It is known that gloss can be imparted to the surface of baked goods by brushing the baked goods, at the place where this gloss is desired, with lightly beaten egg before baking. Indeed, such a glazing agent yields a reasonably well adhering, shiny coating, but it has many disadvantages. When using pasteurised egg, this product needs a cold supply chain and storage below 5° C. and has a short shelf life of only 4 weeks. Furthermore, even after pasteurization, it has a high microbial load, and egg needs to be declared as an allergen on the label of the final product. The price of eggs is high and fluctuates a lot, and there are people that do not want to consume eggs, such as vegans. On industrial scale the, egg wash is often sprayed on the baked goods; however, the spray nozzles are often clogged due to the egg protein. Cleaning of the nozzles and the nearby equipment and facilities such as conveyor belts is not easy as the egg wash sticks, especially when using hot water. Also the formation of off flavors is a well-known drawback from the use of egg wash in an industrial environment.
Glazing agent alternatives without egg are known. There are two main groups of glazing agent without egg: protein and/or starch based powders and ready-to-use (RTU) liquids that are mainly based on oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. Powders have the disadvantage that they need rehydration in order to be used, this requires additional handling, specific equipment and know-how. In addition, the rehydration is done in open mixing vessels, which favours dust formation and impedes clean and hygienic working conditions. Moreover, uniform mixing requires time and attention of production staff, and after dispersion, a swell time of at least 20 minutes is usually required. As there is risk on sedimentation/precipitation or lump formation of poorly dispersed powder particles—which can clog the spray nozzles—continuous stirring is needed. Mixing equipment also needs to be thoroughly cleaned after each use.
Most RTU glazing agents are vegetable oil based O/W emulsions and contain emulsifiers like monoglycerides, diglycerides and/or lecithin as well as modified starches. These additives all need to be declared on the label as E-numbers. Most RTU glazing agents also contain milk proteins. For people that are either allergic to milk protein or people that do not want to consume dairy products, such an alternative glazing agent is not acceptable.
Recently pea protein isolate has been used as a glazing agent on biscuits. The pea protein is dispersed in water, homogenized and the resulting solution may be used as a glazing agent on baked goods.
There is however still a need for a glazing agent that does not have the drawbacks mentioned above, is easily applicable and has excellent gloss properties, under many circumstances, such as application before (egg wash) and after baking (bun shine) and even before freezing (such as on frozen bake-off pastry).
Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a glazing agent that has good gloss properties; even on frozen bake-off pastry and that may be applied before and after baking. Another object of the present invention is to provide a glazing agent that does not contain allergens, and does not need addition of emulsifiers, and/or fat, and/or dairy components. Furthermore an object of the invention is to provide a glazing agent that is ready-to-use (RTU) and easily applicable on industrial scale, such as via spraying. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a glazing agent that has an ambient “closed shelf life” such that a cold supply chain is not required. Even another object of the invention is to provide a glazing agent that allows easy cleaning of e.g. spraying equipment and baking trays.
It has surprisingly been found that when a vegetable protein solution is heated above 100° C., excellent gloss properties may be obtained, which are comparable or sometimes even better than the conventional egg wash.