AU2008201631B2 - Multi-ingredient stock cube for preparation of liquid foods or food components - Google Patents

Abstract

Stock cube for culinary preparation of liquid foods or food components in the form of a formed multi-ingredient stock cube, comprising at least two partial volumes which may be visually discriminated and/or discriminated by touch which correspond to food components with differing compositions, in particular those corresponding to meat and vegetable stocks.

Description

AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant: Societe Des Produits Nestle S.A. Actual Inventor: Henri-Pierre Lenoble Address for Service is: SHELSTON IP 60 Margaret Street Telephone No: (02) 9777 1111 SYDNEY NSW 2000 Facsimile No. (02) 9241 4666 CCN: 3710000352 Attorney Code: SW Invention Title: MULTI-INGREDIENT STOCK CUBE FOR PREPARATION OF LIQUID FOODS OR FOOD COMPONENTS Details of Original Application No. 2002247700 dated 08 Feb 2002 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: File: 40249AUP01 -2 MULTI-INGREDIENT STOCK CUBE FOR PREPARATION OF LIQUID FOODS OR FOOD COMPONENTS Field of the Invention 5 The present invention relates to a novel product for the culinary preparation of liquid foods or food ingredients such as stocks, sauces or soups made from solid stock mixes which are brought onto the market in the form of solid, generally individually packaged, 10 shaped bodies. Background of the Invention Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an 15 admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field. It is known, in order to prepare liquid foods or food ingredients, to use dry products which can be converted 20 into the desired culinary product by adding water, general hot to boiling water. Such products, in the context of the present application, are termed stock products based on stock mixes, the reference to "stocks" not being intended to be in any way limiting 25 to a preparation using hot or boiling water. Stock mixes for the purposes of the present invention can thus also be mixes which may be dissolved or dispersed in cold or moderately warm water forming the desired culinary product. 30 In addition to stock products brought onto the market in pulverulent or granular form, for many years, in particular what are called stock cubes have been known, which are generally cubic or parallelepipidal, - 2a individually packaged shaped bodies which exist in two basic types, that is to say in the form of what are called hard stock cubes which are pressed from powder and crumble on being compressed, and also in the form 5 of what are called soft stock cubes which are produced from pasty mixes by molding and have a somewhat plastic consistency. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or 10 ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative. It is an object of certain preferred forms of the present invention to design in a novel manner stock 15 mixes which are brought onto the market as shaped bodies and, in the context of the present invention, are termed "stock articles", in such a manner that the consumer obtains directly from the appearance of the respective unpackaged stock article information on the 20 type of product obtained therefrom, and that in a single stock article different types of starting ingredients can be combined for the liquid food to be prepared therefrom. 25 Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise", "comprising", and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the 30 sense of "including, but not limited to". Although the invention will be described with reference to specific examples it will be appreciated by those - 2b skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms. Summary of the Invention 5 The present invention relates primarily to a novel development in the field of products which can be called stock cubes in the customary meaning, but which, in the context of the present invention, to avoid being fixed to a specific shape, are called "stock articles". 10 According to the present invention, there is provided a shaped stock article when used for the culinary preparation of liquid foods or food ingredients thereof comprising at least two sub-portions, wherein each said 15 sub-portion is selected from the group consisting of hard stock mixes and loose stock mixtures, each sub portion comprising different foodstuff ingredients and having colours attributable to their main compositions or special colouring, wherein said article comprises at 20 least two layered sub-portions, of which one is formed from a loose stock mixture having a low internal cohesion, said article being enclosed during production by a packaging material selected from the group consisting of foil and paper, and wherein said 25 production comprises charging with said loose stock mixture one or more molding recesses of a tableting press in which said packaging material is laid out, prior to tableting and packaging said article. 30 Conventional stock cubes are shaped from uniform stock mixes of predetermined composition by pressing, molding or extrusion. Commercially conventional stock cubes which are generally brought onto the market packaged in paper in angular form and individually or as a - 2c plurality, in the unpackaged state generally have a uniform appearance, and it is not usually possible to see from them as such what type of product having what taste and flavor notes can be produced from them. 5 The present invention relates generally to an inventive stock article for the culinary preparation of liquid foods or food ingredients using solid stock mixes and/or loose stock mixtures wherein the stock 10 - 3 article is a shaped multicomponent stock article which has at least two subdivisions which can be differentiated from one another visually and/or by tactile means, and which correspond to foodstuff 5 ingredients having different compositions. The at least two subdivisions can in this case be body sections of an essentially dimensionally stable stock article having different colors which can be related to 10 differently colored stock mixes, and/or having differing surface structures, for example differing surface roughnesses and/or surface profiles. The at least