Method for the preparation of flavored popping corn

Claim 1

A method for preparing a substantially fat and oil free flavored unpopped popcorn which retains its flavor upon popping in a hot air popper comprising the steps of treating an unpopped popcorn with an alkali solvent for the cellulose in the corn hull for a period of time sufficient to produce a soluble adhesive cellulosic hull surface and thereafter mixing the resulting soluble cellulosic corn hull with an acid solution to neutralize the pH of the treated hull; mixing the resulting unpopped popcorn with flavorants and then drying to a moisture content of about 12% by weight-unpopped corn to give an unpopped corn having a substantially uniformly adhered flavorant coating thereon which will remain adhered to the hull of the popcorn after the popping in a hot air popper.

Claim 2

A method for preparing a substantially fat and oil free flavored unpopped popcorn which retains its flavor upon popping in a hot air popper comprising the steps of treating an unpopped popcorn with an alkali solvent for the cellulose in the corn hull for a period of time sufficient to produce a soluble adhesive cellulosic hull surface and thereafter mixing the resulting soluble cellulosic corn hull with an acid solution to neutralize the pH of the treated hull; mixing the resulting unpopped popcorn with flavorants and then drying to a moisture content of about 12% by weight-unpopped corn to give an unpopped corn having a substantially uniformly adhered flavorant coating thereon which will remain adhered to the hull of the popcorn after the popping in a hot air popper.

Claim 4

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating, comprising (1) obtaining popcorn kernels; (2) preparing a coating solution of a solvent and an edible adhesive material, together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight based on the weight of said untreated popcorn kernels, the amount of said edible adhesive material being sufficient to adhere said flavorant to said kernels respectively, the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve in said amount of solvent; (3) mixing the popcorn kernels of step (1) with the product of step (2) thereby to form coated popcorn kernels and then (4) drying the mix of step (3) to a suitable moisture content.

Claim 5

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating, comprising (1) obtaining popcorn kernels; (2) preparing a coating solution of a solvent and an edible adhesive material, together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight based on the weight of said untreated popcorn kernels, the amount of said edible adhesive material being sufficient to adhere said flavorant to said kernels respectively, the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve in said amount of solvent; (3) mixing the popcorn kernels of step (1) with the product of step (2) thereby to form coated popcorn kernels and then (4) drying the mix of step (3) to a suitable moisture content.

Claim 10

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating comprising: (1) applying to unpopped popcorn kernels a coating solution comprising a solvent and gelatin together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low-boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight on the weight of said unpopped popcorn kernels, the amount of said gelatin being 0.28% to about 2.1% by weight of said product and the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve into said amount of solvent; (2) spraying all or some part of said coating solution on said unpopped popcorn kernels in order to coat said popcorn kernels and (3) drying said coated popcorn kernels substantially to the moisture content of said original unpopped popcorn kernels.

Claim 11

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating comprising: (1) applying to unpopped popcorn kernels a coating solution comprising a solvent and gelatin together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low-boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight on the weight of said unpopped popcorn kernels, the amount of said gelatin being 0.28% to about 2.1% by weight of said product and the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve into said amount of solvent; (2) spraying all or some part of said coating solution on said unpopped popcorn kernels in order to coat said popcorn kernels and (3) drying said coated popcorn kernels substantially to the moisture content of said original unpopped popcorn kernels.

Claim 16

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating comprising; (1) applying to unpopped popcorn kernels a coating solution comprising a solvent and an edible adhesive material, said edible adhesive material being an edible adhesive material other than gelatin together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low-boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight based on the weight of said unpopped popcorn kernels, the amount of said edible adhesive being an amount which provides adhesiveness equivalent to the adhesiveness that would be provided if 0.28% to about 2.1% by weight of said product of gelatin were used as the edible adhesive material and the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve into said amount of solvent; (2) spraying all or some part of said coating solution on said unpopped popcorn kernels in order to coat said popcorn kernels and (3) drying said coated popcorn kernels substantially to the moisture content of said original unpopped popcorn kernels.

Claim 17

A method for preparing a free-flowing popcorn product that comprises a plurality of unpopped, free-flowing popcorn kernels each of which is coated with a dry, fixedly adhered coating comprising; (1) applying to unpopped popcorn kernels a coating solution comprising a solvent and an edible adhesive material, said edible adhesive material being an edible adhesive material other than gelatin together with a desired amount of at least one flavorant, said solvent being selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol and other low-boiling, non-toxic solvents, the amount of said solvent being 0.28% to 12.15% by weight based on the weight of said unpopped popcorn kernels, the amount of said edible adhesive being an amount which provides adhesiveness equivalent to the adhesiveness that would be provided if 0.28% to about 2.1% by weight of said product of gelatin were used as the edible adhesive material and the amount of said at least one flavorant being no more than the amount that will fully dissolve into said amount of solvent; (2) spraying all or some part of said coating solution on said unpopped popcorn kernels in order to coat said popcorn kernels and (3) drying said coated popcorn kernels substantially to the moisture content of said original unpopped popcorn kernels.