Texture, Oil Adsorption and Safety of the European Style Croquettes Manufactured at Industrial Scale

Abstract

An European style croquette is like a small breaded patty, but, in its manufacturing, the ingredients (all minced) meat, fish and vegetables are boiled along with wheat flour and milk (or milk powder and water), and then cooled to form a consistent and tied dough. When manufacturing is made at industrial scale, this dough is cooled with cold air, and mechanically extruded, divided and formed, for achieving the required shape and size of the croquettes. Then, in the same manufacturing line, they are coated first by a batter, and secondly with breadcrumbs, and conveyed to the continuous freezer to be packaged later as precooked frozen croquettes, or they are directly conveyed to packaging and cooling for obtaining precooked refrigerated croquettes. Before consumption, at the foodservice sector (for example the kitchen of the restaurant or canteen), or at the home kitchen, this precooked meal is generally deep-fried to create a golden and crunchy outer crust. It is one of the most widespread prepared dishes of the world cuisine and has a continued growth in consumption as a delicacy and as a fast food. However, there is insufficient research devoted specifically to the study of technology and engineering aspects of interest for manufacturing European style croquettes at industrial scale. In addition, the corresponding literature is very scattered when considering the study of croquettes quality, oil absorption during frying, and safety. Therefore, this paper makes a review of the literature analyzing the different technological factors that determine the texture, quality and safety of the croquettes manufactured at industrial scale.