Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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WHEAT GLUTEN-BASED EMULSIFIED SAUSAGE
PRODUCTS AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION THEREOF
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with gluten-containing food
products such as batter-based sausages (e.g., wieners) which include at least
about 25%
by weight gluten therein and have texture and taste qualities very similar to
their
conventional high fat, meat-containing counterparts. More particularly, the
invention
is directed to such food products (which are preferably meatless), as well as
methods
for preparing the precursor batters and techniques for forming and coolcing
the batters;
the resultant products are characterized by a plurality of discrete, spaced
apart gluten-
containing layers giving the products desirable texture and organoleptic
properties.
Description of the Prior Art
Traditional wieners and other related emulsion or batter-derived products
contain substantial quantities of meat and fat. Very commonly, wieners may
have 25-
35% fat, and a variety of meats such as beef, pork or poultry. Such products
are
accordingly high in calories and not suited for dietary purposes. In addition,
the meat
content of many of these products makes them unusable in the diets of certain
religions.
Attempts have been made in the past to produce low calorie substitute products
which are either low in meat and fat content or are completely meat-free.
Generally
speaking, these substitute products have poor organoleptic properties, as
compared with
their traditional counterparts. For example, meatless wieners have been
prepared using
soy protein isolate, but this creates a gel-like product which is not at all
similar in
appearance or taste to conventional wieners. Other wiener products have
included
gluten and albumin proteins, but again the results are not truly satisfactory.
There is accordingly a real and unsatisfied need in the art for improved
substitute batter-derived food products which are relatively low in calories
and fat, but
have high protein contents and the texture and organoleptics of counterpart
meat
products.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the problems outlined above and provides
food products which contain a substantial fraction of wheat gluten (at least
about 25%
by weight) and which when formed give improved texture and taste qualities.
The
formed food bodies of the invention, after cooking, present in cross-section a
plurality
of discrete, spaced apart, gluten-containing layers, with at least certain of
these layers
having a thickness of from about 0.005-0.020 inches and being spaced apart a
distance
of about 0.001-0.010 inches. This layering gives the products the texture and
mouth
feel of traditional meat products.
In preferred forms, the products of the invention include from about 25-65% by
weight gluten therein and fat contents of up to about 10% by weight, more
preferably
up to about 3% by weight. Water contents range from about 30-65% by weight.
The
products are normally selected from the group consisting of elongated emulsion-
type
sausages and batter-derived luncheon meat substitutes (e.g., bolognas) with
the
presently preferred product being a gluten-based wiener.
In order to provide the best eating qualities, the products of the invention
normally include respective quantities of starch, gum, and flavoring and
coloring
therein. Of course, the specific types and amounts ofthese optional
ingredients depends
upon the product in question.
In preparative procedures, a food batter is formulated which includes water,
fat,
and at least about 25% by weight gluten. This mixture is agitated for a
sufficient period
to cause the mixture to form a thin film upon manual.stretching thereof. The
presence
of such a film indicates that the gluten content of the mixture is properly
hydrated and
developed. Although the ingredients may be simultaneously mixed together in a
single
batch, it has been found that better results are achieved if an initial slurry
is made up
containing water, coloring, oil and thiclcening ingredients such as carageenan
and guar
gum. Thereafter, a portion of this first slurry is mixed with wheat gluten
(normally vital
wheat gluten and/or wheat protein isolate), flavorings) and water, and this
second
mixture is agitated until filming occurs upon manual stretching of a sample of
the
mixture. This signals that the mixture is complete as a food batter. At this
point, the
pH of the batter should be from about 5.8-7.5, more preferably from about 6.3-
6.8.
Once the batter is formed, it is stuffed into casings much in the manner of
conventional wieners or the like. A conventional stuffing horn is normally
used in this
process, in order to create stuffed wieners or other products. After stuffing,
the products
may be cooked in a continuous oven or smokehouse until the internal
temperature of
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the product is at least about 180°F, more preferably from about 190-
210°F. The
cooking protocol is similar to that used for conventional meat products,
involving the
period of dry cooking followed by steam cooking. After cooking, the casings
are
normally removed and the cooked product can be directly consumed or packaged.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of a wiener produced
in accordance with the invention, with the section takentransverse to the
longitudinal
axis of the wiener; and
Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of another cross-section of a wiener
produced in accordance with the invention, with the section taken parallel to
the
longitudinal axis of the wiener.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An exemplary product in accordance with the invention is a meatless wiener 10,
illustrated in cross-section in Figs. 1 and 2. The product 10 is characterized
as a formed
body presenting in cross-section a series of discrete, spaced apart gluten
layers 12.
These layers are relatively thin, having a thickness of from about 0.005-0.020
inches,
more preferably from about 0.005-0.008 inches. The spacings 14 between the
layers
12 include other ingredients of the wiener such as carageenan, gum, fat (oil)
and corn
syrup solids. It will be appreciated that the Figures are schematic in nature
and not
drawn to scale; rather, the layers 12 and spacings 14 have been shown larger
for ease
of understanding.
The following examples set forth presently prefeiTed ingredients and
techniques
for producing the products of the invention. It is to be understood, however,
that these
examples are provided by way of illustration and nothing therein should be
taken as a
limitation upon the overall scope of the invention.
