IP Library Patent Application 12473620
Patent Application
App. No. 12/473,620

SHELF STABLE FRIED PRODUCT AND PROCESS FOR CREATING THE SAME

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
12/473,620
Abstract

A shelf stable fried product and a process for creating a shelf stable fried product is disclosed. Aspects include a process for managing fat migration, moisture migration, and cell degrading of a food product during frying. Aspects further include a resulting shelf stable food product that includes a crispy and/or crunchy texture and a desirable fat distribution.

Claims (88)

1 . A shelf stable food product having an inner portion and an outer portion, the shelf stable food product comprising:

a fried food portion;

a surface application portion proximal a surface of the fried food portion;

a fat content of the outer portion of about 55% to about 95% of total fat content of the shelf stable food product;

about 0% wt moisture to about 10% wt moisture; and

a water activity of about 0 to about 0.6.

2 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the surface application portion is on the surface of the fried food portion.

3 . The shelf stable food product of claim 2 , wherein the outer portion includes the surface application portion.

4 . The shelf stable food product of claim 3 , wherein the outer portion includes a primed portion of the fried food portion.

5 . The shelf stable food product of claim 4 , wherein the surface application portion includes about 20% to about 95% of the total fat of the shelf stable food product.

6 . The shelf stable food product of claim 4 , wherein the inner portion includes an unprimed portion of the fried food product.

7 . The shelf stable food product of claim 6 , further comprising a fat differential between the inner portion and the outer portion of about 10% to about 90%.

8 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the surface application portion is a batter.

9 . The shelf stable food product of claim 8 , further comprising a void portion between the batter and the fried food portion.

10 . The shelf stable food product of claim 9 , wherein the outer portion includes the batter.

11 . The shelf stable food product of claim 10 , wherein the batter includes an outer surface.

12 . The shelf stable food product of claim 11 , wherein the outer surface of the batter includes about 30% to about 95% of the total fat of the shelf stable food product.

13 . The shelf stable food product of claim 9 , wherein the inner portion includes the void portion and the fried food portion.

14 . The shelf stable food product of claim 13 , further comprising a fat differential between the inner portion and the outer portion of about 10% to about 90%.

15 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the fried food portion includes at least one member of a group comprising: a strip cut, a shoestring cut, a criss cut, a crinkle cut, a helical cut, a waffle cut, a straight cut, a petal cut, a ring shape, and a lattice cut.

16 . The shelf stable food product of claims 1 , wherein the fried food portion is at least one member of a group comprising: a fruit and a vegetable.

17 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the shelf stable food product further comprises a hardness of about 2000 g to about 4600 g at a strain of about 8 mm to about 15 mm.

18 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the shelf stable food product further comprises a hardness of about 1000 g to about 4600 g at a strain of about 2 mm to about 6 mm.

19 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the surface application portion of the shelf stable food product includes a hardness of about 500 to about 3000 g at a strain of about 5 mm to about 6 mm.

20 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the wt moisture is about 0% wt moisture to about 5% wt moisture.

21 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the wt moisture is about 0% wt moisture to about 3% wt moisture.

22 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the water activity is about 0 to about 0.4.

23 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the fried food portion is at least one member of a group comprising: an atmospheric fried food portion and a vacuum fried food portion.

24 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the fried food portion includes a primed portion and an unprimed portion, wherein the primed portion includes a concentration of complex carbohydrates in relation to the unprimed portion.

25 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the shelf stable food product is made by a process, the process comprising:

priming a whole food piece for about 0.10 minutes to about 10 minutes to create a primed food piece;

applying a surface application to the primed food piece to create a food piece having a surface application; and

frying the food piece having the surface application in oil to create a fried food product having the wt moisture.

26 . The shelf stable food product of claim 25 , wherein frying includes at least one member of a group comprising: atmospheric frying and vacuum frying.

27 . The shelf stable food product of claim 25 , further comprising packaging the fried food product in a package having reduced atmospheric oxygen levels.

28 . The shelf stable food product of claim 1 , wherein the shelf stable food product is made by a process, the process comprising:

applying a surface application to a food piece to create a food piece having a surface application; and

frying the food piece having the surface application in oil to create a fried food product having the fat content of the outer portion of about 55% to about 95% of total fat content of the shelf stable food product.

29 . The shelf stable food product of claim 28 , further comprising freezing the food piece having a surface application.

30 . The shelf stable food product of claim 29 , wherein freezing include freezing the food piece having a surface application at sub-zero temperatures.

31 . The shelf stable food product of claim 28 , wherein frying includes at least one member of a group comprising: atmospheric frying and vacuum frying.

32 . The shelf stable food product of claim 28 , further comprising packaging the fried food product in a package having reduced atmospheric oxygen levels.

33 . A process for making a shelf stable food product, the process comprising:

priming the whole food piece for about 0.10 minutes to about 10 minutes to create a primed food piece;

applying a surface application to the primed food piece to create a food piece having a surface application;

frying the food piece having the surface application to create a fried food product; and

packaging the fried food product in a package having reduced atmospheric oxygen levels to create the shelf stable food product.

34 . The process of claim 33 , wherein the whole food piece includes at least one member of a group comprising: a strip cut, a shoestring cut, a criss cut, a crinkle cut, a helical cut, a waffle cut, a straight cut, a ring shape, a petal cut, and a lattice cut.

