2,641,547
Patented June 9, 1953
UNITED vSTATES ‘PATENT OFFICE
1 2,641,547
FLAVORING COMPOSITION
James W. Evans, Highland, Ind., assignor to Gen
eral Mills, Inc., a corporation of Delaware
No Drawing. Application November 27, 1950,
Serial No. 197,846
4 Claims. (01. 99-440)
2
six parts of fat per part of gelatinized starch
The present invention relates to a ?avoring
composition containing fat. and seasoning, in
gredients, and more particularly it relates to
such a ?avoring composition particularly adapted
?akes have been found highly desirable in sea
soning compositions of the type herein described.
Since the solid seasoning ingredients have some
ability to absorb fat, it will be appreciated that
the quantity of gelatinized starch ?akes to be
employed in the seasoning mix will depend to
some extent upon'the-level of fat in the season
forMany
use inseasoning
soups.
compositions contain fat in
addition to the usual seasoning ingredients, such
as salt, spices, and the like. Typical of these
seasoning compositions is one employed in de
hydrated soup mixes. For example, in a chicken
?avored type of soup mix, it is customary to
employ some chicken fat since the chicken fat
appears to contain the principal ?avor constitu
ents of the chicken.
ing mix.
The chicken fat is fre
i?ed starch, can be used with very desirable re
- sults. In addition, lower grade starches such as
wheat starch containing an appreciable percent
age of the protein of wheat, brewer’s ?akes, corn
?our, wheat ?our, including ?our from soft wheat,
ance. This is not only unsightly in the ?nished '
These ?avoring compositions are
‘
can be derived from a wide variety of sources.
in the form of a separate mix from the remain
ing ingredients of the soup mix. The fat con
tent of these seasoning mixes may be quite high,
thereby giving the mix a greasy feel or appear
di?iculties.
'
Thus wheat starch,v corn starch, tapioca starch,
arrowroot starch, waxy maize starch, and also
chemically modi?ed starch, such as acid mod
quently mixed with dry solid ?avoring ingredients
product, but also presents certain packaging
‘
The starch employed in the present invention
?our from hard wheat, and‘ ?our from blended
wheats, can be used with desirable results. In
such materials which contain starch in ‘addition
to other constituents, the other constituents do
not appear to affect materially the ability of
ment which requires a free-?owing material.
These greasy ?avoring compositions are extreme 25 the starch to act as a carrier. The quantity of
usually weighed or measured by automatic equip
ly di?icult to handle in automatic packaging
equipment. Furthermore, their greasy nature re
such starch-bearing materials should, however,
be increased to provide the required quantity of
quires special packaging materials to prevent the
starch.
: bleed-through of the fat to the outside of the
package.
It is‘ therefore an object of the present in
vention to provide a novel ?avoring composi
tion containing fat and seasoning ingredients
which is light and fluffy, free-?owing, and not
greasy to the appearance.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide a process of making such a seasoning
mix.
'
The starch can be gelatinized in any of the
30 conventional manners. Typical of these opera
tions is the ‘drum drying of an aqueous slurry
at'atmospheric pressure under usual drum dry
ing conditions.
For example, a conventional
starch gelatinization operation involvesvthe use
of a 10-20% solids starch slurry andia drum
temperature equivalent to that of a steam pres
. sure of 80-120 pounds per square inch.
The
gelatinized starch is taken off the drum in the
It has now been discovered that it is possible 1 form of ?akes.
There is an unusual phenomenon observed in
to produce a seasoning mixture of the type de 40
scribed above containing gelatinized starch ?akes
the present invention in that the ability of the
which permit the manufacture of a light and
gelatinized starch to act as a carrier is not cor
related with the surface area of the. starch.
?uffy, free-?owing, and non-greasy seasoning
composition. The gelatinized starch ?akes are
Thus, while it might be expected that extremely
capable of holding large quantities of fatv with 45 ?nely divided starch particles would be capable
of carrying a, larger percentage of fat per unit
out appearing greasy. The ratio of fat to gelat;
weight than would starch particles of larger size,
inized starch ?akes may be small if desired.
such. is not actually the case, and in fact, the
However, since the gelatinized starch ?akes are
contrary is actually observed. For example,
capable of carrying large quantities of fat, it is
preferred to employ a relatively high ratio of fat 50 starch ?akes approximately M000 of an inch thick
and having length and width dimensions of sev
to gelatinized starch ?akes. Thus it is preferred
eral inches are capable of carrying large quan
‘ to employ at least two parts of fat for each part
tities of fat without producing the appearance
of gelatinized starch ?akes, and this ratio may
or feel of greasiness, while the same gelatinized
i ' go- up as high as nine parts of fat per part of
. gelatinized starch ?akes. In general, from two to 55 starch, reduced to a ?ner state, can carry only
2,641,547
4
3
eluding liquid oils. With fats melting over 130°
a, small part of the fat content of the larger
F. the greasing problem is reduced considerably.
?akes.
