Process for preparing food product with food binder composition

Claim 1

A process for the preparation of a food product comprising individual solid food ingredients bound together by an edible binder composition, said food product exhibiting a flexibility of about 5-20 kg and a tensile strength of about 0.1-0.6 kg/cm 2 , said process comprising: (a) forming a premix comprising about 15-40% water, about 15-35% sucrose, about 0.25-1.5% lecithin and one or more non-crystallizing sugars wherein the ratio of sucrose to non-crystallizing sugar is about 1:0:0.8-3; (b) heating the premix to about 88°-102° F.; (c) blending into the heated premix about 15-30% fat having a Wiley Melt Point within the range of about 88°-102° F.; (d) heating the fat-containing premix to about 240°-270° F. for a period of time sufficient to lower the water to about 5-10% and to partially caramelize the non-crystallizing sugars, whereby a substantially homogeneous binder composition is formed comprising about 5-10% water, about 15-30% fat, about 0.25-1.5% lecithin, about 15-35% sucrose and one or more partially caramelized non-crystallizing sugars wherein the ratio of sucrose to partially carmelized sugar is about 1.0:0.8-8-3; (e) mixing the binder composition with solid food ingredients; and (f) cooling and dividing the bound solid food ingredients into food products of desired size and shape which exhibit a tensile strength of about 0.1-0.6 kg/cm 2 and a flexibility of about 5-20 kg at ambient temperatures.