Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
393 words
In a method for making a dry soft canine biscuit from a final soft biscuit dough containing a non-fat solids portion which contains farinaceous material and added sugar, an added fat portion and an added water portion, the improvement consisting essentially of the steps of: (a) admixing dehydrated meat and/or meat by-product particles or meat and/or meat by-product particles having a moisture content of less than or equal to about 35 percent by weight of the particles with said non-fat solids portion of said final soft biscuit mixture to form a substantially homogeneous dry blended mixture, no fat being added in step (a) except the indigenous fat which is present in said meat and/or meat by-product particles, said non-fat solids portion containing about 10 to 15 weight percent of said added sugar, based in the total weight of said final soft biscuit dough, and said meat and/or meat by-product particles being present in an amount of about 3 to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of said dry soft canine biscuit; (b) admixing said dry blended mixture of (a) with said added-water portion of said final soft biscuit dough to form a first stage dough, said added-water portion being present in an amount of about 15 to 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of said final soft biscuit dough; (c) mixing said added-fat portion of the biscuit dough with said first stage dough to form said final soft biscuit dough, said added-fat portion being present in an amount of about 1 to 10 weight percent, based on the total weight of said final biscuit dough; (d) forming said final soft biscuit dough into pieces under low shear non-cooking forming conditions which maintain the discreteness of said particles, using a forming pressure less than 75 p.s.i.g., and a forming temperature of up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit; and (e) baking and drying said pieces to form said dry soft biscuit, which is shelf stable, wherein the water activity of said meat particles in step (a) is 0.7 or lower and is less than the water activity of the final dough, obtained by admixing said non-fat solids portion, said fat portion and said water without said meat particles, which is at least 0.90 and whereby a dry soft biscuit is produced having discrete visually apparent meat particles distributed substantially uniformly throughout.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
393 words
In a method for making a dry soft canine biscuit from a final soft biscuit dough containing a non-fat solids portion which contains farinaceous material and added sugar, an added fat portion and an added water portion, the improvement consisting essentially of the steps of: (a) admixing dehydrated meat and/or meat by-product particles or meat and/or meat by-product particles having a moisture content of less than or equal to about 35 percent by weight of the particles with said non-fat solids portion of said final soft biscuit mixture to form a substantially homogeneous dry blended mixture, no fat being added in step (a) except the indigenous fat which is present in said meat and/or meat by-product particles, said non-fat solids portion containing about 10 to 15 weight percent of said added sugar, based in the total weight of said final soft biscuit dough, and said meat and/or meat by-product particles being present in an amount of about 3 to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of said dry soft canine biscuit; (b) admixing said dry blended mixture of (a) with said added-water portion of said final soft biscuit dough to form a first stage dough, said added-water portion being present in an amount of about 15 to 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of said final soft biscuit dough; (c) mixing said added-fat portion of the biscuit dough with said first stage dough to form said final soft biscuit dough, said added-fat portion being present in an amount of about 1 to 10 weight percent, based on the total weight of said final biscuit dough; (d) forming said final soft biscuit dough into pieces under low shear non-cooking forming conditions which maintain the discreteness of said particles, using a forming pressure less than 75 p.s.i.g., and a forming temperature of up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit; and (e) baking and drying said pieces to form said dry soft biscuit, which is shelf stable, wherein the water activity of said meat particles in step (a) is 0.7 or lower and is less than the water activity of the final dough, obtained by admixing said non-fat solids portion, said fat portion and said water without said meat particles, which is at least 0.90 and whereby a dry soft biscuit is produced having discrete visually apparent meat particles distributed substantially uniformly throughout.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said water and said fat portion in steps (b) and (c) are added simultaneously to the dry mixture of step (a).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the particles of step (a) are shelf stable meat particles.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the particles of step (a) have a moisture content of less than or equal to about 20 percent by weight of the particles.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pieces of step (d) are dried to a moisture content of 10 to 12 percent by weight of the biscuit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said biscuits have a hardness equivalent to a reading of 5 to 15 lbs. for a biscuit having a thickness of about 1/2 inch measured on a Dillon dynamometer having a pinpoint tester with a 3/32 inch diameter tip having a concave bottom.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said particles have a granulation of between about 1/32 inch and about 1/2 inch.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said particles comprise spiced dehydrated meat particles.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein said particles have a dark brown denatured meat protein color of Agtron reflectance value of 10 or less.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said particles are spiced, dehydrated, cured meat granules.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the meat particles of step (a) have a water activity of 0.70 or less.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the water which is admixed with the dry blended mixture is at a temperature of about 65 degrees to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the fat portion of the biscuit dough is added at a temperature of about 100 degrees to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
70 words
A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said dry blending is conducted for a period of time of about 3 minutes to about 10 minutes, the dry blended mixture is mixed with water for a period of time of about 3 minutes to about 5 minutes, and wherein said mixing of the fat portion is conducted for a period of time of about 3 minutes to about 5 minutes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein said forming of said final soft dough into pieces is on a horizontal extruder followed by cutting.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pieces are formed by vertical extruding followed by cutting.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said pieces are cut substantially perpendicular to the direction of the flow of the extruded dough.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pieces are dried to obtain a soft biscuit having a water activity of 0.70 or less.