two subdivisions, however, can also be subdivisions of a stock cube package unit, in which 15 case one of the subdivisions can be a layer of a solid stock mix and the other subdivision, however, can also be present as a loose non-coherent or only slightly coherent layer of a powder and/or small plant pieces, for example herbs, spices or vegetable pieces, that is 20 to say in the same package of stock cube shape. Shaped here also means " essentially dimensionally stable", which means that the term "stock article" is not to mean flowable or pourable mixes, for example 25 loose powders or granules or liquids. "Shaped" or "dimensionally stable" is to mean that the stock article, as such or in packaging enclosing it, essentially retains during distribution the shape given it during production, provided that no significant 30 external mechanical forces act. Thus, stock articles are also "dimensionally stable" within the meaning of the present invention if they can be, for example, crushed or plastically deformed by hand. 35 An inventive multicomponent stock article can be produced in a manner known per se by pressing powder materials, by molding moldable mixes, to casting or extruding. To produce a stock article which is packaged in packaging paper or packaging film directly during - 4 production, known tableting-molding machines, for example those of the Corazza type can also be used, in which the starting mixes are tableted or molded in molding cavities which are charged in advance with 5 packaging material. In an inventive multicomponent stock article, stock mixes of the most varied type can be combined, more precisely 2, 3 or more differing mixes which are 10 differently colored. An inventive multicomponent stock article can have the shape and the consistency of a conventional hard or soft stock cube, but if appropriate the shape can also 15 be different, so that, for example, a stock article is obtained in block form, similar to a chocolate block, or else in rounded form, in which case, in particular, in the case of production in molds or in the case of extrusion, in principle a large variety of shapes is 20 possible. It can also have the shape of a conventional packaged stock cube, in which case the packaging holds together two subdivisions which can readily be separated from 25 one another and of which one can also comprise a loose mix, for example of plant parts such as spices and vegetable pieces, which disintegrates after removing the packaging. 30 The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to products which have the conventional parallelepipidal or brick shape of customary stock cubes. Reference is made here to four figures which show examples of designs of inventive multicomponent 35 stock articles made of two stock mixes or stock mixtures for various food ingredients. In the figures: - 5 Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of an inventive stock article in the form of a dimensionally stable body having a layer structure of two solid stock mixes in two layers one above the 5 other (1, 2); Figure 2 shows another embodiment of a two-component stock article in which the two stock mixes (1', 2') are joined laterally to one another, 10 so that a different visual structure is obtained; Figure 3 shows a view of a section through another embodiment in which the two components of the 15 stock article are present in a shared film packaging (3) as subdivisions (1", 2") arranged in layers one above the other, of which the lower is formed by a loose mix of herbs (4) and vegetable pieces (5); and 20 Figure 4 shows a view of the stock article shown in section in Figure 3 after the packaging film has been opened (3). 25 The figures show three different examples of possibilities for combining two different stock mixes or stock mixtures to give a two-component stock cube. Apart from the fact that they have a different appearance, the various two-component stock cubes shown 30 can also be produced using differing processes. In a stock cube according to Figure 1, two differently colored stock mixes 1 and 2, which expediently can also be of different composition, are arranged in layers one 35 above the other and joined to form a dimensionally stable stock cube body, which can be achieved, for example, by layering one above the other in a mold starting mixes of different composition, if appropriate after precompressing the first layer, and processing - 6 them under a more or less high pressure and under compression/pressing to give tablet-like products. Production systems for tablets made up in layer form of this type are known in principle, and all suitable 5 production processes can be employed without a limitation to any specific process being made. The molding can also take place in one step together with the packaging of the stock cube by simultaneously wrapping the molded stock cube with a packaging paper 10 or a packaging film, for example in a Corazza type tableting machine. The same applies to a two-component stock cube in which the differing stock mixes 1' and 2' are arranged as 15 shown in Figure 2. A stock cube of this type can also be produced in molds, but it can also be produced in an expedient manner by extruding two stock mixes side by side through a shared shaping die and cutting the resultant extrudate. 20 Two-component stock articles in which one of the components is a layer of a loose mix having no internal coherence, or only slight internal coherence, as is shown by way of example in Figures 3 and 4, can in 25 principle be produced in a similar manner to stock articles according to Figure 1, more precisely by charging molding recesses of a tableting press in which packaging material 3 is laid out, firstly with a loose mix 2" of plant pieces 4, e.g. herbs, spices and/or 30 vegetable pieces 5, and thereon a pasty stock mix 1", after which the contents of the molding recess are compressed to a greater or lesser extent and thus molded and enclosed by a packaging material 3 which holds together the two components in cube shape. 35 The inventive multicomponent stock cubes can be produced in any desired size, and the side lengths can be, for example, from 10 mm to 400 mm, depending on the intended final use.

