Concentrate for milky beverages

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of producing a liquid dairy concentrate, the method comprising: providing a liquid dairy ingredient having a fat content of at least 35 wt %; concentrating the liquid dairy ingredient by ultrafiltration and/or diafiltration to obtain a concentrated liquid dairy ingredient as the retentate; adding sucrose and/or trisodium citrate to form a modified retentate; blending the modified retentate with one or more further ingredients; and homogenising the blend to form a liquid dairy concentrate, wherein, during the step of blending the modified retentate with said one or more further ingredients, the modified retentate is at a temperature of at least 60 C.

Claims

1. A method of producing a liquid dairy concentrate, the method comprising: providing a liquid dairy ingredient having a fat content of from 38 to 45 wt %, a solids content of from 30 to 55 wt %, and a protein content of from 2 to 3 wt %; concentrating the liquid dairy ingredient by ultrafiltration and/or diafiltration at a temperature of 40 to 60 C. to obtain a concentrated liquid dairy ingredient as a retentate, the retentate having a solids content of from 45 to 55 wt % and less than 1 wt % lactose; adding sucrose and/or trisodium citrate to the retentate to form a modified retentate; storing the modified retentate for at least 2 min and at most 72 hours at a temperature of at most 8 C.; blending the modified retentate with one or more further ingredients; and homogenising the blend to form a liquid dairy concentrate, wherein, during the step of blending the modified retentate with said one or more further ingredients, the modified retentate is at a temperature of at least 60 C.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, after the step of adding sucrose and/or trisodium citrate to the retentate to form the modified retentate, the modified retentate is stored for at most 24 hours at a temperature of at most 8 C.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more further ingredients are selected from buffers, stabilisers, flavourings, minerals and casein.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the homogenising of the blend is a two-step high-pressure homogenisation, with a first step at from 100 to 300 bar and a second step at from 10 to 30 bar.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the retentate has at least 44 wt % fat.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein during the step of blending the modified retentate with the one or more further ingredients, the modified_retentate is at a temperature of greater than about 65 C.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid dairy ingredient comprises cream.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein sucrose is added in an amount of from 10 to 40 wt %.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more further ingredients comprise casein and wherein the casein is provided as a concentrated milk ingredient.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises filling the liquid dairy concentrate into a beverage capsule and/or pasteurising the liquid dairy concentrate.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein no further ingredients are added to the liquid dairy concentrate between homogenising and filing filling the liquid dairy concentrate into a beverage capsule.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the liquid dairy ingredient has a fat content of about 40 wt %.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the added sucrose has a granulated form.

14. A method of producing a liquid dairy concentrate, the method comprising: providing a cream having a fat content of from 38 to 45 wt %, a solids content of from 30 to 55 wt %, and a protein content of from 2 to 3 wt %; concentrating the cream by ultrafiltration and/or diafiltration at a temperature of 40 to 60 C. to obtain a concentrated cream as a retentate, the retentate having at least 44 wt % fat, a solids content of from 45 to 55 wt %, and less than 1 wt % lactose; adding sucrose and/or trisodium citrate to the retentate to form a modified retentate; storing the modified retentate for at least 2 min and at most 72 hours at a temperature of at most 8 C.; blending the modified retentate with one or more further ingredients; and homogenising the blend to form a liquid dairy concentrate, wherein, during the step of blending the modified retentate with said one or more further ingredients, the modified retentate is at a temperature of at least 65 C.

Description

(1) The invention will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a coffee beverage preparation system (1).

(3) FIG. 2 shows an example of the process steps of a prior art method.

(4) FIG. 3 shows an example of the process steps of the method described herein.

(5) In FIG. 2, the flow chart boxes are as follows: Asupply of milk BUltrafiltration processing CHomogenisation (2 stage) DCooling to less than 12 C. EStorage for less than 72 Hours at less than 8 C. FA mixing step for adding water, salt and stablisers (Etc.) GStorage for less than 12 Hours at less than 12 C. HCapsule filling IPasteurisation at 124 C. for 13 minutes

(6) In FIG. 3, the flow chart boxes are as follows (like reference numerals have been used for clarity): Asupply of cream with about 40% fat BUltrafiltration and diafiltration processing, with the removal of lactose.

(7) Step B results in a concentrate having about 50% solids, 2-3% protein, 44%+ fat and less than 1% lactose.

