NL2033214B1

NL2033214B1 - Dry coating pre-mix for potato fries

Info

Publication number: NL2033214B1
Application number: NL2033214A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Guyonne Hélène Monique Van Thiel Frédérique; Antonius Charles Donders Bartholomeus
Original assignee: Lambweston / Meijer V O F
Priority date: 2022-10-03
Filing date: 2022-10-03
Publication date: 2024-04-16
Also published as: WO2024076235A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dry coating pre-mix for potato fries, comprising a coating base and a hydrocolloid that is capable of reacting with divalent ions, which coating pre-mix when applied as a batter to potato fries confers a crispy and crunchy external texture and a large contrast inside/outside to the fries after finish-frying. The hydrocolloid is suitably alginate or carrageenan, or a combination thereof. The invention further relates to a batter prepared from the pre-mix by adding a liquid, in particular water, to potato fries coated with the batter, to pre-fried coated potato fries, to pre-fried coated potato fries that are deep-frozen and to the finish-fried coated potato fries. The invention further relates to the use of the premix in the preparation of potato fries with a crispy and crunchy external texture and/or having a large contrast inside/outside.

Description

DRY COATING PRE-MIX FOR POTATO FRIES

The present invention relates to a dry coating pre-mix for potato fries, to the coated potato fries, to the finish-fried potato fries and to the use of the pre-mix to prepare coated potato fries.

Methods for preparing and applying coatings to the outer surfaces of deep-frozen potato products are well known in the art. These methods and coatings are used for various purposes, such as improving the holding time for fast-food restaurants and home delivery, achieving the desired color of the final product, stabilize odor and taste and impart crispiness and crunchiness to the extertor of the product.

The potato fries market is changing. There is a growing popularity of online food delivery. which puts a higher demand on the holding time. The increasing awareness of healthier eating habits also has an impact. Potato fries with a lower fat content or suitable for alternative frying techniques are in higher demand. Furthermore, there is a trend towards better taste and mouth feel.

More than half of the consumers are interested in trying new sensory experiences with crispiness and crunchiness as important attributes.

It is the object of the present invention to provide means that increase the crispiness and crunchiness of potato fries while maintaining a soft creamy interior and an acceptable holding time.

This object is achieved by means of a dry coating pre-mix for potato fries, comprising a coating base and a hydrocolloid that is capable of reacting with divalent ions, which coating pre- mix when applied as a batter to potato fries confers a crispy and crunchy external texture and a large contrast inside/outside to the fries after finish-frying.

It was found according to the invention that the presence of such hydrocolloids, and in particular alginate and carrageenan in the coating lead to a crispier and crunchier sensation and a larger contrast inside/outside as compared to existing potato fries.

When the hydrocolloid is alginate, the content thereof in the pre-mix is suitably 0.05 and 0.40%, in particular between 0.09 and 0.36%, more in particular between 0.12 and 0.25%, even more in particular between 0.15 and 0.20%. A content of 0.18% is most preferred.

When the hydrocolloid is carrageenan, the content thereof in the pre-mix is between 0.20 and 1.5%, in particular between 0.25 and 1%, more in particular between 0.35 and 0.8%, even more in particular between 0.45 and 0.55%. A content of 0.5% is most preferred.

The coating base of the dry coating pre-mix comprises modified potato starch and rice flour. The coating base may further comprise other ingredients, in particular ingredients selected from potato maltodextrin, native potato starch, pea protein, salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate (SAPP), sodium bicarbonate, dextrose, xanthan gum or combinations thereof. Rice flour and native potato starch are fillers. Rice flour also further adds to the crispiness. The other ingredients have functionalities that confer particular properties upon the coating. Modified potato starch is a film forming agent and contributes to the adhesion of the coating to the surface of the potato fries.

Dextrose is added to obtain a golden brown, slightly glossy appearance. SAPP and sodium bicarbonate are leavening agents. Together they produce CO: which becomes trapped in the coating and becomes fixed after finish frying. This further adds to the crispiness. Xanthan gum is a thickening agent that increases the viscosity of the coating thus facilitating application of the coating to the potato fries. Although some ingredients from the coating base may also contribute to the crispiness and crunchiness of the potato fries coated with the coating of the invention, the hydrocolloid significantly improves the crispiness and crunchiness obtained with the coating base alone.