In an inventive multicomponent stock cube, the most varied stock mixes can be combined with one another. The stock mixes can be those for different types of meat stocks and/or vegetarian stocks which can be 5 combined in any manner with one another. For example, a stock mix for meat stock can be combined with a stock mix for a vegetable stock, for example beef flavor with onion flavor. Differing animal stocks can also be combined, for example chicken stock and pork stock. In 10 the same manner, differing vegetable stocks can also be combined with one another, for example those having tomato flavor and having garlic flavor, or herbs and spices solidified in layers having a soluble binder. In the inventive multicomponent stock cubes, the combined 15 stock mixes can be present at about the same proportions, but an inventive multicomponent stock cube can alternatively consist of up to 99% of a single stock mix and be combined with an only relatively thin layer of a different stock mix. 20 The stock mixes combined with one another preferably have different colors, either owing to their base composition, or owing to a special coloring with suitable food dyes, the colors preferably being chosen 25 in such a manner that a defined color is assigned to a certain product, and in particular a professional cook, on the basis of the color, can immediately recognize the type of stock mix. The different stock mixes combined with one another in a stock article can, 30 however, if appropriate, in addition, also differ in tactile properties, that is to say can be recognized by feeling different regions. The differences can be expressed as different roughnesses which can be caused, for example, by the type of composition, but the 35 differences can also be caused or intensified by ensuring different surface structures or surface profiles during the molding of the stock article, for example by using corresponding mold halves or extrusion - 8 dies having differing profiles in the peripheral region. The differing stock mixes or stock mixtures can also 5 have differing furnaces and a different internal cohesion. For example, stock mixtures of plant pieces can be present as compact layer(s) of a stock cube according to Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 which are bonded via a suitable sticky binder, or can be present as loose 10 layer(s) of a stock cube according to Fig. 3 and 4 of relatively low internal cohesion. In principle, the compositions of the stock mixes combined with one another which are used in the is inventive multicomponent stock cubes correspond to conventional mixes for stock cubes, more precisely corresponding to the formulas for customary hard or soft stock cubes. Compositions of this type generally have: 20 from 30 to 70% by weight of salt up to 25% by weight, preferably from 5 to 25% by weight, of glutamate, from 1 to 59% by weight of fillers (for example maltodextrin to improve cohesion, one or more starch(es), for example corn starch or potato starch, and if appropriate lactose or whey powder) from 0 to 50% by weight of fat, for example an animal fat or vegetable fat, in which case in particular palm fat is to be emphasized, from 1 to 15% by weight of flavor ingredients, for example meat flavors, spicy flavor concentrates, spices or flavors produced by food - 9 engineering, from 0 to 10% by weight of meat, for example in the form of meat extract or meat powder, from 0 to 10% by weight of vegetable ingredients, for example parsley, small pieces of carrots, onions and similar vegetables or vegetable extract, from 0 to 10% by weight of pigments, for example caramel color, turmeric, paprika (which can also be added in the form of a liquid oleoresin with spraying), from 0 to 10% by weight of further functional ingredients, including ribotides, vitamins, minerals, remaining water. Said ingredients are customarily weighed out as dry ingredients or pasty raw materials and mixed with one another with or without addition of solid or liquid 5 fat, and the resultant different stock mixes are then, for example, placed in a conventional tableting machine, another conventional press or a two-component extruder, in order to produce therefrom two- (or multi-)component stock cubes. 10 Advantages of inventive multiple component stock articles are, firstly, the visual and/or tactile identifiability of the products owing to the visible layer structure. Additional advantages can also result 15 from being able to combine with one another stock mixes which comprise constituents which, when they are mixed directly, interact in an undesirable manner, and thus as a result, for example, adversely affect the storage times. In addition, products having differing 20 dissolving time can also be combined, which can likewise be advantageous for certain applications.

