Aerated frozen suspension with adjusted creaminess and scoop ability based on stress-controlled generation of superfine microstructures
View Patent ↗Products that are aerated multiphase systems containing an aqueous continuous fluid phase which may include solutes thus forming an aqueous syrup and disperse phases like gas/air cells, water ice crystals and solid/semi-solid fat globules or aggregates thereof, whereas the disperse phases are that finely structured that their mean diameters are below phase specific critical maximum values and thereby generate a most preferred by consumers, full rich silky-creamy mouth feel at much lower fat content than usual in conventional related products like premium and super premium ice creams.
1. An aerated partially frozen suspension with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure adjusted by shear treatment in a highly frozen state at shear rates within the range of 1-50 l/s, wherein, during said shear treatment, said suspension was maintained below a recipe-related critical temperature that kept frozen at least 55% of the freezable water in said suspension.
2. The partially frozen suspension of claim 1 wherein said superfine microstructure was further adjusted at shear stresses within the range of 2500 to 75000 Pa.
3. The partially frozen suspension of claim 2 wherein the shear stresses are within the range of 5000 to 15000 Pa.
4. The partially frozen suspension of claim 1 wherein the shear rates are within the range of 2-10 l/s.
5. The partially frozen suspension of claim 1 wherein the recipe-related critical temperature is within a temperature range of −20° C. for fat free sorbet recipes with a large content of short-chain or mono-saccharides up to −20° C. for ice cream recipes with sweeteners and larger fractions of long chain polysaceharides.
6. The partially frozen suspension of claim 5 , wherein the partially frozen suspension is conventional vanilla ice cream and said recipe-related critical temperature is below −10° C.
7. The frozen suspension of claim 1 wherein the solid or semi-solid disperse phases comprise water ice crystals, gas/air-cells and fat globules and/or aggregates thereof.
8. The partially frozen suspension of claim 7 wherein the superfine microstructure of the fat globules/fat globule aggregates consists of fat globule aggregates with more than 20% of volume in the diameter range between 2 and 60 microns.
9. The partially frozen suspension of claim 1 wherein said suspension has a creaminess of texture characterized by:
a loss modulus G″ in the range of 10 5 to 5×10 6 Pa, in the state where 50 to 60% of the watery phase related to the freezable water fraction are frozen;
wherein the loss modulus G″ is measured in an oscillatory shear experiment at oscillation frequencies between 1 and 2 Hz at shear strain amplitudes in the linear viscoelastic range of the material where stress and strain are proportional.
10. The partially frozen suspension of claim 9 wherein said suspension is further characterized by:
a loss modulus G″ is in the range of 3×10 3 to 5×10 4 Pa in the totally melted state at temperatures of +1 to +10° C.
11. An aerated partially frozen suspension with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure created by shear treatment in a highly frozen state at shear stresses within the range of 2500 to 75000 Pa, wherein, during said shear treatment, said suspension was maintained below a recipe-related critical temperature that kept frozen at least 55% of the freezable water in said suspension.
12. An aerated partially frozen suspension with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure created by:
shear treatment in a highly frozen state at shear rates within the range of 2-10 l/s;
wherein said superfine microstructure was further created at shear stresses within the range of 5000 to 15000 Pa;
wherein, during said shear treatment, said suspension was maintained below a recipe-related critical temperature that kept frozen at least 55% of the freezable water in said suspension.
13. An aerated partially frozen suspension with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure created by:
shear treatment in a highly frozen state at shear rates within the range of 2-10 l/s;
wherein said superfine microstructure was further created at shear stresses within the range of 5000 to 15000 Pa;
wherein, during said shear treatment, said suspension was maintained below a recipe-related critical temperature that kept frozen at least 55% of the freezable water in said suspension;
wherein the superfine microstructure of the fat globules/fat globule aggregates consists of fat globule aggregates with more than 20% of volume in the diameter range between 2 and 60 microns and the complementary fraction consists of primary fat globule in the size range of 0.1 to 2 microns; and
wherein said frozen suspension has a creaminess of texture defined by:
a loss modulus G″ in the range of 10 5 to 5×10 6 Pa, in the state where 50 to 60% of the watery phase related to the freezable water fraction are frozen; and
a loss modulus G″ is in the range of 3×10 3 to 5×10 4 Pa in the totally melted state at temperatures of +1 to +10° C.,
wherein the loss modulus G″ is measured in an oscillatory shear experiment at oscillation frequencies between 1 and 2 Hz at shear strain amplitudes in the linear viscoelastic range of the material where stress and strain are proportional.
14. A process for the manufacture of aerated partially frozen suspensions with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure, the process comprising:
applying a shear treatment to said suspensions with the application of shear rates within the range of 1-50 l/s and the generation of shear stresses within the range of 2500 to 75000 Pa.;
maintaining said suspensions below a critical temperature, said critical temperature being a temperature where more than 55% of the freezable water forms ice crystals; and
removing heat from said suspensions so that the heat transfer rate is sufficiently high to avoid re-melting of ice crystals.
15. The process of claim 14 wherein the shear rates are within the range of 2-10 l/s.
16. The process of claim 14 wherein the shear stresses are within the range of 5000 to 15000 Pa.
17. The process of claim 14 wherein the solid or semi-solid disperse phases comprise water ice crystals, gas/air-cells and fat globules and aggregates thereof.
18. The process of claim 14 wherein said shear treatment is applied in the flow gaps between at least one of moving tools and fixed walls.
19. The process of claim 14 further comprising maintaining the heat transfer rate from the suspension to the coolant sufficiently high to avoid re-melting of ice crystals.
20. The process of claim 14 further comprising adjusting the shear treatment and cooling in such a way that a critical temperature range, where 55% of the freezable water forms ice crystals, is not exceeded and thus re-melting of ice crystals is avoided.
21. The process of claim 14 wherein said shear treatment is applied by an extruder freezer.
22. A process for the manufacture of aerated partially frozen suspensions with a continuous watery fluid phase, containing solid or semi-solid disperse phases with a superfine microstructure, the process comprising:
applying a shear treatment with an extruder freezer to said suspensions;
maintaining said suspensions below a critical temperature, said critical temperature being a temperature where more than 55% of the freezable water forms ice crystals;
removing heat from said suspensions so that the heat transfer rate is sufficiently high to avoid re-melting of ice crystals; and
adjusting the shear treatment and cooling in such a way that said critical temperature range is not exceeded and thus re-melting of ice crystals is avoided;
wherein said shear treatment comprises the application of shear rates within the range of 1-50 l/s and the generation of shear stresses within the range of 2500 to 75000 Pa.
23. The process of claim 22 wherein said shear treatment comprises:
the application of shear rates within the range of 2-10 l/s; and
the generation of shear stresses within the range of 5000 to 15000 Pa.
24. The process of claim 22 wherein the solid or semi-solid disperse phases comprise water ice crystals, gas/air-cells and fat globules and aggregates thereof.
25. The process of claim 22 wherein said shear treatment is applied in the flow gaps between at least one of moving tools and fixed walls.
26. The suspension of claim 1 , 11 , 12 or 13 wherein said suspension was maintained below said recipe-related critical temperature while being processed in an extruder.
27. The process of claim 12 or 22 wherein said suspension is maintained below said recipe-related critical temperature while being processed in an extruder.