Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a refrigerated product based
on at least one mousse and containing pieces of chocolate.
The invention also relates to a process for the production
of this product and an installation for carrying out the
process.
Refrigerated products containing pieces of chocolate
are already available on the market. However, these known
products have a storage life in a refrigerator of less than
days. This is because, from the moment when pieces of
10 chocolate are dispersed in a mousse treated by UHT, the
diffusion .of water from the mousse into the chocolate
creates microbiological problems because the chocolate is
not sterilized . On the other hand, due to the high sugar
content of the chocolate, the diffusion of water breaks the
crispy texture of the chocolate and the consumer no longer
has any sensation of the presence of pieces of chocolate in
the mousse.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to
provide the consumer with a mousse-based product containing
pieces of chocolate which would keep in a refrigerator for
5 to 6 weeks and in which the pieces of chocolate would
remain intact over that period.
The present: invention relates to a refrigerated
product based'on at least one mousse and containing pieces
of chocolate in which the mousse contains between 2 and 10%
by weight of chocolate, the chocolate being sterilized and
containing from 50 to 70% of fats, from 30 to 50% of cocoa
powder and from 1 to l0% of sugar. All the percentages are
by weight:
, In the context of the invention, a mousse is under-
stood to be an overrun milk-based product additionally
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containing sugar, a flavouring ingredient (such as cocoa,
chocolate or the like), cream and a thickener or gelling
agent. An overrun product is understood to be a product
which has undergone an increase in volume of 80 to 120%
through overrunning. However, it is pointed out that these
limits are not critical.
According to the invention, a product with a longer
storage life can be obtained because the chocolate used has
been sterilized, the mousse being treated by UHT before
LO overrunning. This treatment is only possible because of
the low sugar content of the chocolate. The sugar used in
the chocolate is sucrose or invert sugar or fruit sugar,
such as glucose. The refrigerated product according to the
invention normally contains in a cup two different mousses
L5 each containing pieces of chocolate in the proportions
indicated above. The invention also encompasses a refrig-
erated product based on two mousses of which only one
contains-pieces of chocolate. A surface layer based on
cream, for example whipped cream, may also be provided.
20 In: terms of fats, the chocolate used consists of cocoa
butter. The pieces of chocolate are between 1 and 4 mm in
size and are uniformly distributed throughout the mousse.
The .product keeps in a refrigerator at a temperature
of 4 to 8°C. ,Finally, a refrigerated product consisting of
25 a single mousse containing the pieces .of chocolate men
tioned above also falls within the scope of the invention.
If the refrigerated product contains two mousses, filling
maybe carried out vertically or in horizontal layers.
The invention also relates to a process for the pro
30 duction of the refrigerated product mentioned above in
which the chocolate is sterilized and the mousse is separ
ately treated by UHT and then overrun, a strand or pieces
of chocolate is/are simultaneously delivered to an injec
tion nozzle substantially in the middle of the stream of
35 mousse, the chocolate is cut and then mixed with the mousse
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and the mousse is introduced into containers either on its
own or in combination with a second mousse by means of a
rotary metering head:
The chocolate is normally sterilized in a tank for 10
to 30 minutes at a temperature of 110 to 130°C. The
mixture for the mousse is treated by UHT, i.e. for 5 to 40
seconds at a temperature of 130 to 150'C, and then overrun
to obtain an.increase in volume of 80 to 120%.
The chocolate has to be delivered to the injection
nozzle in the liquid state, i.e. at a temperature of 25 to
30°C.
The mousse is delivered to the nozzle at a temperature
of 8 to l2°C. When the two streams are combined, the
strand of chocolate has to be given time to solidify.
Accordingly, a contact time of 30 to 60 seconds has to be
allowed before the strand of chocolate is cut.
In the embodiment based on the strand of chocolate,
the strand and the mousse have to be delivered to the
injection nozzle in such a way that they arrive at the same
'20 rate, namely at a rate of 0.05 to 0.15 m/s.
