Dehydrated mash potato process
Dehydrated potato pellets are made by preparing an aqueous mixture of dried potato pieces, an emulsifier, and oil, and, optionally, a freshly cooked potato, homogenizing the mixture to produce a pumpable, flowable aqueous dispersion, mixing the dispersion with more dried potato pieces and, optionally, freshly cooked potatoes, forming the mixture into pellets, and drying them.
1. A method for making dehydrated potato pellets comprising the steps of
(a) preparing an aqueous mixture of a first portion of dried potato pieces, said mixture including an emulsifier, water, and, optionally, a first portion of comminuted freshly cooked potato,
(b) homogenizing the mixture of step (a) to produce a homogenate comprising potato and emulsifier uniformly dispersed in a pumpable, flowable aqueous dispersion, the water content of said homogenate comprising at least 50% of said homogenate,
(c) mixing the homogenate of step (b) with a second portion of dried potato pieces,
(d) forming the mixture of step (c) into pellets, and
(e) drying said pellets to a moisture content no greater than 10%, said pellets being rehydratable to mashed potatoes.
2. The method of claim 1 in which the mixture of step(a) further comprises oil.
3. The method of claim 2 in which said oil in said homogenate is in a stable emulsion with said water.
4. The method of claim 1 in which said step (a) mixture comprises a fresh cooked potato first portion.
5. The method of claim 4 in which the first portion is cooked and cooled prior to step (a).
6. The method of claim 1 in which the water content comprises at least about 60% of said homogenate.
7. The method of claim 1 at least about 2% oil is uniformly dispersed within said pellets.
8. The method of claim 7 in which said dried pellets are rehydrated into a lumpy mashed potato.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of
(f) mixing a second portion of freshly cooked potato with said homogenate prior to forming.
10. The method of claim 9 in which said second portion is cooked and cooled prior to step (f).
11. The method of claim 1 in which said forming is performed by extrusion.
12. The method of claim 1 in which at least about 0.005% of said emulsifier is present in said dried product.
13. The method of claim 1 in which said potato pieces are substantially completely rehydrated in said homogenate.
14. The method of claim 1 in which said dried pellets include at least about 20% of the solids content from freshly cooked potato.
15. The method of claim 1 in which said dried potato pieces comprise pieces selected from the group consisting of flakes, granules, and flanules.
16. The method of claim 1 further comprising adding flavor agent prior to forming and in which said dried pellets rehydrate into a mashed potato having substantially uniform flavor distribution.