Liquid oil-based fat system composition for microwave popcorn
A liquid-oil based fat system for use in microwave popcorn products is described to prevent wicking and leaking of oil from microwave popcorn packaging. In an aspect, a microwave popcorn product includes a charge of popcorn and a slurry including a liquid-based oil, a structuring ingredient, and a seasoning for introduction to a microwave popcorn package that expands during the popping process in a microwave.
1 . A method of producing a microwave popcorn product, comprising:
introducing a liquid-based oil, a fat-based structuring ingredient, and a seasoning to a temperature-controlled mixing tank;
blending the liquid-based oil, the fat-based structuring ingredient, and the seasoning to form a slurry, wherein the fat-based structuring ingredient includes a blend of mono- and diglycerides in an amount from about 18% to about 26% by weight of the slurry, and wherein the slurry includes the liquid-based oil in an amount from about 54.8% to about 67.0% by weight of the slurry and includes no palm oil;
controlling a temperature of the mixing tank to maintain the temperature of the slurry from about 148° F. to about 160° F. to provide a blended slurry; and
transferring a charge of popcorn and the blended slurry to an interior volume of a microwave popcorn package, the interior volume of the microwave popcorn package configured to expand during a microwave heating process of the microwave popcorn product,
wherein the blended slurry forms an organogel subsequent to contact with the charge of popcorn in the microwave popcorn package to maintain the liquid-based oil within the organogel at room temperature storage conditions of the microwave popcorn product.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the slurry further includes an antioxidant introduced to the temperature-controlled mixing tank.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid-based oil includes at least one of avocado oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, or coconut oil.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fat-based structuring ingredient includes a blend of mono- and diglycerides in an amount from about 18.4% to about 22.4% by weight of the slurry.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the blend of mono- and diglycerides includes from about 60% to about 70% diglycerides by weight of the blend and from about 1% to about 10% monoglycerides by weight of the blend.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid-based oil includes avocado oil.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the seasoning includes salt in an amount from about 15% to about 22% by weight of the slurry, and wherein at least 50% percent by weight of the salt has a size of less than 44 microns.
8 . A method of producing a microwave popcorn product, comprising:
introducing a liquid-based oil, a fat-based structuring ingredient, and a seasoning to a temperature-controlled mixing tank;
blending the liquid-based oil, the fat-based structuring ingredient, and the seasoning to form a slurry, wherein the liquid-based oil is present in an amount from about 54.8% to about 67.0% by weight of the slurry and includes at least one of avocado oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil, wherein the fat-based structuring ingredient includes a blend of mono- and diglycerides in an amount from about 18% to about 26% by weight of the slurry, and wherein the slurry includes no palm oil;
controlling a temperature of the mixing tank to maintain the temperature of the slurry from about 148° F. to about 160° F. to provide a blended slurry; and
transferring a charge of popcorn and the blended slurry to an interior volume of a microwave popcorn package, the interior volume of the microwave popcorn package configured to expand during a microwave heating process of the microwave popcorn product,
wherein the blended slurry forms an organogel subsequent to contact with the charge of popcorn in the microwave popcorn package to maintain the liquid-based oil within the organogel at room temperature storage conditions of the microwave popcorn product.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the seasoning includes salt in an amount from about 15% to about 22% by weight of the slurry.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein at least 50% percent by weight of the salt has a size of less than 44 microns.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the charge of popcorn is included in an amount from about 76.0% to about 92.3% by weight of the microwave popcorn product total ingredients.