0019] FIG. 4D show noodles prepared according to the method of the present invention after extrusion and after cooking in water, then drained.

[0020] FIG. 5 shows a photograph of an apparatus used in the method of the present invention with annotations.

[0021] FIG. 6 shows the same photograph as FIG. 5 without annotations. Definitions

[0022] As used in this specification, the words "comprises", "comprising", and similar words, are not to be interpreted in an exclusive or exhaustive sense. In other words, they are intended to mean "including, but not limited to".

[0023] As used herein, all "parts" and "percentages" are by weight of the dough on a wet solids basis unless otherwise specified.

[0024] As used herein, an instant fried noodles is characterized by instant dried noodles made from a raw noodle material powder, water and fat or oil. An instant fried noodle is one which may be cooked to an edible softness by pouring over or stewing the instant fried noodle in hot water (typically 70 °C to 100 °C) for 120 seconds or less, preferably 75 seconds or less, more preferably 60 seconds or less.

[0025] Dough preparation step

[0026] A dough preparation step according to the present invention comprises preparing a dough by adding water to a raw material powder and kneading. A dough preparation step also comprises including a fat or oil in the dough.

[0027] The dough preparation step may take place externally to the extruder in a separate mixer, such as a stand mixer. In such embodiments, the raw material powder, water and fat or oil are combined in a stand mixer and mixed and kneaded for an appropriate time, for instance 5 to 20 minutes, 7 to 17 minutes, or 10 to 15 minutes to provide the dough. The dough is then transferred to an extruder and extruded through a heated die to fry and shape the dough into an instant fried noodle.

[0028] Alternatively, the dough preparation step may take place internally to the extruder. The raw material powder, water and fat or oil are introduced into an extruder comprising kneading elements and the extrusion of the raw material powder, water and fat or oil past or through the kneading elements mixes and kneads to provide the dough. Extrusion continues to push the dough through the heated die to fry and shape the dough into an instant fried noodle.

[0029] Composition of the dough

[0030] The dough comprises the raw material powder, water and fat or oil. The dough typically comprises: the raw material powder independently in an amount of from about 50% to about 70%, preferably from about 55% to about 65%; water independently in an amount of from about 5% to about 35%, preferably 15% to about 25%; fat or oil independently in an amount of from about 10% to about 20%, preferably from about 12% to about 19%, more preferably from about 14% to about 18%.

[0031] The raw material powder may comprise flour. Typically, the raw material powder comprises flour in an amount of 70% to about 100% by weight based on the total weight of the raw material powder, preferably 80% to about 98%. Examples of flour include one or more selected from the group consisting of: semolina, 00 flour, 55 flour, whole wheat, durum wheat, all-purpose, and spelt flour.

[0032] The raw material powder may comprise salt. Typically, the raw material powder comprises salt in an amount of from about 1% to about 6% by weight based on the total weight of the raw material powder, preferably from about 2% to about 3%. The salt is typically included in an amount suitable to provide a salt content of the dough of from about 1% to about 3%, preferably from about 1.5% to about 2.5%.

[0033] The raw material powder may comprise a powdered protein. The powdered protein when used is a protein provided independently of the protein included in any flour included in the raw material powder. The raw material powder may comprise an extraneous protein in any amount from 0% to about 50% by weight based on the total weight of the raw material powder, preferably in an amount of from about 15% to about 25%. Examples of extraneous protein include one or more selected from the group consisting of whey protein powder, casein protein powder, egg white protein powder, soy protein powder, pea protein powder, hemp protein powder, brown rice protein powder, collagen protein powder, beef protein powder, and pumpkin seed protein powder. The inclusion of extraneous protein provides a high protein noodle that may have nutritional advantages. In a preferred embodiment, the dough comprises soy protein powder in an amount of from about 10% to about 20%, particularly 15%.

[0034] Examples of the auxiliary raw materials, which can be used in the present invention, include alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal phosphates, thickening polysaccharides, gluten, and seasoning.

[0035] Examples of fat or oil include one or more selected from the group consisting of olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, butter, ghee, lard, tallow, sunflower oil, canola oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil, palm oil (palm fat), peanut oil, walnut oil, and soybean oil. It has been found that instant fried noodles prepared with oils and fats that are solid or semisolid at room temperature provide excellent colloidal and cooking properties. From this perspective, coconut oil and palm oil are preferred, and palm oil (palm fat) is particularly preferred.

