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  Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable millingRelated Patent Categories: Food Or Edible Material: Processes, Compositions, And Products, Processes, Cooling, Freezing, Or Treating Cooled Or Frozen Product, E.g., Thawing, Etc.Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060286236, Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/718,186, filed Nov. 19, 2003, which application is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling. The vegetable powders can have improved processing characteristics, enhanced nutritional value, and/or improved flavor compared to conventional vegetable powders. The methods can include one or more inventive methods of dehulling, steaming, and/or milling and air classifying a millable vegetable. The systems for vegetable milling can include an inventive configuration of steaming, milling, and classifying apparatus together with air handling systems. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Vegetable powders are produced using a variety of known methods and are used as a base for many food products. While existing vegetable powders are used to create many different food products, most of them have an off odor and taste, chalky feel, and low protein content due to the method used to make the powder. [0004] Soymilk, for example, has great potential, but has yet to catch on in the west. Soymilk is lactose and cholesterol free, nutritious, and healthful. It has traditionally been a staple of the Chinese diet. In the United States, soymilk has not been well received. Soymilk is traditionally made by soaking soybeans, grinding them with water, cooking the slurry, filtering the slurry to remove the sludge, and then heating the extract. This process results in a beverage that has an off-flavor and odor which many cultures simply do not accept. [0005] To make soymilk more appealing to consumers, its processing and deflavoring has been a topic of research in the United States for decades. Many researchers have been left frustrated trying to sufficiently reduce the off-flavor and odor and chalkiness of conventional soymilk. Several researchers have attempted to develop a powdered soy beverage adaptable to the tastes of diverse cultures, but many of these resulted in a soymilk with a low protein content and a bland, chalky taste. For example, bad flavor can be reduced by boiling soybeans, and this is exploited in the "Illinois" method. However, boiled beans still yield a product with bad mouth feel, chalkiness, and/or low protein content. [0006] There remains a need for a vegetable powder that has or can make products with commercially acceptable flavor, mouth feel, and/or protein content. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The present invention relates to vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling. The vegetable powders can have improved processing characteristics, enhanced nutritional value, and/or improved flavor compared to conventional vegetable powders. The methods can include one or more inventive methods of dehulling, steaming, and/or milling and air classifying a millable vegetable. The systems for vegetable milling can include an inventive configuration of steaming, milling, and classifying apparatus together with air handling systems. [0008] The present invention includes a vegetable powder. The vegetable powder can be composed of particles, at least about 80% of the particles can have a size below about 10 to about 30 .mu.m. The vegetable powder can have a mean particle size of about 10 .mu.m. [0009] The vegetable powder can yield an aqueous homogenate that has flavor rank indicating flavor superior to that of conventional vegetable powders. For example, the vegetable powder can have a flavor rank indicating a good, nutty, pleasant soy flavor, which can correspond to a numerical rank of about 8.5 or more. This rank can be based on flavor scale on which the lowest rank (1) indicates green beany flavor and the highest rank (10) indicates fresh and pleasant flavor. [0010] The vegetable powder can yield an aqueous homogenate that has off taste rank indicating flavor superior to that of conventional vegetable powders. For example, the vegetable powder can have a off taste rank indicating off taste of slightly oxidized, slight cardboard, or somewhat green off taste, which can correspond to a numerical rank of about 3 or lower. This rank can be based on an off taste scale on which the lowest rank (1) indicates the lowest amount of off taste and no rancid taste and the highest rank (10) indicates the highest amount of off taste and maximum rancidity. [0011] The present method can include a method of producing vegetable powder. The method can include contacting millable vegetable with steam at about 95.degree. C. to about 130.degree. C. for about 3 to about 12 min, milling the millable vegetable, and producing vegetable powder of which 70% has a particle size less than 20 microns. The method can include milling millable vegetable with milling including contacting the vegetable with air previously passed through a cooling apparatus during milling, contacting the vegetable with air previously passed through a drying apparatus during milling, or a combination thereof. [0012] The method can include milling millable vegetable and simultaneously with milling, classifying the milled vegetable. The classifying can include contacting the vegetable with air previously passed through a cooling apparatus during classifying, contacting the vegetable with air from a drying apparatus during classifying, or a combination thereof. [0013] The method can include dehulling the millable vegetable. The dehulling can include dehulling vegetable having a mixture of sizes, gently drying the vegetable and dehulling the gently dried vegetable, dehulling at ambient temperature, or a combination thereof. [0014] The present system can include a system for producing vegetable powder. The system can include steaming apparatus, milling apparatus, classifying apparatus, air cooling apparatus, and air drying apparatus. The system can also include vegetable handling apparatus and/or air handling apparatus. The air handling apparatus can be configured to transport the air from the cooling apparatus and/or drying apparatus to the milling apparatus, to the vegetable handling apparatus between the milling apparatus and the classifying apparatus, and/or to the classifying apparatus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE [0015] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the method of the present invention including steaming, milling, and/or classifying. [0016] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a system for carrying out steaming, milling, and/or classifying according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0017] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a second embodiment of a system for carrying out steaming, milling, and/or classifying according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Definitions Continue reading about Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling... Full patent description for Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Deflavored vegetable powders, methods of making them, and systems for vegetable milling patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. 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