Making Grill-Type Smoked Food Ingredients

Making Grill-Type Smoked Food Ingredients

Patent No.: US 11,219,234 B2
Filed: February 12, 2019
Granted: January 11, 2022
Assignee: PureSmoke Limited
Inventors: Elena Cristea and Huw David Griffiths

Overview:
This patented method provides a controlled combustion-based process for producing food ingredients that carry authentic grill-type flavour in liquid or solid carrier media. The process is designed to generate grill and smoky-grill flavour characteristics while addressing safety and regulatory concerns associated with conventional pyrolysis-derived grill flavours.

Innovation:
Traditional smoked and grill flavours often result from high-temperature pyrolysis, which can form toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In contrast, this invention combines combustion of a homogeneous mixture of smoke source and lipid flavour source with a capture step where the resulting smoke is introduced into a carrier (e.g., oil or water). The method emphasises:

• Controlled combustion of lipid-based flavour sources (e.g., high oleic oils or animal fats) with smoke sources (e.g., wood and charcoal) to generate volatile grill aroma compounds
• Capture of desirable smoke volatiles into a carrier medium, yielding a natural smoked flavour ingredient
• Optional use of filter materials to selectively reduce harmful PAHs in the generated smoke
• Applicability to diverse carriers, including oil- and water-based products

This blends flavour authenticity with food safety compliance, producing ingredients suitable for the food industry.

Technical Highlights:

• Combustion of a lipid-containing flavour source with smoke-generating materials at controlled temperatures (typically 200–380 °C) to produce flavour volatiles
• Capturing smoke into an oil- or water-based carrier to yield stable, grill-flavoured ingredients
• Use of finely divided smoke sources and optional zeolite filter material to moderate PAH content without compromising flavour profile

Applications & Impact:
The patented process supports the creation of new smoked aroma ingredients that can be used to impart desirable grill characteristics in foods and food formulations, offering a potential alternative to conventional smoke flavourings. Its emphasis on safety and adaptability makes it relevant for innovation in flavour formulation, functional ingredients, and clean-label product development.

• Category Patents & Innovation
• Client: Besmoke Ltd.
• Date: 2016-2019
• Website: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/61/53/2c/0d3205a4c4a085/US11219234.pdf