Patent Application
20080085342
The present invention is described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
a is a frontal elevation of a container for use in an embodiment of the invention;
b is a sectional side elevation of the container of
a is an elevation of a container for use in a further embodiment of the invention;
b is a sectional elevation of the container of
a is a sectional view of a size-reduction device comprising parallel plates for use in an embodiment of the invention;
b is a plan view of the fixed (bottom) plate of the size-reduction device of
c is a plan view of the rotating (top) plate of the size-reduction device of
The present invention will now be described with reference to the following non-limiting examples.
In this example, various modes of transforming a frozen product into a slushy drink were evaluated. Four modes of transformation were evaluated: stirring, shaking, squeezing and kneading.
The containers used for the stirring tests were simple plastic cups (PET high-clarity tumblers supplied by Huhtamaki, Ronsberg, Germany) having a brim full capacity of 290 ml. These containers are referred to as Container A.
a and 1b show a container (1) similar to those used for the kneading tests. The container (1) comprises a flexible pouch or tube (2) forming a wall delimiting a cavity (6). The pouch (2) is in sealing engagement with a spout (5) which has a product outlet (3) in fluid communication with the cavity (6) and is threaded (4) to receive a sealing cap (not shown). The containers used in the tests were flexible LDPE tubes as used for applying Vanish™ stain remover gel (Reckitt Benckiser, Mannheim, Germany) and having a brim full capacity of 235 ml. These containers are referred to as Container B.
a and 2b show a container (101) similar to those used for both the shaking and squeezing tests. The container (101) comprises a blow-moulded plastic bottle (102) which is substantially circular in cross-section and forms a wall delimiting a cavity (106). The bottle (102) has a cylindrical spout (105) which comprises a product outlet (103) in fluid communication with the cavity (106) and is threaded (104) to receive a sealing cap (not shown). The spout (105) is integral with the top section (107) of the bottle which comprises a bulbous portion (107a) coaxial with and extending upwards from a frusto-conical section (107b). Coaxial with the top section (107) is a bowl-shaped end section (108) and extending there-between a tubular first section (109). For the squeezing tests the containers used were flexible PET bottles having a brim full capacity of 270 ml. These containers are referred to as Container C. For the shaking tests, four types of PET bottle were used having brim full capacities of 316, 347, 396, and 526 ml. These containers are referred to as Container D1, D2, D3 and D4 respectively.
All concentrations are given on a w/w basis.
Specialist materials were as follows:
A peach tea flavoured frozen product was prepared by combining a syrup with ice particles. The formulations of the syrup and the final frozen product are given in Table I.
All ingredients except for the flavour and acids were combined in an agitated heated mix tank and subjected to high shear mixing at a temperature of 65° C. for 2 minutes. The resulting mix was then passed through a homogeniser at 150 bar and 70° C. followed by pasteurisation at 83° C. for 20 s and rapid cooling to 4° C. using a plate heat exchanger. The flavour and acids were then added to the mix and the resulting syrup held at 4° C. in an agitated tank for a period of around 4 hours prior to freezing.
A Ziegra Micro Ice machine (ZIEGRA-Eismaschinen GmbH, Isernhagen, Germany) was used to manufacture ice particles measuring approximately 5×5×2-7 mm.
The syrup was frozen using a typical ice cream freezer (scraped surface heat exchanger) operating with an open dasher (series 80), a mix flow rate of 120 1/hour, an extrusion temperature of −14° C. and an overrun at the freezer outlet of less than 10%.
Immediately upon exit from the freezer, the ice particles were fed into the stream of frozen syrup using a fruit feeder (star wheel or vane type) to form a slush. The rate of addition of ice particles was controlled such that the syrup:particle ratio was 1:1 (i.e. 50% ice particles by total weight of slush).
The slush was then passed through a size-reduction device. The size-reduction device (10) is schematically illustrated in
The generally cylindrical casing (11) has a tubular outlet (13) disposed at its edge and has a tubular inlet (12) located centrally in its base. Opposite the inlet (12) and located in the centre of the top of the casing (11) is an aperture (14) for receiving the drive shaft (20) of the centrifugal pump. The drive shaft (20) is in sealing engagement with the casing (11) owing to the presence of an annular seal (14a) located there between.
Located within the casing (11) is a pair of parallel plates (15, 25), being coaxially aligned with the casing (11) and spaced longitudinally from each other by a distance, d. The lower plate (15) is fixedly attached to the base of the casing (11) whilst the upper plate (25) is fixedly attached to the drive shaft (20). By means of its attachment to the drive shaft (20) the upper plate (25) is rotatable relative to the casing (11). In contrast, the lower plate (15) is stationary owing to its attachment to the casing (11).
The lower plate (15) comprises a disc (16) having a central aperture (18) there through which is in fluid communication with the inlet (12) of the casing (11). The whole of the bottom surface of the disc (16) is flat and in contact with the base of the casing (11). The top surface of the disc (16) tapers radially inwards towards the central aperture (18). Projecting upwards from the top surface of the disc (16) are a plurality, for example four, fins (17) spaced regularly around the circumference of the plate (15). Each fin (17) has an upper surface that extends radially inward from, and remains at a height level with, the outer edge of the top surface of the disc (16).
The upper plate (25) is similar to the lower plate (15) but inverted such that it is the top surface of the disc (26) that is flat and the bottom surface tapered. The central aperture of the disc (26) of the upper plate receives the drive shaft (20) and the top surface of the disc (26) is slightly spaced longitudinally from the top of the casing (11) to allow the plate (25) to rotate freely. The top plate (25) may be provided with a different arrangement of fins to the lower plate (15) and in this case the upper plate (25) has three fins (27) whilst the lower (15) has four fins (17).