35 . The process of claim 33 , wherein the whole food piece is at least one member of a group comprising: a fruit and a vegetable.

36 . The process of claim 33 , further comprising applying a soak solution to the primed food piece, wherein the soak solution includes at least one member of a group comprising: sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP), citric acid, sugar, salt, starch, fruit juice concentrate, vegetable juice concentrate, color, vinegar, acetic acid, flavor, acid, gum, and enzymes.

37 . The process of claim 33 , wherein the whole food piece is primed at a temperature of at least one member of a group comprising: 155° F. to about 165° F., and 185° F. to about 200° F..

38 . The process of claim 33 , wherein applying a surface application to the primed food piece includes at least one member of a group comprising: coating, battering, predusting then battering, battering then predusting then battering a second time, battering then predusting then battering a second time then breading, battering then predusting then battering a second time then predusting a second time then battering a third time, battering then predusting then battering a second time then predusting a second time then battering a third time then breading.

39 . The process of claim 33 , further comprising causing non-intrusive oil reduction after the frying, wherein non-intrusive oil reduction includes holding the fried food product to cause excess oil to drip from the fried food product.

40 . The process of claim 39 , wherein non-intrusive oil reduction further includes applying a flavoring to the fried food product to cause flavorings to infuse into the fried food product.

41 . The process of claim 33 , wherein the package includes about 0% to 5% oxygen.

42 . The process of claim 33 , further comprising freezing prior to frying to create a frozen food product.

43 . The process of claim 33 , wherein freezing includes initially cooling to a temperature of about 40° F. to about 180° F. prior to freezing.

44 . The process of claim 33 , wherein frying includes at least one member of a group comprising: frying at atmospheric pressure and frying under a vacuum.

45 . The process of claim 33 , wherein priming the whole food piece includes priming the whole food piece in a priming bath to create a primed portion of concentrated complex carbohydrates while maintaining an unprimed portion of the whole food piece.

46 . The process of claim 33 , wherein priming the whole food piece includes priming the whole food piece to create a primed portion of concentrated complex carbohydrates while maintaining an unprimed portion of the whole food piece.

47 . The process of claim 33 , wherein the shelf stable food product includes:

a fried food portion;

a surface application portion proximal a surface of the fried food portion;

a fat content of an outer portion of the shelf stable food product of about 55% to about 95% of total fat content of the shelf stable food product;

about 0% wt moisture to about 10% wt moisture; and

a water activity of about 0 to about 0.6.

48 . The process of claim 47 , wherein the fried food portion includes a primed portion and an unprimed portion, wherein the primed portion includes a concentration of complex carbohydrates in relation to the unprimed portion.

49 . A process for making a shelf stable food product, the process comprising:

applying a surface application to a food piece to create an food piece having a surface application;

frying the food piece having a surface application in oil to create a fried food product having a fat content of the surface application portion of about 55% to about 95% of the total fat of the shelf stable food product; and

packaging the fried food product in a package having reduced atmospheric oxygen levels.

50 . The process of claim 49 , further comprising freezing the food piece having the surface application prior to frying.

51 . The process of claim 50 , wherein freezing includes freezing at sub-zero temperatures.

52 . The process of claim 49 , further comprising hydrating the food piece in a soak solution that includes at least one member of a group comprising: sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP), citric acid, sugar, salt, starch, fruit juice concentrate, vegetable juice concentrate, color, vinegar, acetic acid, flavor, acid, gum, and enzymes.

53 . The process of claim 49 , wherein applying a surface application includes at least one member of a group comprising: coating, battering, predusting then battering, battering then predusting then battering a second time, battering then predusting then battering a second time then breading, battering then predusting then battering a second time then predusting a second time then battering a third time, battering then predusting then battering a second time then predusting a second time then battering a third time then breading.

54 . The process of claim 49 , further comprising causing non-intrusive oil reduction after the frying, wherein non-intrusive oil reduction includes holding the fried food product to cause excess oil to drip from the fried food product.

55 . The process of claim 54 , wherein non-intrusive oil reduction further includes applying a flavoring to the fried food product to cause flavorings to infuse into the fried food product.

56 . The process of claim 49 , wherein the package includes about 0% to 5% oxygen.

57 . The process of claim 56 , wherein the shelf stable food product includes:

a fried food portion;

a surface application portion;

a void portion between the surface application portion and the fried food portion;

a fat content of an outer portion of the shelf stable food product of about 55% to about 95% of total fat content of the shelf stable food product;

about 0% wt moisture to about 10% wt moisture; and

a water activity of about 0 to about 0.6.

58 . The process of claim 57 , wherein the wt moisture is about 0% wt moisture to about 5% wt moisture.

59 . The process of claim 57 , wherein the wt moisture is about 0% wt moisture to about 3% wt moisture.

60 . The process of claim 57 , wherein the water activity is about 0 to about 0.4.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 23, 2009
From: WHEELER, JANET OLSON, MS.; DIHEL, DEBORAH, MS.; MELLOR, KEVIN, MR.; SCHNEIDER, JEFFREY, MR.; MILLS, KRISTIN, MS.; SAMORAY, ROGER, MR.; SANCHEZ, MOSES, MR.
To: CONAGRA FOODS RDM, INC.
Reel/Frame 022997/0167 →