(8) After step B, sucrose is added in step J. DCooling to less than 12 C. EStorage for less than 72 Hours at less than 8 C. FA mixing step for adding water, salt and casein (Etc.) CHomogenisation (2 stage) GStorage for less than 12 Hours at less than 12 C. HCapsule filling IPasteurisation at 124 C. for 13 minutes

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

(9) The invention will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES

(10) Two cream-based concentrates were prepared and filled into beverage capsules. The concentrates were then pasteurised. The recipes for the two trial formulations were as follows:

Example 1

(11) TABLE-US-00001 Ingredient Wt % Ultrafiltrated and diafiltrated cream 37.43 concentrate Salt-Sodium Chloride 1.2 Sugar, Fine, Category 2 17.0 DAIRY MINERALS 2.2 STABILISER 0.88 Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate 0.175 Flavouring 0.1 Casein Enriched Skim Milk concentrate 10 Water 31.03 Total 100.0

(12) The composition of Example 1 was produced as follows. A cream ingredient having a fat content of about 40 wt % was subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration to achieve a total solids of approximately 50 wt % and a low lactose content. These filtration steps were conducted at approximately 50 C.

(13) The retentate was stored at 60 C. for up to 6 hours. The retentate was then mixed in a mixer with powders and flavour according to above formulas at 65 C. for a minimum mixing time of at least 7 minutes.

(14) The mixture was then passed to a homogenizer and maintained at 65 C. It was homogenised at 142/20 bar in the 2 stages.

(15) The mixture was then cooled to <10 C. in a wide gap plate and frame heat exchangers, and then filled into beverage capsules at a temperature of 5 C.<x<10 C. at 26.5 g fill weights. The closed capsules were then retorted at 124 C. for 11 to 14 minutes.

Example 2

(16) TABLE-US-00002 Ingredient Percentages Ultrafiltrated and diafiltrated cream 56.6 concentrate Salt-Sodium Chloride 1 Sugar, Fine, Category 2 25 DAIRY MINERALS 1.5 STABILISER 0.65 Trisodium Citrate Dihydrate 0.242 Casein Enriched Skim Milk concentrate 15 Water 0 Total 100.0

(17) The composition of Example 2 was produced as follows. A cream ingredient having a fat content of about 40 wt % was subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration to achieve a total solids of approximately 50 wt % and a low lactose content. These filtration steps were conducted at approximately 50 C.

(18) The retentate was then mixed with the sugar and trisodium citrate and cooled to a temperature of less than 8 C. for up to 72 hours.

(19) The retentate was then reheated and mixed in a mixer with the remaining powders and flavour according to above formulas at 65 C. for a minimum mixing time of at least 7 minutes.

(20) The mixture was then passed to a homogenizer and maintained at 65 C. It was homogenised at 142/20 bar in the 2 stages.

(21) The mixture was then cooled to <10 C. in a wide gap plate and frame heat exchangers, and then filled into beverage capsules at a temperature of 5 C.<x<10 C. at 26.5 g fill weights. The closed capsules were then retorted at 124 C. for 11 to 14 minutes.

Comparative Example 1

(22) The composition was produced as follows. A cream ingredient having a fat content of about 40 wt % was subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration to achieve a total solids of approximately 50 wt % and a low lactose content. These filtration steps were conducted at approximately 50 C.

(23) The retentate was supplemented with microfiltrated milk concentrate and then passed to a homogenizer and maintained at 65 C. It was homogenised at 142/20 bar in the 2 stages.

(24) The homogenised retentate was stored at 8 C. for 72 hours.

(25) The retentate was then to be mixed in a mixer with powders and flavourings. However, the concentrate had formed a butter during storage.

Comparative Example 2

(26) The composition was produced as follows. A cream ingredient having a fat content of about 40 wt % was subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration to achieve a total solids of approximately 50 wt % and a low lactose content. These filtration steps were conducted at approximately 50 C.

(27) The retentate was passed to a homogenizer and maintained at 65 C. It was homogenised at 142/20 bar in the 2 stages.

(28) The homogenised retentate was stored at 8 C. for 72 hours.

(29) The retentate was then to be mixed in a mixer with powders and flavourings. However, the concentrate had formed a butter during storage.

Comparative Example 3

(30) The composition was produced as follows. A cream ingredient having a fat content of about 40 wt % was subjected to ultrafiltration and diafiltration to achieve a total solids of approximately 50 wt % and a low lactose content. These filtration steps were conducted at approximately 50 C.

(31) The retentate was then mixed with the sugar (sucrose) and trisodium citrate and cooled to a temperature of less than 8 C. for up to 72 hours.

(32) The retentate was then mixed (at 50 C.) in a mixer with the remaining powders and flavour according to above formulas for a minimum mixing time of at least 7 minutes.

(33) The mixture was then passed to a homogenizer. It was homogenised at 142/20 bar in the 2 stages.

(34) The mixture was then cooled to <10 C. in a wide gap plate and frame heat exchangers, and then filled into beverage capsules at a temperature of 5 C.<x<10 C. at 26.5 g fill weights. The closed capsules were then retorted at 124 C. for 11 to 14 minutes.

(35) In this example, some failure was seen in the process as the finished goods were slightly darker and more coffee intense.

(36) Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention or of the appended claims.