The invention further relates to a batter for coating potato fries, comprising the dry coating pre-mix described above and a liquid. The liquid is suitably water. The ratio between dry coating pre-mix and liquid is 1:2, preferably 1:1.75, more preferably 1:1.5.

In the pre-coating pre-mix the hydrocolloid, in particular the alginate, is in solid form. In an alternative embodiment, the hydrocolloid. in particular alginate, may be in a liquid form. In the case, the hydrocolloid solution is added after preparation of the batter from a dry coating pre-mix without the hydrocolloid. An alginate solution can for example be stirred into the batter in a tank.

The invention further relates to potato fries coated with a batter prepared from the dry coating pre-mix. The batter is applied to the potato fries by dipping freshly cut and optionally pre- heated potato strips in the batter and putting the strips on a grid to drain excess batter.

In the potato fries industry, the fries are usually pre-fried. Pre-fried potato fries coated with a batter made of the dry coating pre-mix of the invention are thus also part of this invention.

After pre-frying, the potato fries can be sold as fresh potato fries. For this, the pre-fried fries are cooled down to refrigeration temperature and transported to the wholesale, retail facility or food- service industry, such as catering services, restaurants, pubs and the like. Alternatively, the potato fries are cooled down and deep-frozen for longer storage.

Before consumption , the coated fries, pre-fried fries or deep-frozen fries must be finish- fried. Finish-frying comprises cooking coated potato fries of the invention for 2 to 5 minutes at 160 to 190°C 1n oil. Finish-fried potato fries, obtainable by finish-frying coated potato fries of the invention are also part thereof.

Instead of cooking the potato fries in oil, they can be finish-fried in an air fryer or oven.

As a result of the coating, the finish-fried potato fries of the invention perform better than existing crispy and crunchy potato fries with respect to crispiness and crunchiness. The finish-fried potato fries of the invention also have a larger contrast inside/outside. The crispiness and crunchiness and contrast inside/outside of the potato fries that have been coated according to the invention are determined by means of a sensory test panel. Sensory analysis is a commonly used method to evaluate the texture of foods. In determining the parameters used to define the potato fries coated according to the invention Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) is used. This is a behavioral sensory evaluation approach that uses descriptive panels to measure a product’s sensory characteristics. Panel members use their senses to identify perceived similarities and differences in products. They use a vocabulary which is agreed upon between the panelists. Line scales are employed for panel training and data collection. During the test, panelists place a cross on the line scale. The position of this cross is translated into an exact score between O and 100. The scale

IO direction goes from left to right with increasing intensities, e.g., ‘not’ or ‘no’ (score of 0} to ‘very’ or ‘large’ on the right side of the scale (score of 10). The difference among products is a value without dimension.

Employing this technique, the finish-fried coated potato fries of the invention, when served after 5 minutes holding time at room temperature after finish-frying, have a crispiness of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after taking a bite with the incisors.

The crispiness is preferably at least 65, more preferably at least 70, even more preferably at least 75 or at least 80, most preferably at least 85 on the above-mentioned scale.

When determining the crunchiness with the same technique, the finish-fried potato fries of the invention, when served after 5 minutes holding time at room temperature after finish-frying, have a crunchiness of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after chewing between the molars. The crunchiness is preferably at least 65, more preferably at least 70, even more preferably at least 75 or at least 80, most preferably at least 85 on the above-mentioned scale.

The finish-fried potato fries of the invention, when served after 5 minutes holding time at room temperature after finish-frying, have a contrast inside/outside of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after placing the centerpiece of the fry between the molars and biting down through the product. The contrast inside/outside is preferably at least 65, more preferably at least 70, even more preferably at least 75, most preferably at least 80 on the above-mentioned scale.

The coating of the invention also provides a better holding time. The holding time is the time after which finish-fried potato fries lose their crispiness and crunchiness and turn cold. A long holding time is in particular important for delivered foods. The finish-fried coated potato fries of the invention, when served after 30 minutes holding time in a quick-service restaurant cup in two paper bags placed in a delivery bag of a food delivery platform, have a crispiness of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after taking a bite with the incisors.

The potato fries, when served after 30 minutes holding time in a quick-service restaurant cup in two paper bags placed in a delivery bag of a food delivery platform, have a crunchiness of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after chewing between the molars.

The finish-fried potato fries, when served after 5 minutes holding time at room temperature after finish-frying, have a contrast inside/outside of at least 60 on a line scale of 0 to 100 as determined by a sensory panel after placing the centerpiece of the fry between the molars and biting down through the product.