- 10 Products of the type of the multi-component stock article shown in Figures 3 and 4 have two layers (subdivisions) , which can be parted from one another relatively readily and as a result can be processed 5 independently of one another at a distance in time, for example, from the stock mix of the upper layer, a meat stock or chicken stock can first be prepared, to which then the loose herb ingredients of the lower layer can be added only just before serving. This can avoid the 10 herb ingredients coming into contact with hot or boiling water for an undesirably long time and as a result losing flavor. The invention will be described in more detail below on 15 the basis of two specific exemplary embodiments. Example 1: Production of a hard two-component stock cube made up in layers 20 To produce a hard two-component stock cube in which stock mixes for chicken stock and beef stock are combined with one another, the following process is followed: two 500-kg batches are produced for chicken stock and beef stock, respectively. The mix for chicken 25 stock is produced using the following ingredients in the amounts specified: Ingredient Salt 250 kg Maltodextrin 40 kg Glutamate 70 kg Corn starch 40 kg Vegetable fat 60 kg Chicken fat 15 kg Chicken powder 10 kg Chicken flavor 11 kg Turmeric 4 kg - 11. Said raw materials were mixed in a 1 200 liter mixer with doubled mixing and single fat injection. In a similar manner, the beef stock mix was produced 5 from the following ingredients: Ingredient Salt 250 kg Maltodextrin 40 kg Glutamate 70 kg Corn starch 30 kg Vegetable fat 60 kg Beef fat 15 kg Beef powder 10 kg Beef extract 10 kg Chicken flavor 11 kg Caramel 4 kg Said ingredients of the beef stock mix were mixed as for the chicken stock mix. 10 The two stock mix mixtures obtained exhibited good flowability and could be stored in 1 000 liter containers without problems for two days, for example. 15 Using a rotating tableting press, the stock mixes were pressed to produce two-component stock cubes. For this the two mixtures were fed to two different feed funnels which feed two different metering systems of a press. The beef mixture is first metered in 5 g portions into 20 the molding holes of the tableting press, after which the chicken mixture is added to the beef mixture, likewise in 5 g portions into the same molding holes. The mixes layered one above the other are pressed to form a two-layered tablet and ejected from the mold. 25 The resultant two-component tablets, each of 10 g, have a uniform shape having two visually recognizable - 12 different layers. An example of such a product is shown in Figure 1. The hardness and the other physical properties of the resultant stock cube tablets are satisfactory. 5 In addition to the solution of the abovementioned objects, the inventive multi-component stock cubes are also distinguished by an interesting pleasing appearance and represent a novel kitchen product for 10 the individual consumer or for commercial "convenience food" applications. Example 2: Production of a packaged two-component stock cube comprising two layered subdivisions (chicken stock 15 with herb mixture) To produce a packaged two-component stock article as shown in Figures 3 and 4, first by dry mixing, a herb mixture of 20% by weight of parsley flakes and 80% by 20 weight of carrot pieces, and secondly a stock mix for a chicken broth made of 5% by weight of chicken base, 21.7% by weight of palm fat, 45% by weight of common salt, 2.4% by weight of yeast, 13% by weight of glutamate, 3% by weight of sugar, 6.8% by weight of 25 wheat semolina, 0.8% by weight of chicken meat, 1.6% by weight of onions, 0.2% by weight of inosine 5'-mono phosphate (IMP) and 0.5% by weight of turmeric was prepared, for the production of the latter, the molten palm fat was mixed with the remaining ingredients and 30 allowed to crystallize. Both mixtures were placed in differing feed funnels. Then, using a powder metering apparatus, the herb mixture, in individual portions, is placed into molding 35 holes of a tableting press which are prelined with packaging paper, and immediately thereafter, using a piston metering apparatus, the pasty mix for chicken stock is placed into each molding cavity. The - 13 rectangular shaped bodies formed are wrapped by the paper-like packaging material. After opening the packaging of the stock cube, as shown 5 in Figure 4, two layers are exposed, of which the upper layer consists of a shaped stock mix for chicken stock and can be lifted off and used to prepare the chicken stock. The herb mixture remaining on the packaging paper can then be added later to the finished chicken 10 stock. Obviously, inventive stock articles can also be obtained by combinations of stock mixes and/or stock mixtures different from those described by examples 15 above, and such modifications are obviously also included in the protective e scope of the present application.