Furthermore, in most instances in which a ?avor
From a practical standpoint, little advantage
ing composition containing fat is employed, fats
is encountered in the use of such large ?akes
having linear dimensions of several inches as 5 having melting points in excess of 130° F. have
a tendency to solidify on the consumer’s palate
compared with the smaller ?akes, since these
and are thus undesirable. The invention is thus
tend to break up during the process of mixing
:appli'cable to“‘so'lid and;‘li_quid"~anima1 and vege
the fat"with ‘the ‘starch ?akes. lForlthei-sa'ke?f
~~table?‘fats. vi'Ty-pical oflthe iifatsrwhich can be
uniformity, " it is usually preferredv‘to' initially
produce starch ?akes somewhere near the size 10 employed are cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean
Fbil, either as oils or as hydrogenated fat. Since
desired in the ?nished product and to use these
vthese._.products are usually bland in taste, it is
?akes for incorporation with the .fat. ‘Thus. it
“préferre‘dmto employ them in conjunction with a
is preferred to employ ?akes which'pass'through
rf?avoredlfantiof-which the commonest example is
a No. 4 and which are retained;on.¢:a:No;. 5011138.
standard sieve. Materials whichipa'ss’ithroughiza» ,l5-‘schickenz'fat. 'zT'he relative proportions of these
No. 50 sieve are decidedly less “effective ,for-the
purpose, but can be tolerated where thereiis' suf-'
?cient quantity of material which is retained on
.various fats in the fat mixture can be varied
v'lv'vi'd‘ely‘depending‘upon the degree of ?avoring
“desired.
.lnixpreparing the seasoning mixture, a variety
This type of gelatinized starch ?ake product N) O of methods may be employed. For example, the
rgelatinizedestarch .?akesaand-?theafat may be
may - be very . readily :'produced .by 1 breaking .».up
a No. 50 sieve.
,. large.- rgelatinized Y starch :flakes in a hammer-1min
:using a .1/8" 017a l—%".»-screen. .It‘will/be apparent
“that-this methodof-preparation will resultsinea
mixture (‘which will-contain a wide variety‘v of
particle sizes from 1A" on from 1%”down. This
.lmadeillp into aipremix' bylliquéfying?the fatand
either apouring .. or ...spraying A it over the . starch
?akes .in..a.-mixing device. IlMixing' is '.then.con
tinued for a period of time required .tdgivemore
‘ .or: .1ess~.uniform. :distribution, which . results I. in ‘a
- will‘ include .a certain .amount- --of :?ner- particles
vproduct which. is ,freee?owing -and Z?u?y .when
which are smaller -than=.an optimumsize. These
smaller particles may be left in the mixture-10f
a cool. .Thesolid seasoning ingredients may'then
be addedto this ,premixand .lthoroughlyblended
~~starch ?akes, but: will-be y-less: e?icientin absorb- u
therewith.
.ingfat than will=thelarger starch ?akes. ‘If. de
.starch?akes may beblended withntherdrysolid
sired, the 4 mixture of starch ?akestmaytpbe
: seasoning ingredients ; andx-thelfat. later blended
screened for-‘the removal :of- thesex?nesland. the
.into this .preliminarymixture. .lIt. .is..also.possi
.ble to ‘mix, the-tat .and thensolid seasoningjn
,ygredients' to pro duceanniform'blend, after. which
:?nes‘may be reprocessed..toj-produce ?ak-esof the
. desired 'dimension.
rA- preferred starch ?ake 1' thickness is I approxi
.-mately 1/1000‘ to :2/1000 iof'l-andnch. Thisthick-ness
.maybe varied from'lfroooo to yloorofzan'inch. -.At
‘the .lowerportion‘rofthe thickness :ranse,:~the
As .an alternative, . the gélatinized
. the. gelatinizedstarchT?akes maybe .workedfinto
“this blend,
. Example...1
v"Azblend "of: dryi'seasonin'g ingredients ‘contain
'ing salt ; sugar,‘ monosodiumrglu-tamate; dehydrat
?akes‘ actually tend. to be.;quite fragileaandutend
to break up somewhatduring-mixingoperations.
.=At the ‘higher-end 7of :the scale the f?akesare
ea ' onionsff-beans, parsley; sugar, sturmericpi-and
- morerstu'rdy mechanically ibutz‘are less-@e‘?icient
".blend» " of» I seasoning ingredients was “mixed iiwith
iperIunit weight ‘for carrying: fat. .>:.A::rang.e:of
@ioooo 1705/1000 .of 4 an .inch-.1Would-ordinarily. cover
"f-the lm'ost 'desirab'leirangeiof thickness.
