Scarified infused dried buoyant cranberries and method for making same
View Patent ↗Disclosed is a scarified, whole, dried, infused, buoyant cranberry. Further a process for preparing the cranberry is disclosed. The process includes sizing individually quick frozen cranberries by collecting those that pass through a mesh screen with 16 millimeter openings and that are retained on a mesh screen with openings of 9 millimeters. The sized cranberries are then scarified and infused in an infusion solution having a Brix of from 40 to 80 at a temperature of from 29 to 44° C.±5° C. until the cranberries have a Brix of at least about 40. The cranberries are removed from the infusion solution and dried at a temperature of from 73 to 85° C. until they have a water activity level of from 0.25 to 0.6 and a buoyancy of at least 30%.
1. A method of preparing a whole, intact, buoyant, dried cranberry comprising the steps of:
a) scarifying frozen whole intact cranberries using a scarifying gap of from 16 to 12.7 millimeters;
b) providing an infusion solution having a Brix of from 40 to 80 at a temperature of from 29 to 44° C.±5° C. and infusing the intact scarified cranberries in the infusion solution until the cranberries have a Brix of at least 40;
c) removing the infused cranberries from the infusion solution and drying the infused cranberries until they have a water activity level of from 0.25 to 0.6, a buoyancy of at least 30%, and a bulk density of from 0.4 to 0.6 grams per cubic centimeter.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising prior to step a) the step of sizing frozen cranberries by keeping cranberries that pass through mesh screen with openings of 16 millimeters and are retained on a mesh screen having openings of 9 millimeters.
3. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein the step of sizing the cranberries is carried out at a temperature of from −15 to 0° C.
4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step a) is carried out a temperature of from −15 to 0° C.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) further comprises providing an infusion solution containing from 15 to 35% by weight based on the weight of the cranberries of glycerin.
6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) further comprises providing an infusion solution containing from 0.5 to 2.5% by weight based on the weight of the cranberries of ascorbic acid.
7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) comprises providing an infusion solution having a Brix of from 65 to 77.
8. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) comprises providing an infusion solution comprising at least one of a natural sweetener, an artificial sweetener, a fruit juice, or mixtures thereof.
9. The method as recited in claim wherein the infusion of step b) is carried out for a period of time of from 1 to 12 hours.
10. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein in step b) the infusion solution is provided in a weight ratio of cranberries to infusion solution of from 1:2 to 1:5.
11. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) is continued until the cranberries have a Brix of at least 45.
12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) is continued until the cranberries have a Brix of at least 50.
13. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step b) is carried out in a continuous infusion process and the infusion solution is a stepped infusion solution of at least two infusion solutions each having a different Brix from each other.
14. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising after step b) and before step c) the step of washing the infusion solution off of the infused cranberries.
15. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising after step b) and before drying in step c) the step of applying an edible oil to the infused cranberries at a level of from 0.5 to 5% by weight based on the weight of the cranberries.
16. The method as recited in claim 15 wherein the edible oil is applied at a level of from 1 to 3% by weight.
17. The method as recited in claim 15 comprising applying a vegetable oil, a marine oil, or a mixture thereof to said cranberries.
18. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries at a temperature of from 73 to 85° C.
19. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries to a moisture level of from 8 to 15% by weight based on the total weight.
20. The method as recited in claim 19 wherein step e) comprises drying the cranberries to a moisture level of from 10 to 13% by weight based on the total weight.
21. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries for a period of time of from 3 to 10 hours.
22. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries with one of forced air, microwave hot air, vacuum drying, freeze drying, or a combination thereof.
23. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries to a final Brix of from 76 to 84.
24. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries to a final buoyancy of at least 50%.
25. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein step c) comprises drying the cranberries to a final buoyancy of at least 60%.
26. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising after step c) the step of applying an edible oil to the cranberries in an amount of from 0.5 to 5% by weight based on the weight of the cranberries.
27. The method as recited in claim 26 comprising applying a vegetable oil, a marine oil, or a mixture thereof to said cranberries.
28. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising combining the cranberries obtained after step c) with a ready to eat cereal, into a granola-type bar, or into a trail mixture.
29. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising after step c) the step of dividing the cranberries into a plurality of pieces.
30. The method as recited in claim 29 further comprising combining the cranberry pieces obtained after dividing the cranberries into a plurality of pieces with a ready to eat cereal, into a granola-type bar, or into a trail mixture.
31. A scarified, infused, whole intact dried buoyant cranberry having a Brix of at least 40, a water activity of 0.25 to 0.60 and a bulk density of from 0.4 to 0.6 grams per cubic centimeter.
32. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry comprises ascorbic acid.
33. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry comprises from 5 to 15% by weight glycerin based in the total weight.
34. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry has a Brix of from 76 to 84.
35. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry comprises from 0.5 to 5% by weight based on the total weight of an applied edible oil.
36. A cranberry as recited in claim 35 wherein said oil comprises a vegetable oil, a marine oil, or a mixture thereof.
37. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry has a moisture level of from 8 to 15% by weight based on the total weight.
38. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 wherein said cranberry has a moisture level of from 10 to 13% by weight based on the total weight.
39. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 in admixture with a ready to eat cereal.
40. A cranberry as recited in claim 31 incorporated into a granola-type bar or a trail mix.