Claims (11)

1. A shaped stock article when used for the culinary preparation of liquid foods or food 5 ingredients thereof comprising at least two sub portions, wherein each said sub-portion is selected from the group consisting of hard stock mixes and loose stock mixtures, each sub-portion comprising different foodstuff ingredients and 10 having colours attributable to their main compositions or special colouring, wherein said article comprises at least two layered sub portions, of which one is formed from a loose stock mixture having a low internal cohesion, 15 said article being enclosed during production by a packaging material selected from the group consisting of foil and paper, and wherein said production comprises charging with said loose stock mixture one or more molding recesses of a 20 tableting press in which said packaging material is laid out, prior to tableting and packaging said article.

2. A shaped stock article according to claim 1, 25 wherein said sub-portions are combined in equal portions.

3. A shaped stock article according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one said sub-portion forms a 30 thin layer deposited on the remaining sub portion/s. - 15

4. A shaped stock article according to claim 3, wherein said remaining sub-portion/s form up to 99% of said article.

5 5. A shaped stock article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said sub-portions have differing surface roughness and/or differing surface profiles. 10

6. A shaped stock article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said loose stock mixture is a mix of plant pieces.

7. A shaped stock article according to claim 6, 15 wherein said plant pieces comprise herb flakes, spices and/or vegetable pieces.

8. A shaped stock article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said sub-portions 20 are selected from the group comprising meat stocks and vegetable stocks.

9. A shaped stock article according to claim 8, wherein said meat stocks comprise beef stocks, 25 pork stocks and/or chicken stocks, and wherein said vegetable stocks comprise stocks based on onions, tomato, herbs and/or spices.

10. A shaped stock article according to any one of 30 the preceding claims wherein said stock article is a hard or soft stock article for preparing stocks, sauces or soups. - 16

11. A shaped stock article substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and/or examples. 5 Dated this 26 th day of August 2009 Shelston IP 10 Attorneys for: Societe Des Produits Nestle S.A.