The; rate at which the mousse and the chocolate arrive
at the nozzle is not critical and depends on the desired
output:
In the second embodiment of the process, pieces of
chocolate are directly injected into the nozzle. This may
be done, for example, with an alternating metering system
comprising two Tines each equipped with a valve, each of
the lines,al-ternately delivering the pieces of chocolate
into the stream of mousse at a very high rate.
The strand of chocolate is cut in such a way that the
pieces of chocolate have an average size of 1 to 4 mm.
The mousse containing the pieces of chocolate then
arrives in a tank which 'feeds a volumetric metering head
which in turn directly fills the cup placed beneath it in
the case of filling with a single mousse. If the cup is
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filled with two mousses, one containing pieces of chocolate
and the other containing no chocolate, a volumetric meter-
ing unit for each mousse feeds a rotary metering head which
then simultaneously delivers the two mousses into the cup.
Finally, the invention relates to an installation for
carrying out the process described above, comprising a UHT
line for the preparation of mousse, a chocolate steriliza-
tion line, an injection nozzle joining the two lines, a
cutting system for the strand of chocolate and a rotary
metering nozzle for filling a mousse containing pieces of
chocolate and a normal mousse and a volumetric metering
system delivering each mousse to the rotary nozzle.
The mousse preparation line operates continuously with
an overrunning system before the injection nozzle. The
15r chocolate sterilization line operates discontinuously and
consists- of a tank equipped with a heating jacket for
sterilization: Arranged at the tank exit is a pump which
delivers the chocolate to the nozzle under a pressure of
5 to' 3 : 5 bar.
T~le injection nozzle is the key element of the in-
stallation: It comprises a feed passage for the strand of
chocolate and two feed passages for the mousse arranged
symmetrically in: relation to the feed passage for the
strand of chocolate:
.25 The cross-section -of the chocolate feed passage depends on
the. pressure-under which the chocolate arrives, the overrun
of 'the mousse and the desired percentage of chocolate in
the mousse and normally amounts to between 5 and l5% of the
total cross-section of the stream of mousse.
As mentioned above with reference to the process, the
streams of chocolate~and mousse must remain in contact be
fore the strand of chocolate is cut. The distance between
the injection nozzle and the cutting system is between 5
and 8 m. This distance enables the strand of chocolate to
arrive at a temperature of the order of 12°C.
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The system for cutting the strand of chocolate con-
sists of an enclosure in which is mounted a rotary shaft
driven by a motor and comprising several blades. Down-
stream of the blades, paddles are provided on the rotary
5 shaft to promote mixing of the mousse with the pieces of
chocolate.
The cutting system is followed on the production line
by a holding tank connected to a volumetric metering unit
which in turn is connected to a rotary nozzle known per se
and used in the field of deep-frozen foods and ice creams.
The production line is either of the aseptic type or
of the highly hygienic type.
The invention is described in more detail in following
with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the refrigerated
product according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a view of the same product from above.
Figure 3 diagrammatically illustrates the production
line according to the invention.
Figure 4 diagrammatically illustrates the injection
nozzle for obtaining a strand of chocolate.
Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-~.of Fig. 4.
Figure 6 diagrammatically illustrates the injection
nozzle for obtaining pieces of chocolate.
Figure 7 is a diagrammatic illustration corresponding
to Fig. 6, but at an angle of 90° in relation to Fig. 6.
Figure 8 diagrammatically illustrates the system for
cutting he chocolate.
The product according to the invention packed in a cup
(1) consists of a mousse (2) and a mousse (3) containing
pieces of chocolate (4). The total weight of the product
maybe 60 g, i.e. 15 g per zone. Filling with the rotary
metering head creates a spiral appearance. For example,
the mousse (3) may be a plain chocolate mousse with pieces
of chocolate while the mousse (2) may be a coffee or milk
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chocolate mousse (2).
