Batters and Breadings in Food Processing

Karel Kulp

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing and AACC International Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780128104507
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

For the first major update of this topic in 21 years, editors Kulp, Loewe, Lorenz, and Gelroth have gathered an elite group of internationally recognized experts. This new edition examines the current market trends and applications for coated food products. It updates our knowledge of ingredient utilization in battered and breaded products using corn, wheat, rice, fats and oils, and flavorings and seasonings. It applies the functionality of these ingredients across the rheology of coating systems and into the selection of specific processing equipment

Each chapter explores a different facet of developing batter-based coatings and breadings for a variety of new products, and explains how new technology has turned this profitable food category into a science. New authors have contributed chapters on heat and mass transfer in foods during deep-fat frying, nutritional aspects of coated foods, and food allergens.

Batters and Breadings in Food Processing, Second Edition presents essential technical and scientific information in a peer-reviewed resource. It will be valuable reference for food technologists in Research and Development, Quality Assurance, Rheology, and Bakiing. It will make an excellent text for any course with a batters and breadings processing component.

Chapter 1

Batters and Breadings—Past, Present, and Future Markets

Robert Loewe, Lockport, Illinois, U.S.A.

As in most areas of the food-processing industry, the scope of batter and breading technologies covers several mutually dependent concerns. These fall into the generally accepted divisions of research, process development, and marketing.

Initially, creativity and the knowledge possessed by the product developmental technologist are essential for the introduction of new concepts and the refinement of current ones. Commercialization, or “scale-up,” then follows, establishing the feasibility of the approaches under actual production conditions. Although neither area could be successful without the other, one factor tying them even more closely together is the marketing emphasis. This can be defined as the efforts to sell current products and identify the needs for new ones. Indeed, this segment of the industry “closes the gap” between the product development and manufacturing areas to ideally achieve rapid, efficient responses to the needs and desires of the consumer.

Definition of the Coated-Foods Market

The market for coated foods is actually the market for various frozen battered and breaded flesh and vegetable protein products intended for both retail and foodservice distribution. This particular category is so broad that a single chapter could be directed to each frozen substrate. Therefore, the market for coatings, particularly batters and breadings, is emphasized here. From this, an overall rationale for the marketing, development, manufacture, distribution, and consumption of coated foods is explored.

Note that the sequence above has been purposely arranged to begin with the marketing segment. Here, the target market position is of primary importance. This position must be carefully thought out before product development work can begin. Both the marketing and the product development disciplines must have a thorough understanding of the food substrate involved, along with the position of each respective product in the market plans. Whether it be fish, red meat, poultry, shrimp, or vegetable, each product has a unique purpose in the marketplace.

Attempting to define the market for coatings to any degree of reliability or confidence can be difficult. The protocols for the collection of data have never been thoroughly developed or standardized. By necessity, data must be compiled from various sources that compete in a food industry of enormous size. For our discussion here, the market for coated foods is defined as that for all coated protein consumed, whether flesh or vegetable.

Past Trends for Coated Foods

The first edition of this book detailed trends in coated foods for the period 1978–1988, based on figures reported by the industry (Anonymous 1988, 1989). In that period, consumption of batters and breadings over all food categories exhibited a relatively steady increase of 16%, approaching a total of million pounds in 1988. Use of batters and breadings on precooked fish declined over the period but was probably replaced by the application of breading and batter on the premises of multiunit chain restaurants. Production of coated seafood held fairly steady, although the amount of coated shrimp produced rose and fell with marketplace prices of shrimp. Coated chicken showed a significant increase in coating usage in the time covered, but chicken and turkey dinners as well as red meats exhibited essentially no changes. In the vegetable category, onions showed, by far, the highest production, which was quite variable year by year. The very erratic pattern tends to indicate the impact of a large foodservice chain either placing or removing the item from its menu—or, because of the simplicity of an onion ring coating system, electing to do the breading and/or battering on-site at its multiple locations.

Present Marketing of Coated Foods

The trends that have evolved for batter and breading on various food categories are related to the lifestyle of the consumer. Indeed, it is this lifestyle that continues to drive the marketing effort for all products, including coated foods.

The food marketing issues can be classified as: 1) who the consumer is, 2) what the consumer does, and 3) adaptation of the food to who the consumer is and what the consumer does.

The effect of lifestyle changes in America on the consumption of food products is illustrated in Table 1.1. This shows the basic factors involved in the purchase and consumption system in 1950 and at the present time, as applied to retail and foodservice operations.

TABLE 1.1

Base Factors in the Purchase and Consumption System

1950s		The Present
Retail	Food Service	Retail	Food Service	Evolutionary Trends
Purchase, take home, prepare, eat	Purchase, eat on premises	Purchase, take home, prepare, eat Purchase, eat on premises Purchase, take out or deliver, eat at home	Purchase, eat on premises Purchase, take out or deliver, eat at home	Purchase of fully prepared meals (ethnic-, caloric-, or nutrient-specified), take out or deliver, eat at home Purchase of meals formulated to address a specific medical or dietary need, take out or deliver, eat at home Purchase of foodstuffs or meals through outside procurement services, take out or deliver, eat at home Purchase in bulk (at “clubstores”), take out or deliver, eat at home

In 1950, basically only two choices had to be considered in order to consume food. Over the past half-century, these have expanded into at least five choices, which have evolved further into some specific trends. These were not created by a marketer but rather were forced onto the industry by the consumer because of lifestyle changes.

Note that the consumer actually prepares the product to be eaten in only one of these choices. Indeed, meal preparation in the home is the only choice that is declining in popularity and has consistently declined over the past 50-plus years. The remaining alternatives have one thing in common—that the food is not prepared in the home. Because of these numerous purchasing factors, the development of coated foods has required a host of technologies to respond to the different end-use needs.

Although it is possible to develop a single coating system that could be marketed for each end-use need, such a system is not very probable. Covering all of the variables generated by the various combinations would be difficult. Consequently, the adaptation of foods for these various end uses must be specifically defined before the coating system can be developed.

After one recognizes all of the various ways that individuals can meet their food needs, it is helpful to attempt to understand the decision process that consumers employ when they purchase the food that they eat. Four reasons for purchasing particular foods are

• Lifestyle adaptation—relevance to the consumer’s way of life;

• Occasion/usage—frequency of consumption as relat...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Preface to the First Edition
• Chapter 1: Batters and Breadings—Past, Present, and Future Markets
• Chapter 2: Ingredient Selection for Batter and Breading Systems
• Chapter 3: Dry-Milled Corn Ingredients in Food Coatings
• Chapter 4: Frying Fats for Coated Foods
• Chapter 5: Effective Use of Flavorings and Seasonings in Batter and Breading Systems
• Chapter 6: Factors Affecting Performance Characteristics of Flours in Batters
• Chapter 7: Functionality of Hydrocolloids in Batter Coating Systems
• Chapter 8: Food Allergens: Issues and Concerns in Batter and Breading Applications
• Chapter 9: Nutrition Information Related to Battered and Breaded Food Products
• Chapter 10: Breadings—What They Are and How They Are Used
• Chapter 11: Heat and Mass Transfer in Foods During Deep-Fat Frying
• Chapter 12: Technology of Microwavable Coated Foods
• Chapter 13: Batter and Breading Process Equipment
• Chapter 14: Application of Batters and Breadings to Various Substrates
• Chapter 15: Measurement and Interpretation of Batter Rheological Properties
• Chapter 16: Food Coating Troubleshooting
• Chapter 17: Food Coating Patent Review, 1990–2007
• Index