-Theeexact'tphenomenoni' which occurs...in :the
present invention is not clearly understood. .sAp
.aparentlyv :it.:-.is ln'otzaiisimplei surf acei'ph'en‘om'enon
a blend ‘OfwSplCe ?avo'rings waszprepared. ‘ii'Iihis
e-fstarch'?akes 'in'- the ratio @of‘ 429‘ pounds‘. of "starch
‘?akes *toi v95:1 -'-‘pounds *‘of 'T'idryr seasoning "ingre
‘clients. "L This 1' mixture was véthoroughily irblended,
‘ after1whi'ch1Y-arblend' of‘ ‘chicken "ifat andr'corn‘r’oil
'f-wasYa'dde'd’ *in' 'theiproportion'pf ; 22 parts 'fo‘f tthe
if'at'*mixture?to'i'78 iparts. oflthe-‘seasoning-starch
inasmuch: as the starch partioleszhaving?‘theiarg- ; a mixture. The resultant mixture was thoroughly
f'er' 1 surface L-‘area are v‘not 'ithe"mostf=sei?cientr'per
iblendedito "iyield?-a iproduct'r-lwhichwwas‘ light"- and
lmiti weight. ' It v‘is ‘ possible f-to‘ postulate'ithat‘Tthe
' ?-d‘i‘fy, d'freei?owing,‘ and >non=greasy. The'iivol
ume Y er: 2 1/2 vpounds-"r of -' this i mix‘r-was ‘11600 cos-as
7 fat 'is both adsorbedan‘d absorbed- on‘ ‘the-starch
-‘comparéd'1~with -'- a‘ vvolume of "1200- vcc. for 7121/2
v‘and ' that *there- is ' actually in "the -' starch‘i?akes
*"some-sort-of 'cell‘ structure created'by'the ?aking _;
‘operation ‘which "serves "to carry "substantial
"quantities of: ‘fat. Whatever ‘the explanation of
pounds of the same mix-containingino 'gela’tinized
“starch;
.i‘Emample 2
‘the " phenomenon, the phenomenon L'its‘élf‘has
>.-Example 1 .. was. duplicated with...the .. exception
. :been , .de?nitely .. observed . and ..the . starch L-?'akes
.lthat' .9_8. pouri'dso'f ‘starch .wereadrhixed with" 90.2
are. muchrmore'e?i'cient in carrying:~.the fat than?
4. pounds .of seasoning“. ingredients. ..The;..product
.obtained was likewise “light ;~and._."?u'?y,.:non
4 is, pulverized gelatinized starch.
I Regardless of the manner in ‘which. the. fatis
.greasy, andlfreee'?owing. v.The . volume .of 21/2
Fcarried». by .the starch, it is observed 'rthat‘ thefat
.poun'ds .of..this mix..was..25i00 cc. .as-compared
:is. liberated when the materialisi contacted-‘With 1
-With..the. 1200 cc. . volume forthe same mixwith
- water-,1 thereby lib'eratingt'the'tfat. 1n ethesuseior"
i other "variations ' are‘ possible. without "departing
water, 'i- For :zexample, when the >-starch'iproduct 65 .. out. the g'elatinizedstarch.
,"fWhile- various modi?cations .-,.of . .the...invention
iicontainingu theiiat :istplacedzdu sweater; itiaisrob
' have; been "described, ‘it .Will'be appreciatedlthat
:gserved that .the.starchrbecomes:dispersediirrsthe
:1 3.1501113} mix the fat ‘would: be:availablefork?'avor-T
'ing :pu-rposesland ‘the: starch‘awouldtloeeomeixdis
."jp ersed ‘in. theraqueousv phasegacting asaithicken
.- ingagent.
.
> :The ‘' invention is applicable" :tozfats dim-general
-{having.n-meltinggpointseof:. 130%:58‘: iOriilOWBI'glin-Z
from the‘spirit'thereof.
I claim aslmy invention:
‘ 1. "A seasoning composition containing "fat,
*' seasoning; “and gelatinize'd‘starch ?akes: arma'jor
proportions of v‘the starch being *of‘ a ‘particle vsize
larger‘than?’50;mesh;=£thei s‘tarch‘i?'akes‘i having a
2,641,547
inch, the fat being present in the ratio of from
6
4. A soup ?avoring composition comprising
2 to 9 parts of fat per part of gelatinized starch
seasoning, a blend of chicken fat and vegetable
?akes.
'
oil, and gelatinized starch ?akes, the blend of
2. A soup ?avoring composition comprising
chicken fat and vegetable oil being employed in
seasoning, a blend of vegetable fats and chicken 5 the proportion of from 2 to 6 parts per part of
fat, and gelatinized starch ?akes, the fat con
gelatinized starch ?akes.
stituents of the product being employed in the
JAMES W. EVANS.
ratio of from 2 to 6 parts of fat per part of
gelatinized starch ?akes.
‘References Cited in the ?le of this patent
3. A soup ?avoring composition comprising
UNITED STATES PATENTS
seasoning, a blend of chicken fat and corn oil,
Number
Name
Date
and gelatinized starch ?akes, the blend of chicken
186,712
Clotworthy ______ __ Jan. 30, 1877
fat and corn oil being employed in the propor
1,324,538
Boyles ____________ __ Dec. 9, 1919
tion of from 2 to 6 parts per part of gelatinzed 15 1,971,910
Gri?ith ________ __ Aug. 28, 1934
starch ?akes.
2,170,954
Stange __________ __ Aug. 29, 1939