Method of preparing egg nuggets

Abstract

A method that entails blending an egg-based substance, a water-absorbent thickener, and pieces of supplemental food together to form an egg-based material, the egg-based substance including a natural liquid egg component, the water-absorbent thickener distributed throughout the egg-based material, and the water-absorbent thickener effective to maintain distribution of the pieces of supplemental food throughout the egg-based material.

1 . A method, the method comprising blending an egg-based substance, a water-absorbent thickener, and pieces of supplemental food together to form an egg-based material, the egg-based substance comprising a natural liquid egg component, the water-absorbent thickener distributed throughout the egg-based material, and the water-absorbent thickener effective to maintain distribution of the pieces of supplemental food throughout the egg-based material.  
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising: 
 blending the egg-based substance and the water-absorbent thickener together to form an egg-based intermediate;    allowing the egg-based intermediate to thicken; and    blending the pieces of supplemental food with the egg-based intermediate to form the egg-based material as or after the egg-based intermediate thickens.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the supplemental food is selected from the group consisting of cheese, cooked egg, meat, fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruit, grain, and any of these in any combination.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the natural liquid egg component is selected from natural liquid whole egg, natural liquid egg yolk, natural liquid egg white, and any combination of any of these.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the water-absorbent thickener comprises chunks, pieces, particles, or crumbs of a cooked food product.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the concentration of the cooked food product in the egg-based material ranges up to as much as about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the water-absorbent thickener comprises a dehydrated starchy plant material, a pre-gelatinized starch, a pre-gelatinized starch-like plant extract, or a pre-gelatinized starch-like plant material.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the concentration of the dehydrated starchy plant material, the pre-gelatinized starch, the pre-gelatinized starch-like plant extract, or the pre-gelatinized starch-like plant material in the egg-based material ranges up to as much as about 15 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the egg-based material has a fluid, flowable consistency.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein one gram of the water-absorbent thickener is capable of absorbing at least about 1.5 grams of water during a five minute absorption period when the temperature of the water ranges from about 35° F. to about 70° F.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the egg-based material is free or essentially free of added water.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the concentration of the natural liquid egg component in the egg-based material is greater than 70 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising incorporating a stabilizing agent into the egg-based mixture, the stabilizing agent selected from the group consisting of starch, gum, or any of these in any combination.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the concentration of the stabilizing agent in the egg-based material ranges up to about 5 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material, and the concentration of the water-absorbent thickener in the egg-based material ranges up to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  the method further comprising incorporating a liquid dairy material into the egg-based mixture.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the liquid dairy material is selected from whole milk, reduced-fat milk, skim milk, dairy cream, buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, and any of these in any combination.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , the method further comprising heating the egg-based material sufficient to at least substantially coagulate the natural liquid egg component and transform the egg-based material into a cooked egg-based product.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the cooked egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , the method further comprising applying batter or breading to the cooked egg-based product to form a battered or breaded egg-based product.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , the method further comprising frying the battered or breaded egg-based product to form a fried egg-based product.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the fried egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         22 . A method, the method comprising blending an egg-based substance and a cooked water-absorbent material together to form an egg-based material, the egg-based substance comprising a natural liquid egg component.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  and wherein: 
 the natural liquid egg component comprises free water; and    the cooked water-absorbent material comprises bread crumbs that absorb free water of the natural liquid egg component.    
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the cooked water-absorbent material comprises chunks, pieces, particles, or crumbs of a cooked food product.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the cooked food product is selected from the group consisting of bread, cracker, cookie, tortilla, breakfast cereal, cake, and crust.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 22  wherein one gram of the cooked water-absorbent material is capable of absorbing at least about 1.5 grams of water during a five minute absorption period when the temperature of the water ranges from about 35° F. to about 70° F.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the egg-based substance further comprises a stabilizing agent, the concentration of the stabilizing agent in the egg-based material ranging up to about 5 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material, and the concentration of the cooked water-absorbent material in the egg-based material ranging up to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the egg-based material.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 22 , the method further comprising heating the egg-based material sufficient to at least substantially coagulate the natural liquid egg component and transform the egg-based material into a cooked egg-based product.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein the cooked egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , the method further comprising applying batter or breading to the cooked egg-based product to form a battered or breaded egg-based product.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , the method further comprising frying the battered or breaded egg-based product to form a fried egg-based product.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  wherein the fried egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 22 , the method further comprising incorporating pieces of supplemental food into the egg-based material.  
     
     
         34 . A method, the method comprising blending an egg-based substance, a water-absorbent material, and a liquid dairy material together to form an egg-based material, the egg-based substance comprising a natural liquid egg component, one gram of the cooked water-absorbent material effective to absorb at least about 1.5 grams of water during a five minute absorption period when the temperature of the water ranges from about 35° F. to about 70° F.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the liquid dairy material is selected from whole milk, reduced-fat milk, skim milk, dairy cream, buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, and any of these in any combination.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34  wherein the egg-based material has a fluid, flowable consistency.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , the method further comprising heating the egg-based material sufficient to at least substantially coagulate the natural liquid egg component and transform the egg-based material into a cooked egg-based product.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37  wherein the cooked egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , the method further comprising applying batter or breading to the cooked egg-based product to form a battered or breaded egg-based product.  
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , the method further comprising frying the battered or breaded egg-based product to form a fried egg-based product.  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the fried egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 34 , the method further comprising incorporating pieces of supplemental food into the egg-based material.  
     
     
         43 . A method, the method comprising blending an egg-based substance, a water-absorbent material, and added water together to form an egg-based material, the egg-based substance comprising a natural liquid egg component, one gram of the water-absorbent material capable of absorbing at least about 1.5 grams of water during a five minute absorption period when the temperature of the water ranges from about 35° F. to about 70° F.  
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43  wherein the egg-based material has a fluid, flowable consistency.  
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 43 , the method further comprising heating the egg-based material sufficient to substantially coagulate the natural liquid egg component and transform the egg-based material into a cooked egg-based product.  
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45  wherein the cooked egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 45 , the method further comprising applying batter or breading to the cooked egg-based product to form a battered or breaded egg-based product.  
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , the method further comprising frying the battered or breaded egg-based product to form a fried egg-based product.  
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48  wherein the fried egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 43 , the method further comprising incorporating pieces of supplemental food into the egg-based material.  
     
     
         51 . A method, the method comprising blending an egg-based substance, a stabilizing agent, a water-absorbent material, and added water together to form an egg based material, the egg-based substance comprising a natural liquid egg component.  
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the stabilizing agent comprises starch or gum.  
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 51  wherein one gram of the water-absorbent material is effective to absorb at least about 1.5 grams of water during a five minute absorption period when the temperature of the water ranges from about 35° F. to about 70° F.  
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 51 , the method further comprising heating the egg-based material sufficient to substantially coagulate the natural liquid egg component and transform the egg-based material into a cooked egg-based product.  
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54  wherein the cooked egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 54 , the method further comprising applying batter or breading to the cooked egg-based product to form a battered or breaded egg-based product.  
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , the method further comprising frying the battered or breaded egg-based product to form a fried egg-based product.  
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 57  wherein the fried egg-based product exhibits freeze/thaw stability.  
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 51 , the method further comprising incorporating pieces of supplemental food into the egg-based material.