It should be noted that the above-described values for crispiness and crunchiness and for contrast inside/outside are obtained when the sensory test is performed as described in Example 2.

Other tests may lead to different results.

The invention further relates to the use of the dry coating pre-mix as described herein in the preparation of potato fries with a crispy and crunchy external texture and a large contrast inside/outside. The preparation of the potato fries comprises finish-frying the potato fries after applying a batter comprising the dry coating pre-mix.

The present invention will be further elucidated in the Examples that follow and that are given for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention in any way.

EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of hydrocolloid-containing coating for potato fries

Introduction

This example describes the preparation of coatings with different hydrocolloids as the functional ingredient and testing of these coatings for crispiness and crunchiness and for contrast inside/outside.

Materials and methods

Batter

A coating base contains the ingredients listed in Table 1. This is also the pre-mix for the reference batter. Rice flour and native potato starch are the fillers. Part of these is replaced by the hydrocolloid to be tested. The remainder of the dry pre-mix is then constituted by the fillers in a ratio of about 2:1. The coating base without the fillers is called herein “backbone”.

Table 1

Ingrediet = 0000 Amant

Nodited Poo Surah G10 men

Modified Potato Starch 1-20%

Sodium Bicarbonate (E500i1) * fillers

Table 2 i eee men

Rice flour and potato starch (fillers) remainder in about 2:1 ee 5

Potato fries

To prepare the sample fries, the potatoes are washed with cold tap water and a scrub brush and subsequently pre-heated for 20 minutes in a bucket with tap water of 50-60°C. The potatoes are then cut into strips with a universal potato cutter to a cutting size of 9x9 mm. The potato strips thus obtained are transferred immediately to a bucket with cold tap water. The potato strips are blanched for 8 minutes in a water bath of 81°C.

Immediately after blanching, the potato strips are dipped for 30 seconds in a bath containing 0.5% SAPP (sodium acid pyrophosphate). Drying the potato strips is done in a Rational oven for 8 minutes at a temperature of 50°C and relative humidity of 0%. Only completely straight strips without convex sides are used.

The coating batter is prepared by mixing 480 g dry pre-mix in 720 g cold tap water. The batter is first mixed with a whisk and subsequently with a KitchenAid Classic SKSM45 mixer with a whisk at level 3. After 10 minutes rest the batter is mixed for another minute at level 3.

The potato strips are coated by putting a handful of strips in a bowl with the batter and removing the strips with a skimmer and placing them on a cake grid. Superfluous batter is blown from the strips with a hairdryer at the highest speed and cool setting from a distance of about 5 cm.

The coated strips are distributed over two frying baskets and pre-fried for 1 minute in sunflower oil in a frying pan that was pre-heated to 175°C.

The pre-fried fries are then put in the freezer on a rack covered with seal foil to be cooled down to room temperature. Then the fries are stored in a freezer at -20°C until use.

Before use in the ditferent tests, the deep-frozen potato fries are fried in 200 g batches in sunflower oil of 175°C in a pre-heated frying pan for 2:45 minutes. Afterwards, they are cooled down for 2 minutes.

Organoleptic tasting

The finish-fried fries were tasted by two trained panelists. The results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3

Texture analysis

Crispiness was tested by means of an acoustic measurement with a Texture Analyzer (type

TA. XT.plusC). The Texture Analyzer is placed in a sound-proof box together with a microphone (type TEDS GRAS.46AE no. 389179). A 45 mm long cylinder probe TA-520A with a diameter of 20 mm (type P/20P) was used to crush the fries. The noise caused is recorded by the microphone and measured by means of the Sound Software of the microphone. The Sound Software registers the number of events that a sound is recorded and the sound level of the crackling of the fries upon impact of the probe. The Force Software of the Texture Analyzer records the required force during contact of the probe and the sample fry (FO), the required force for breaking the sample (F1) and the force at the end of the measurement (F2). The force and sound measurements were combined by means of AnalyseForceSound software, and the crispiness calculated. The results are shown in

Figure 1 and Table 4.

The results are averages of 7 measurements. Initially, 10 measurements were made, and the outliers were not taken into account. The baseline measurement is a coating only comprising the coating base without the hydrocolloids and without the fillers. The reference is a factory sample, which is the fry with the coating base.