The size-reduction device (10) is arranged such that slush pumped in through the inlet (12) is required to pass between the parallel plates (15, 25) before it can exit through the outlet (13). The narrow spacing (d) of the plates along with the grinding action of the fins (27) on the rotating top plate (25) against the fins (17) of the bottom plate (15) ensures that the ice particles passing through the device have a maximum length of less than d in at least one dimension.
In this example the size-reduction device had a constriction size, d, of 2.5 mm.
Following size-reduction, the slush was dosed into containers in the quantities given in Table II. At the dosing stage the slush had a temperature of about −6° C. The containers were then capped and placed in a blast freezer (−35° C.) for around four hours wherein the slush hardened to form the frozen product.
The frozen products in the containers were stored at a temperature of −25° C. for approximately one week following removal from the blast freezer. This is similar to the temperature that would be employed when transporting commercial samples from the hardening location to a retail outlet.
The frozen products in the containers were tempered to −10° C. by storage for 24 hours in a freezer cabinet operating at −10° C.
Each frozen product was removed from the −10° C. cabinet into a room having an ambient temperature of +20° C. and immediately tested. The test duration was 60 s, at which time a straw was inserted into the centre of the product and drinkability assessed on a scale of 1 to 7, wherein a score of 1 represented very difficult, 4 represented drinkable and 7 represented very easy to drink. The tests were as follows:
STIRRING: The cap was removed from the cup and a straw forced into the frozen product within the cup. The straw was then used to stir the product. Often, the straw would have to be intermittently removed and re-inserted at a different position to prevent the product simply rotating within the cup.
KNEADING: With the cap in place, the container was gripped in both hands such that the fingers and thumbs were substantially around the first section (2). The grip was then tightened and the container worked by twisting, folding and pressing.
SQUEEZING: With the cap in place, the container was gripped in both hands such that the fingers and thumbs were substantially around the first section (109). The grip was then rhythmically tightened and released to crush the product within the container. Intermittent inversion of the container was required to move remaining solid portions of the product into the vicinity of the first section (109).
SHAKING: With the cap in place, the container was gripped in one or both hands about the first section (109) and then shaken continually by rapidly moving it up and down by a distance of about 30 cm.
The results of the tests are given in Table III.
It is apparent from these tests that both squeezing and kneading are more efficient modes of transforming a frozen product into a slushy drink than is stirring. It is also apparent that shaking is only effective when the container is only part-filled (i.e. less than 66% fill volume).
In this example two fruit-based smoothies according to the invention are described.
All products were packaged in PET bottles having a brim full capacity of 250 ml and similar to the container shown in
All concentrations are given on a w/w basis.
Specialist materials were as follows:
The smoothies were prepared by combining syrups with ice particles. The formulations of the syrups and the final frozen products are given in Table IV.
The frozen products were prepared as in Example 1, except for the ingredients added following rapid cooling of the mix, the amount of overrun whipped into the syrup during freezing, the amount of ice particles combined with the syrup and the size of the constriction, d, used in the size-reduction device.
For both smoothies, the strawberry puree as well as the acids and flavours were added post-pasteurisation. For smoothie E, the yoghurt was also added post-pasteurisation.
For both smoothies the overrun of the syrup at the freezer outlet was around 50%; which gave a final product overrun of around 30%.
For both smoothies the constriction size, d, was 2 mm.
For smoothie E, the syrup and ice particles were combined in a weight ratio of 2.33 syrup : 1 ice (i.e. 30% w/w ice particles on total product). For smoothie F, the ratio was 1.86 syrup : 1 ice (i.e. 35% w/w ice particles on total product). For both smoothies the fill volume was 230 ml.
This example describes a milkshake according to the invention.
The container used was as in Example 2.
All concentrations are given on a w/w basis. Specialist materials were as in Example 2.
A strawberry flavoured frozen product was prepared having the formulation given in Table V.
All ingredients except for the puree, flavour, acids, fat and emulsifiers were combined in an agitated heated mix tank. The fat was then melted and emulsifiers added to the liquid fat prior to pouring into the mix tank. The mix was subjected to high shear mixing at a temperature of 65° C. for 2 minutes. The mix was then passed through a homogeniser at 150 bar and 70° C. and then subjected to pasteurisation at 83° C. for 20 s before being rapidly cooled to 4° C. by passing through a plate heat exchanger. The puree, flavour and acids were then added and the mix held at 4° C. in an agitated tank prior to freezing.
The mix was frozen into a slush using a typical ice cream freezer operating with an open dasher (series 80), a mix flow rate of 150 1/hour, an extrusion temperature of −12° C. and an overrun of 50%.
The slush exiting the freezer was dosed into the containers at a fill volume of 230 ml. The containers were then capped and then blast frozen for 4 hours at −35° C.
The products were stored at −25° C. for 1 week and then transported from the hardening location in Bedfordshire, UK to a second location in Rome, Italy. Transportation was via refrigerated lorry operating at a temperature of −20° C.
At the second location the products were stored for 7 days in a freezer cabinet operating at −10° C. No phase separation, shrinkage or other instability is apparent in the products following such storage and distribution.
The products were removed from the freezer cabinet and transformed into a drinkable state by squeezing and kneading the containers for around 60-90 s. The caps were then removed from the containers and the resulting milkshakes drunk from the containers.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04254314.0 | Jul 2004 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP05/06697 | 6/20/2005 | WO | 00 | 1/19/2007 |