-- Referring to Fig. 3, the mixture based on milk treated
by UHT, which forms the mousse phase (3), arrives through
the line (5). This mixture is overrun with nitrogen (or
any other inert gas) in (6) so that an increase in volume
of 120% is obtained.
The mousse (3) is delivered through the line (7) to
the injection nozzle (8) which comprises two symmetrical
feed passages (9).
The tank (10) is provided for sterilization of the
chocolate. After sterilization, the chocolate passes
through the line (11) and is delivered by the pump (12) to
a cooling system (.13) where the chocolate is cooled to
around 30°C. It then passes through (14) to the injection
nozzle (8).
A contact zone (15) is then provided in the form of a
cylindrical tube in which the strand of chocolate solidi-
fies in the stream of mousse. The cutting system (16) cuts
the strand of chocolate and the mixture of mousse and
pieces of chocolate is delivered through the line (17) into
a tank (18) from which it passes into a volumetric metering
unit (19) comprising a piston (26).
The mousse (2).is correspondingly prepared from the
line (22) which brings the UHT-treated milk-based mixture
to the overrunning station (23). The mousse passes through
the line (27) into a tank (24) from which it is fed into
the volumetric metering unit (25) comprising a piston (28).
The metering units (19) and (25) then deliver the
respective mousses in measured quantities into the rotary
nozzle (20) so that the cup (21) can be filled.
The injection nozzle, the cutting unit and the rotary
metering unit are described in more detail with reference
to the following Figures.
Figures 4 and 5.show the injection nozzle (8) used in
the installation shown in Fig. 3. This nozzle comprises
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two feed passages (9) for mousse and one feed passage (29)
for chocolate, which is equipped with a heating jacket (30)
to keep the chocolate in the liquid state, and the actual
feed line (31) for the chocolate. The chocolate passes
through the slot (32), which is round or oblong in shape,
and forms a strand (33) in the mousse (35). As mentioned
above, the line (34) is between 5 and 8 m in length.
Figures 6 and 7 show an embodiment of the injection
nozzle (36) for directly obtaining pieces of chocolate
(37). The feed stream of chocolate is separated after the
pump (12) so that two streams (38,39) are formed and the
valves (40) and (41) are alternately opened and closed at
a frequency of the order of one millisecond. Pieces of
chocolate of the required size, i.e. 1 to 4 mm, are thus
--15 obtained.
Figure 8 shows the cutting system used in the instal-
lation shown in Fig. 3. The mousse (35) surrounding the
strand of chocolate (33) arrives through the line (34) at
the cutting station (47). The cutting station comprises in
an enclosure (42) a rotary shaft (45) which is driven by a
motor (43) and comprises blades (44) and mixing paddles
(46). The shaft rotates in the direction of arrow (A) and
the mixed product flows in the direction of arrow (B) to
the tank (18). Six blades (44) are normally provided on
he shaft.
.The invention is further illustrated by the following
Examples.
Product Example
The refrigerated product according to the invention
consists of a single plain chocolate mousse obtained from
65% (by weight) of skimmed milk, 14% of sugar, 7% of
chocolate, 3% of cocoa powder, 5% of cream and known
thickeners. The mousse makes up 94% and the chocolate
pieces 6%.
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The chocolate is made from 68% of cocoa butter, 30% of
cocoa powder and 2% of sugar.
Broaess Exampl~
The chocolate described above in regard to its compo-
sition is prepared by sterilization for 15 minutes at
125'C.
The mousse is prepared from the ingredients of the
preceding Example. The mixture is heat-treated for 120
seconds at 130'C and then cooled to 80'C. It is overrun
with nitrogen under 7 bar to obtain an overrun of 120%.
The mousse is delivered at 8°C to an injection nozzle
at a rate of 500 kg/h. The chocolate is delivered at a
rate of 40 kg/h and with a temperature of 30'C. The
cutting system rotates at 200 r.p.m. and the product is
packed under completely hygienic conditions at a rate of
120 cups per minute.