Table 4 47.38 156.45 68.47 6 46.36 108.64 63.06 30.73 141.71 83.91

EXAMPLE 2

Sensory tests

Introduction

Three separate descriptive sensory tests with the LWM Sensory Panel have been performed to understand how a 9x9mm skin off or skin on product comprising the coating of the invention performs compared to other comparable 9x9 coated fries.

For comparison, the commercially available McCain SureCrisp™ and Aviko SuperCrunch and potato fries coated with the coating base (called herein Reference 1) were used. All four tested products have in two tests also been tested after a holding time of 30 minutes.

Materials and methods

The Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) method has been used for this test to describe the products. Before the start of the tests, the panelists agreed upon the vocabulary to be used. The sensory vocabulary used will be described below.

All products were presented blindly at eating temperature to the panelists following an unbalanced block design.

All panelists are employees of Lamb Weston/Meijer v.o.f., who have been selected based on their ability to detect basic flavours and odours, their ability to verbally express themselves and their ability to learn new attributes. In addition, these panelists have been trained in the Lamb

IO Weston/Meijer vocabulary for fries and different sensory testing methods.

Table § summarizes the parameters of the three tests.

Table 5

SureCrisp™ 2.3 Factory Aviko 9x9 mm skin off | Yes Yes made SuperCrunch 24 Factory Lamb Weston | 9x9 mm skinon | Yes Yes made Reference

31 18 Factory Lamb Weston | 9x9 mm skin on | Yes Yes

TET

3.2 Factory McCain 9x9 mm skin on | Yes Yes 3.3 Factory Lamb Weston | 9x9 mm skin on | Yes Yes

EET

The samples were prepared by frying 680 grams of deep-frozen product for 3:15 min at 175°C in a 17 kW Henny Penny fryer. After cooking, the products for direct service were scooped into boat cups labelled with 3-digit codes. These products were served to the panelists after a holding time of 5 minutes at eating temperature.

The products with a holding time of 30 minutes were scooped into a QSR cup in a double layer white paper back in an Uber Eats delivery bag (Table 6).

Table 6

Product Direct service

Scooping into boat cup / QSR cup + 22min | 2min double paper bag

Total time between cooking and 5 min 30 min

The panelists were seated in sensory booths with appropriate daylight lighting and a slight over-pressure to prevent contaminating odours to enter the booths. The products were served with 3-digit codes following semi-monadic presentation. To balance out the position of the products as equally as possible, an unbalanced block design has been used. With this, effects related to the order in which the products are presented to the panelists is minimized.

The data has been collected using EyeQuestion software (version 5.0.5.5). Each panelist had approximately $ minutes to evaluate each product. Within this time frame they had to score the attributes on a line scale. The attributes relevant for the invention are crispiness and crunchiness and contrast inside/outside. The LWM vocabulary for these attributes is shown in Table 7.

Table 7

Attribute Left anchor (0) | Right anchor (100)

Method:

Take a bite of the product with the incisors, expectorate the product if you like. Repeat this for multiple pieces.

Crispiness The noise and force when the Not crispy Very crispy product breaks or fractures on the first bite with the incisors.

Method:

Chew the center piece of the product with the molars multiple times, expectorate the product if you like. Repeat this for multiple pieces.

Crunchiness The noise and force when the Not crunchy Very crunchy sample breaks or fractures during chewing between the molars.

Method:

Place the center piece of the product between the molars. Bite down through the product, expectorate the product if you like. Repeat this for multiple pieces.

Contrast The difference in No contrast Very large contrast inside/outside fimness/hardness of the inside and the outside of the product

During the test, panelists place a cross on a line scale, The placing of this cross is translated into an exact score between 0 and 100. The panelists had no possibility to look back at the scores of previous products. Their judgement was therefore based on their internal reference framework and the memory of the previous products.

The data analysis was carried out using EyeOpenR software (version 5.0.5.5). For every 1 attribute an ANOVA has been performed, in which panelists and products were taken into account as fixed factors. When a significant difference between the products was found, a post-hoc analysis following the Tukey method was performed on the data to gain insight into the nature of the differences. This analysis was performed at a 95% confidence level.

Results

The results of the various experiments are summarized in Tables 8a, 8b and 8c.