[0036] Noodle forming step

[0037] The present invention is characterised by a noodle forming step which comprises extruding the dough through a heated die to simultaneously cook and shape the instant fried noodle. Through this arrangement, the shaping and cooking (and in some embodiments the mixing and kneading) may be conducted in a single unit (an extruder) in a single, continuous process. Advantages of frying the noodle using oil or fat contained in the dough include:

[0038] Only the necessary amount of oil or fat dictated by the recipe is used and substantially all oil or fat used in the process is incorporated into the instant fried noodle. By contrast, in conventional methods, oil baths used for frying require frequent replacement of oil or fat, whereby the oil or fat is discarded;

[0039] The amount of fat in the instant fried noodle is controlled by the input and is therefore easily adjustable and consistent. By contrast, in conventional methods, frying in oil baths may result in the inclusion of uncontrolled amounts of excess fat.

[0040] The noodle forming step comprises extrusion of the dough through a heated die to fry the dough to provide the instant fried noodle.

[0041] The die may comprise a die chamber and a die orifice. After external or internal mixing and oil or fat addition, the mixed dough is conveyed further downstream through the extruder into the heated section of the extruder, causing gelatinization. The gelatinized dough is then conveyed further into the die chamber and then the heated die orifice, enabling frying of the oil or fat in the dough.

[0042] The heated section of the chamber where gelatinization may take place is heated to a temperature sufficient to gelatinize the dough. For example, the heated section of the chamber may be heated to from about 110 °C to about 160 °C, preferably from about 120 °C to about 140 °C, more preferably to about 130 °C. After gelatinization, the gelatinized dough is fed by the extruder to the die chamber and then the die orifice, one or both of which may also be heated to a temperature sufficient to fry the dough. For example, the die chamber and / or the die orifice may be heated to from about 110 °C to about 160 °C, preferably from about 120 °C to about 140 °C, more preferably to about 130 °C.

[0043] Any extruder may be used to drive the noodle forming step (and optionally the dough preparation step). Advantageously a screw extruder is used to continuously drive the dough, such as a single-screw extruder or a twin-screw extruder (co-rotating or counter-rotating). Certain advantages of the invention may also be realised with a ram extruder or a planetary roller extruder.

[0044] The dough is extruded at a rate such that the residence time of the dough in the heated die is sufficient to fry the dough. A suitable extrusion rate and residence time will vary depending on the composition of the dough and the temperature and dimensions of the extruder / die and can be determined empirically by the operator without undue burden. In exemplary embodiments, the residence time is from about 5 s to about 25 s, for example from about 10 s to about 20 s. In exemplary embodiments, the dough is extruded at a rate of 0.2 mm / s to about 20 mm / s, for example from about 1 mm / s to about 15 mm / s or 2 mm / s to about 10 mm / s. Additionally or alternatively the dough may be extruded through any one die orifice at a rate of from about 10 g / min to about 200 g / min, from about 20 g / min to about 100 g / min, from about 30 g / min to about 80 g / min, or from about 40 g / min to about 60 g / min.

[0045] The dimensions of the extruder / die may be varied according to the needs of the operator without undue burden.

[0046] The shape of the die orifice is not particularly limited. The die orifice is preferably square or rectangular. A square or rectangular die orifice results in an instant fried noodle having a square or rectangular crosssection, which is familiar to the consumer as the typical shape of the instant fried noodle prepared by conventional roll-cut-fry techniques. However, the die orifice may be any suitable shape, such as circular, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, star-shaped, or crescent-shaped to provide an instant fried noodle having the desired cross-sectional shape. A die orifice of about 3 mm or less in diameter / width in at least one dimension is preferred to provide an instant fried noodle having the appropriate width / diameter, more preferably from about 1 mm to about 2 mm. In particularly preferred embodiments, the die orifice is square or rectangular and has at least one side-length that is about 3 mm or less, more preferably from about 1 mm or to about 2 mm. In preferred embodiments, all side-lengths of the die orifice are about 3 mm or less, more preferably from about 1 mm or to about 2 mm.

[0047] In exemplary embodiments, the heated die has a length of from about 1 mm to about 100 mm, for example from about 5 mm to about 80 mm, from about 10 mm to about 50 mm, or from about 15 mm to about 30 mm.

[0048] Shaping and packaging:

[0049] After extrusion to fry and shape the instant fried noodles, the noodles may be shaped into a block (conventionally referred to as the cake) for packaging. Shaping may be via folding or gathering. The cake is typically a cuboid with a length of from about 15 cm to about 20 cm, a height of from about 3 cm to about 5 cm and a width of from about 10 cm to about 15 cm.

[0050] Shaping the instant fried noodles typically takes place shortly after extrusion before the noodles dry and harden. Preferably, shaping takes place within 30 s of extrusion, more preferably within 20 s of extrusion, further preferably within 10 seconds of extrusion.

