Food coating compositions

Claim 2

A three component food coating composition provided in dry form, consisting essentially of: (a) a first particulate component sized so that none of the particles is coarser than 16 mesh and up to 40% pass an 80-mesh screen and comprising about 1 to about 10 wt.% of powdered egg albumen, up to about 60 wt.% of flour, and substantially of particulated high density breadcrumbs having a bulk density of about 0.5 to about 0.75 g/cc, a total absorption of about 375 to about 500, an absorption rate of about 15 to about 60 seconds and a moisture content of about 6 to about 10 wt.%; (b) a second particulate component suitable for constitution with water as a batter by the utilization of about 85 to about 125 parts by weight of water for each 100 parts by weight of said second particulate component and comprising flour, corn starch, about 1 to about 5 wt.% of chemical leavening agents and plastic fat in an amount to provide about 4 to about 10 wt.% therein in the batter, said plastic fat being in particulated form and having a sold fat index as follows: at 10° C.--up to about 75% at 27° C.--about 15 to about 75% at 40° C.--about 5 to about 45%; and (c) a third particulate component comprising low density oriental-style breadcrumbs sized at least 15 wt.% coarser than 8 mesh and having a density of about 0.20 to about 0.40 g/cc.

Claim 3

The coating composition of claim 1 wherein each component is packaged separately and the three components are supplied together.

Claim 4

The coating composition of claim 1 wherein (i) in component (a), the flour is soft wheat flour and the high density breadcrumbs have a bulk density of about 0.55 to about 0.66 g/cc, a total absorption of about 425 to about 475 and a moisture content of about 7 to about 9 wt.%; and (ii) in component (c), the oriental-style breadcrumbs have a bulk density of about 0.23 to about 0.36 g/cc, a particle size distribution as follows: ______________________________________ Mesh Size % ______________________________________ +3 0 +5 0 to about 15 +8 about 20 to 40 +14 about 25 to 40 +20 about 10 to 30 +40 0 to about 5 -40 max. 10, ______________________________________ an amylograph having the following characteristics: ______________________________________ Brabender Units ______________________________________ Initial Cold Viscosity 10 to 50 Peak viscosity at 95° C. 600 to 1000 Minimum viscosity after 15 min. hold 500 to 800 Final Cold viscosity 1800 to 2500, ______________________________________ and contains 0 to 0.1 wt.% of colouring agent, 0 to about 2 wt.% dextrose and 0 to 5 wt.% of salt.