Table 8a

Crispiness

Sample Crispiness Crispiness after direct serve 30 minutes 1.1 invention n.a. 85.53a 61.75b 3.1 invention 73.372 52.02b

Table 8b

Crunchiness

Sample Crunchiness Crunchiness

Tre

Table 8c

Contrast inside/outside

Sample Contrast Contrast inside/outside inside/outside direct serve after 30 minutes 2.2 comparison 3.3 comparison 46.44c

Note: Different letters in the columns for each attribute indicate a significant difference at p < 0.05. Products with the same letters are not significantly different at a 95% confidence level.

N.a.: not available

From the above Table 8 it follows that the products of the invention (1.1, 1.2 and 1.3) have by far the most crispy and crunchy external texture of all four tested products. The external texture of the products of the invention is still crispy and crunchy after 30 minutes holding time. The contrast inside/outside is also larger for the product of the invention. This effect is further illustrated in the spiderweb diagram of Fig. 2.

Claims

CONCLUSIONS

1. Dry pre-mix for a coating for potato fries comprising a coating base and a hydrocolloid capable of reacting with divalent cations, whereby the coating pre-mix, when applied as a batter to potato fries, has a crispy and crunchy external texture and a large inside/outside contrast to the fries after frying.

A dry pre-mix for a coating according to claim 1, wherein the hydrocolloid is alginate, carrageenan, or a combination thereof.

3. Dry pre-mix for a coating according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrocolloid is alginate and its content in the pre-mix is between 0.05 and 0.40%, in particular between 0.09 and 0.36 %, more specifically between 0.12 and 0.25%. even more specifically between 0.15 and 0.20%.

4. Dry pre-mix for a coating according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hydrocolloid is carrageenan and its content in the pre-mix is between 0.20 and 1.5%, in particular between 0.25 and 1 %, more specifically bags 0.35 and 0.8%, even more specifically 0.45 and 0.55%.

5. Dry pre-mix for a coating according to any of the preceding claims 1-4, wherein the coating base comprises modified potato starch and rice flour.

Dry pre-mix for a coating according to claim 5, wherein the coating base further comprises potato maltodextrin, native potato starch, pea protein, salt, sodium pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, dextrose and xanthan gum.

7. Batter for coating potato fries, comprising dry pre-mix as described in any of the preceding claims 1-6 and a liquid.

8. Batter according to claim 7, wherein the liquid is water.

9. Batter according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the ratio between the dry pre-mix and the liquid is 1:2, preferably 1:1.75, more preferably 1:1.5.

10. Potato fries coated with a batter according to any of claims 7-9.

11. Pre-fried potato fries, obtained by pre-frying the potato fries according to claim 10).

12. Potato fries according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the potato fries are frozen.

13. Fried potato fries, obtained by frying coated potato fries according to any one of claims 10 to 12.

14. Fried potato fries according to claim 13, wherein the finishing comprises frying frozen coated potato fries according to claims 8-10 for 2-5 minutes at 160 to 190°C in oil.

15. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the fried coated potato fries served after standing for 5 minutes at room temperature have a crispiness of at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after a bite. have taken with the front teeth.

16. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 15, wherein the fried coated potato fries served after standing for 5 minutes at room temperature have a crispiness of at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after chewing. between the molars.

17. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 15, wherein the fried coated potato fries served after standing for 5 minutes at room temperature have an inside/outside contrast of at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after having bitten through the center of the fries with the molars.

18. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 17, wherein the fried coated potato fries, served after a 30-minute stay in a container of a fast food restaurant in two paper bags placed in a delivery bag of a food delivery service, has a crispiness of at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after taking a bite with the front teeth.

19. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 18, wherein the fried coated potato fries, served after a 30-minute stay in a container of a fast food restaurant in two paper bags, placed in a delivery bag of a food delivery service, have a crispiness of at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after chewing between the molars.

20. Fried potato fries according to claim 13 or 19, wherein the fried coated potato fries, served after a 30-minute stay in a container of a fast food restaurant in two paper bags, placed in a delivery bag of a food delivery service, have an inside/outside contrast of at least has at least 60 on a linear scale from 0 to 100, as determined by a sensory test panel after biting through the center of the fries with the molars.

21. Use of the dry coating pre-mix according to any one of claims 1-7 in the preparation of potato fries with a crispy and crispy texture and/or a great inside/outside contrast.

Use according to claim 21, wherein the potato fries are prepared by frying fries coated with a batter comprising the dry coating pre-mix.