[0051] After shaping, the cake of instant fried noodles is packaged in a protective atmosphere.

[0052] Example 1: External dough kneading

[0053] The dough is prepared externally in a batch kneader prior to processing in an extruder.

[0054] Wheat flour (type 55), protein flour (soy isolate), salt, water, and solid powdered palm fat (fully hydrogenated) are mixed and kneaded in a batch kneader (Chef, Kenwood, UK). The dough is fed to the extruder (Eurolab 16, ThermoFischer, UK) consisting of a screw configuration with conveying elements only. In the extruder, the dough is cooked, fried, and formed into a noodle strand at the die. The strand is randomly folded and cut into cakes within 10 seconds of exiting the die, followed by drying at 20°C / 20%RH for 12 h in an oven (UN30, Memmert, Germany).

[0055] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the system used in Example 1.

[0056] Table 1 provides details of the materials, process steps and parameters of Example 1. Table 1

[0057] Example 2: Internal dough kneading The dough is prepared internally within the extruder. A part of the extruder is used for continuous dough preparation. The remaining part of the extruder is the same procedure as in Example 1. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the system used in Example 2. FIG. 5 shows a photograph of the system used in Example 2 with annotations. FIG.6 shows the same photograph without annotations. The dry ingredients wheat flour (type 55), protein flour (Soy isolate), and salt are dry-mixed externally in a batch mixer. Then they are fed continuously gravimetrically together by a loss-in-weight feeder via a first dosing port in the first section of the extruder. In this section, the screw configuration consists of three conveying elements (1, 2, 3) to convey the powder and two kneading elements (4, 5) to dry-mix the powder.

[0058] Water is fed continuously volumetrically by a peristaltic pump via the second dosing port in the second section of the extruder. In this section, the screw configuration consists of three conveying (6, 7, 8) and four kneading elements (9, 10, 11, 12) to mix the powder with water. Liquid molten palm fat (fully hydrogenated) is fed volumetrically by a peristaltic pump via the third dosing port in the third section of the extruder. In this section, the screw configuration consists of three conveying (13, 14, 15) and four kneading elements (16, 17, 18, 19) to mix the powder-water dough with the palm fat.

[0059] The following screw configuration consists of 3 conveying elements (20, 21, 22) in order to force the dough through the following two kneading elements (23, 24), followed by eight conveying elements (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32), followed by the die.

[0060] Table 2 provides details of the materials, process steps and parameters of Example 2.

[0061] Table 2 Those skilled in the art will understand that they can freely combine all features of the present invention disclosed herein. In particular, features described for the products of the present invention may be combined with the use of the present invention and vice versa. Further, features described for different embodiments of the present invention may be combined.

[0062] Although the invention has been described by way of example, it should be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Furthermore, where known equivalents exist to specific features, such equivalents are incorporated as if specifically referred in this specification. Further advantages and features of the present invention are apparent from the figures and non-limiting examples.

Claims

Claims1. A method for producing an instant fried noodle, comprising: a dough preparation step of preparing a dough by adding water to a raw material powder and kneading; characterised by: a noodle forming step comprising extrusion of the dough through a heated die to fry the dough to provide the instant fried noodle; wherein the dough preparation step comprises including a fat or oil in the dough.

2. A method for producing a fried noodle according to claim 1, wherein: the noodle forming step is performed by a screw extruder.

3. A method for producing a fried noodle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: the dough preparation step is performed by a screw extruder.

4. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein: the heated die is heated to from about 110 °C to about 160 °C.

5. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the dough is extruded at a rate such that the residence time of the dough in the heated die is from about 5 s to about 25 s.

6. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein: the dough is extruded at a rate of 0.2 mm / s to about 20 mm / s.

7. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the heated die has a length of from about 5 mm to about 100 mm.

8. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein: the fat or oil is included in the dough in an amount of from about 12% to about 19% by weight of the dough on a wet basis.

9. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein: the fat or oil comprises palm fat.

10. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein: the raw material powder comprises a powdered protein.

11. A method for producing a fried noodle according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the method comprises the step of: forming the fried noodle into a cake.

12. A method for producing a fried noodle according to claim 11, wherein: the fried noodle is extruded into the shape of the cake.

13. A method for producing a fried noodle according to claim 12, wherein: the fried noodle is folded into the shape of the cake within 10 seconds of exiting the die.

14. The method or fried noodle of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein a die orifice of the heated die has a width of about 3 mm or less, preferably from about 1 mm to about 2 mm.

15. A fried noodle obtainable by the method of any of claims 1 to 14.

Images