Example 1
In this example, meatless wieners were prepared using a wheat gluten-
containing batter. In formulating the batter, the first step was preparation
of a slurry
having the following ingredients, with approximate levels of use:
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Table 1
Ingredient % By Weight
Water 73.70
Corn Syrup 6.76
Canola Oil 3.68
Salt 5.53
Carageenan 3.56
Midsol 50 Wheat Starch 1.97
Nutricol ME 8721 2.55
Guar Gum 2.24
FD8~C Red #3 0.01
The Nutricol ME 8721 product is a mixture of Konjac flour, carageenan and
dextrose and is sold by the FMC BioPolymer of Philadelphia, PA. The carageenan
product is sold by the Carageenan Company of Santa Ana, CA, and is a refined
Kappa
carageenan designed for use as a binder in food applications. The Midsol 50
Wheat
Starch is sold by Midwest Grain Products, Inc. of Atchison, KS and is a highly
r efined
wheat starch for general use in foods.
In preparative procedures, the water and food coloring are initially mixed
together, in a high shear bowl chopper mixer. Next, the salt, carageenan,
Midsol 50,
Nutricol ME 8721 and guar gum are added to the aqueous mixture, and the bowl
chopper is turned on at a speed of from 2,400-6,500 rpm. Mixing in this manner
is
continued for a period of about 2-3 minutes until the mixture is uniform and
hydrated.
The corn syrup and canola oil are then added with additional mixing in the
bowl
chopper for a period of from about 2-7 minutes. This first slurry is then
placed in
another vessel.
In the next step, the final batter is prepared. This batter had the following
ingredients and approximate ingredient levels:
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Table 2
Ingredient % By Weight
Slurry #1 19.11
Meat Flavoring 2.40
Wiener Flavoring 2.01
Vital Wheat Gluten 31.80
Wheat Protein Isolate 3.18
Ice 10.06
Water 31.44
The wheat protein isolate used was Midsol FP3000 sold by Midwest Grain
Products, Inc. of Atchison, KS and contained a minimum of 90% by weight
protein.
The vital wheat gluten was also a Midwest Grain product and contained a
minimum of
75% by weight protein.
The ingredients of Table 2 were placed in the bowl chopper and mixed at 2,400-
6,500 rpm for a period of about 3-7 minutes. At the beginning of the mixing,
the
mixture had a stiff consistency similar to that of toothpaste. However, as
mixing
proceeded, the gluten started to develop. During the course of mixing, the
mixture was
sampled several times to determine the degree of development: When the mixture
exhibited a film upon manual stretching, mixing was terminated, and the batter
was
complete. The batter has a pH of about 6.3. The ice was used in order to
insure that the
mixture was maintained at a temperature level of below about 65 °F. If
cold water were
available, this could be used in lieu of ice.
The completed wiener batter was then stuffed into conventional cellulose
wiener
casings using a common horn-type stuffer. The stuffed wieners were then
coolced by
a first dry cook step for 10-15 minutes using 110°F dry bulb/0°F
wet bulb drying air
in a smolcehouse. Cooking was completed using a full steam 0T cooking
schedule,
where DT was 40-45 °F, until the internal temperature of the wieners
was 200 °F. When
this internal temperature was reached, coolcing was continued at a constant
temperature
for 3-4 minutes. After cooking, the product was showered with cold water for
20-30
minutes (an option would be brine chilling).
After cooling, the casings were removed from the wieners, and the latter were
ready for consumption or packaging.
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The resultant wieners exhibited a texture and flavor very similar to those of
conventional high fat meat-containing wieners. A close examination of a cross-
section
of the wieners revealed a plurality of generally arcuate or circular, spaced
apart ring-
type layers. The layers were formed of coolced wheat gluten, whereas the space
between the layers was filled with other ingredients. The layers had a
thickness ranging
from about 0.005-0.020 inches and were spaced apart a distance of from about
0.001-
0.010 inches. The wieners had a protein content of about 27.9% by weight, and
a fat
content of about 0.66% by weight, and a gluten content of about 35% by weight.
Example 2
In this example, a wiener batter was prepared using a different mixing
technique, employing a conventional low-shear mixing .device in lieu of the
bowl
chopper. In this test, the Table 1 ingredients were added to the low shear
mixer in the
same stepwise fashion of Example 1, and for similar mixing times. This
produced a
first slurry which was set aside. Next, the ingredients of Table 2 were added
to the
mixer, with mixing for a period of about 5-8 minutes until the mixture began
to firm up.
Mixing was then stopped, and the mixture was allowed to set for a period of
from about
5-10 minutes. During the set period, the mixture was repeatedly sampled and
stretched
wtil the characteristic film formed, indicating that the mixture was properly
developed.
The completed batter was then stuffed, cooked and cooled as in Example 1,
whereupon the casings were removed and the product was complete. This product
was
essentially identical in terms of texture and physical characteristics, as
compared with
the wieners of Example 1.
While the foregoing examples are specific to wiener production, it will be
appreciated that the invention is not so limited, either in terms of final
products or
ingredients. As indicated previously, the principles of the invention can be
used in the
preparation of many kinds of batter-derived products such as vienna sausages
and
bolognas. The following table sets forth approximate broad and prefeiTed
ranges for
exemplary ingredients.
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Table 3
Ingredient Broad Range (% by Preferred Range (% by
wt.) wt.)
Water 30-65 35-50
Gluten 25-65 30-50
Salt 0.5-IO 3-7
Fat (Oil) 1-10 up to 3
Corn Syrup 2-10 3-8
Carageenan 0.5-7 2-5
Guar Gum 0.5-5 1-4
Flavorings 0.25-10 1-6
The products of the invention would typically have protein contents of from
about,l0-50%, more preferably from about 20-35% by weight.
IS
