High-Moisture Caramel Slurry for Uniform Spray Coating
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional caramel slurries with low moisture content and high viscosity are difficult to apply uniformly to food products, limiting coating methods to tumbling, enrobing, and dripping, and resulting in uneven coatings with low sucrose crystallinity.
Innovation Solution
Prepare caramel slurries with a higher moisture content, up to 20% by weight, using closed or ambient pressure cooking methods that retain moisture during the cooking process, allowing for lower viscosity and uniform application techniques like spraying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the slurry is cooked at boiling temperature to remove water, then the moisture content is reduced to below 4 percent, but the viscosity becomes too high to allow spraying application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the cooking parameters by cooking the slurry at temperatures below the boiling point (e.g., 200-230°F) for extended periods (e.g., 1-4 hours). This parameter change allows moisture removal to a controlled extent while preventing the viscosity from becoming excessively high, thereby maintaining sprayability. The cooking temperature and time are optimized to achieve the desired balance between moisture content and viscosity.
2Quantity of substance
If the slurry is cooked to remove large portion of water, then the consistency becomes thick, but the coating uniformity deteriorates when applied by conventional techniques
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the cooking parameters by using lower temperatures (200-230°F) and longer times to achieve a different consistency profile. This results in a coating material that maintains better flow properties and can be applied more uniformly by spraying and other conventional techniques, thereby improving coating uniformity while still achieving the desired moisture content reduction.
3Productivity
If the slurry is cooked at ambient pressure to boil, then water is removed efficiently, but the cooking time required increases to allow proper Maillard and Caramelization reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter by cooking at elevated pressures (e.g., 15-30 psi gauge pressure) which raises the cooking temperature above the normal boiling point. This temperature increase accelerates both the water removal process and the Maillard and Caramelization reactions, thereby reducing the overall cooking time while maintaining efficient water removal.
4Reliability
If the slurry is cooked to achieve desired coloration and flavor, then the Maillard and Caramelization reactions progress, but the moisture content drops to levels that limit application methods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the cooking parameters by using lower temperatures (200-230°F) and longer durations, or by using controlled pressure conditions. This allows the Maillard and Caramelization reactions to progress to achieve the desired caramel flavor and coloration while controlling the rate of moisture removal. The result is a product with adequate moisture content (e.g., 4-12%) that maintains good application properties for multiple methods including spraying.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The higher moisture content caramel slurries enable uniform and even coatings with increased sucrose crystallinity, reducing the need for post-cooking dilution and expanding coating methods to include spraying.
Implementation Method 1
the ingredients undergo what are referred to as a Maillard reaction, a Caramelization reaction, or both. These non-enzymatic reactions take place with heating, between two sugar molecules or between a sugar molecule and a protein molecule.
Implementation Method 2
the ingredients undergo what are referred to as a Maillard reaction, a Caramelization reaction, or both. These non-enzymatic reactions take place with heating, between two sugar molecules or between a sugar molecule and a protein molecule.
Implementation Method 3
The slurry is cooked for a time sufficient to allow the cooking reactions to progress as desired, while water is removed by boiling.
Data Source
AI summary
Cooked and uncooked caramel slurries and products prepared using the cooked caramel slurries, and methods of preparing caramel slurries and coating a cooked caramel slurry onto a food piece. A process of providing a cooked caramel slurry comprises providing a slurry comprising sucrose, non-sucrose sugar, fat, water and protein, and having an initial total moisture content of at least 6 weight percent moisture and cooking the slurry in a closed cooking system that does not allow moisture to leave the slurry during cooking. A cooked caramel slurry comprises from 30 to 80 weight percent sucrose, from 5 to 25 weight percent non-sucrose sugar, from 5 to 25 weight percent fat, and from 0.1 to 5 weight percent protein, each on a total solids (dry) basis, and at least 5 weight percent water, wherein the slurry is undiluted, the water being also present during cooking of the slurry.