Brown butter and systems and methods for the continuous production thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10045549-B2
Application number	US-201615369150-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2016
Priority date	Oct 12, 2012
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

A system and method for the continuous production of brown butter involves concentrating butter while retaining solids non-fat in the butter, and continuously transferring and heating the concentrated butter to cause the solids non-fat in the butter to react in a maillard reaction to form a brown butter product. The system may use one or more of a heating vessel, an evaporator and a reaction vessel to form the brown butter in the continuous process. A brown butter product derived from butter includes reacted solids non-fat particulates from a maillard reaction suspended by nascent fat crystals nucleated about the reacted solids non-fat particulates and by large fat crystal structures joined to the nascent fat crystals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for the continuous production of a brown butter product, comprising:
heating a starting composition comprised of butter containing fat, protein, sugar and a starting moisture content in a first environment to cause a portion of the moisture to vaporize, thereby forming a moisture vapor and a concentrating composition comprised of fat, protein and sugar, the concentrating composition having a reduced moisture content relative to the starting moisture content;
continuously transferring the concentrating composition and the moisture vapor to a second environment and removing the moisture vapor from the second environment to form a concentrated composition such that a moisture variation within the concentrated composition ranges up to about 3 percent before exiting the second environment; and
continuously transferring the concentrated composition to a third environment and heating the concentrated composition to cause the protein and the sugar in the concentrated composition to react in a Maillard reaction to form the brown butter product with reacted solids non-fat particulates,
wherein the brown butter product is formed continuously in the third environment, and
wherein the concentrated composition and the brown butter product include a moisture content of about 1 to about 6 percent.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second environments is under vacuum pressure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first environment and the second environment are coupled by a vapor dome configured to receive the concentrating composition and the moisture vapor from the first environment and to enable the moisture vapor to rise above and separate from the concentrating composition.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first environment is configured as a heat exchanger.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second environment is a vessel configured to enable the concentrated composition to flow by gravity and to vent the moisture vapor.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second environment is coupled to a vacuum pump.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third environment comprises a scraped surface heat exchanger.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising suspending the reacted solids non-fat particulates in the brown butter product.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the reacted solids non-fat particulates are suspended by cooling the brown butter product to about 50° F. to about 100° F.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the reacted solids non-fat particulates are suspended by agitating the brown butter product while cooling.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a moisture content of the concentrated composition is about the same as the brown butter product.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the brown butter product is derived solely from butter.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to concentrating, the starting composition includes from about 81 to about 85 percent total solids, and wherein the brown butter product includes from about 94 to about 99 percent total solids.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the brown butter product includes from about 94 to about 99 percent total solids.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentrated composition has the same fat, protein and sugar as the starting composition.

Assignees

• Land Olakes Inc

Inventors

• Paddock Jill
• Igielski Nicole
• Aurand Thomas
• Dinesen Richard

Classifications

• A23C15/14

  Butter powder; Butter oil, i.e. melted butter, e.g. ghee {; Anhydrous butter} · CPC title

• A23D7/0053

  Compositions other than spreads · CPC title

• A23C15/02 Primary

  Making thereof · CPC title

• A23C1/12

  Concentration by evaporation · CPC title

• A23C15/12

  Butter preparations · CPC title