Production of gasified ice products (16-Dec-2009)

We propose here below a method and apparatures for manufacturing novel gasified, effervescent ice products. Effervescent effect is achieved by incorporating gas molecules in frozen substrate using the gas hydrate technology. Base medium of the product is any commercially available non-alcohol beverages (fruits juices, soda drinks, carbonated water…) or plain water.

To produce ready to consume hydrate containing effervescent ice product, the base medium, which could be any existing beverages, water based medium or just plain water, is carbonated to a desirable level of carbonation and cooled down below freezing point of liquid under gas pressure. The product size/volume, pressure and cooling medium temperature is defined in a way that ice and gas hydrate nucleation is induced simultaneously, resulting in rapid solidification of the product. Rapid solidification is a key for excellent quality of the final product, since it allows uniform gas distribution within a product as well as even distribution of food constituents (sugars, flavor …) Moreover, inhibitory effects of some food ingredients on gas hydrate production is minimized in this process.

Gas (CO2) containing beverages are well known and highly enjoyed by general public. There were attempts by various food companies to develop gas containing solid frozen products; however the only means to maintain and control gas content in frozen product is to utilize the gas hydrate technology. Gas hydrates are crystalline, ice-like substances, consisting of water and gas molecules. They could be formed at low temperature under high pressure. The amount of gas that could be stored in 1 cc of gas hydrate could be as high as 200cc (ex : CO2). Two key issues for gas hydrate use in the food industry is uniform desirable gas and food constituent distribution in the product, not forgetting economical means of production. Since some common beverages ingredients have inhibitory effect on the hydrate production, in the methods described in the prior art, first the hydrate is produced from water and only in a second step it is mixed with flavor components, this procedure limits the possibility to produce ready to consume product, without complicated multi step technique.

Let’s come back now to the background art.

To achieve a high production rate of gas hydrates, complex equipments and extensive number of steps are needed. Moreover, the quality of the product is not satisfactory due to explosive character and limitation to use various composition media. All proposed methods, to enhance gas hydrate production rate, use either batch type reactor wherein agitation is conducted to increase water gas interface, or dynamic system, where water is atomized into a pressurized chilled gas or the chilled gas purged into water. Strict conditions f...