the process of the present invention relates to the infusion of partially - defatted nuts with an edible oil . the term &# 34 ; nut &# 34 ; as used in this description includes whole nuts and pieces of nuts such as peanuts , almonds , brazil nuts , filberts , pecans , walnuts , and the like . for purposes of conciseness this description will center around the production of partially - defatted nuts , especially peanuts , having improved flavor . it is not intended , however , to be limited to peanuts or nuts generally because the principles will also apply to other products possessing semi - rigid and non - porous textures , such as soybeans , garbanzo beans , peas , etc . in practicing this invention , partially - defatted nuts are prepared by removing some or all of the oil contained in the nuts . for example , oil can be removed from the nuts by mechanically pressing them under conditions effective to at least partially remove the oil from the nuts . preferred processes for defatting nuts are taught in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 329 , 375 to holloway , jr ., et al . and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 466 , 987 to wilkins et al ., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . generally , such processes remove about 40 % to about 52 % of the oil in nuts which may be blanched or unblanched and raw or roasted , with equivalent results . an exemplary method for removing oil from the nuts is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 938 , 987 to gannis et al ., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . the process disclosed in this patent comprises mechanically pressing raw nuts to extract about 40 % to about 52 % of their initial oil content . this can be achieved , for example , by employing a carver press at applied pressures of greater than about 1 , 000 pounds / square inch ( psi ) for about 15 to about 120 minutes . the exact times and pressures for oil extraction can be varied to obtain the desired degree and rate of extraction , but pressures of no greater than about 1 , 500 psi , particularly about 1 , 100 to about 1 , 300 psi , are preferred . although pressures above this range will extract oil more rapidly , more physical damage to the nuts and possibly a reduction in the amount of retained natural flavors can occur . pressures below the disclosed range can be employed with somewhat less nut breakage , but the time required for extraction of the desired amount of oil will increase . by utilizing the above - described pressing conditions , a desirable balance between calorie reduction and final product flavor and texture can be achieved with oil reduction of between about 40 % and about 52 %. preferably , pressure is elevated to the desired level as quickly as possible . after pressing , the nuts are flat and undesirably dense . it is , therefore , appropriate to expand ( or reconstitute ) the nuts to bulk densities which approximate those of full fat nuts . such bulk densities will generally approach about 0 . 40 grams per cubic centimeter ( g / cc ) ( determined , for instance , by filling a 500 cubic centimeter graduated cylinder with nuts , determining the weight of the nuts , and dividing the weight in grams by the volume in cubic centimeters ). preferably , the bulk density of the reconstituted nuts is within the range of about 0 . 32 to about 0 . 39 g / cc . expansion can be effected by contacting the defatted nuts with sufficient water to reconstitute them when subsequently roasted . such contact is preferably at a level of about 3 to about 7 , more preferably about 4 , pounds of water per hundred pounds of nuts . the water and nuts may be contacted in any suitable mixing device such as a rotatable coating drum . alternatively , the nuts can be reconstituted using steam . although pressurized steam can be employed for reconstitution , steam at atmospheric pressure has been found to be effective and is preferred . the use of steam or pressurized steam may have economic disadvantages when compared with merely contacting the nuts with water , because of the additional capital outlay , etc ., however , it has been found that nuts reconstituted in this manner exhibit superior texture and flavor after roasting . the exact reason for this is unknown , but it is believed steam or pressurized steam reconstitution opens the pores of the nuts more effectively , which leads to the observed improvements on roasting . these improvements justify the additional capital outlay , etc . involved with steam - mediated reconstitution . when steam or pressurized steam is used to reconstitute the nuts , the nuts are contacted with the steam in a suitable vessel , such as a rotatable coating drum when steam at atmospheric pressure is used , or a pressure cooker or steam chamber when pressurized steam is used . contact with the steam should continue for a time sufficient to achieve satisfactory reconstitution . advantageously , steam reconstitution proceeds for about 30 seconds to about five minutes , more preferably about 45 seconds to about four minutes , to ensure a desirable level of reconstitution . after reconstitution , the nuts are roasted and contacted with an edible oil . the particular order in which these operations is effected depends on whether the nuts are dry roasted , which will be understood to include any process involving roasting in the substantial absence of added oil ( i . e ., less than about 10 % by weight ), such as air roasting and granular roasting , or whether they are oil roasted . when the nuts are dry roasted , roasting is followed by contact with an edible oil . when oil roasted , contact with an edible oil occurs prior to or simultaneously with roasting . the partially defatted nuts are dry roasted in any suitable manner that gives them the characteristic taste and texture of roasted nuts . typically , the nuts are roasted to a moisture content of less than about 3 %, preferably less than about 2 %, and most preferably about 1 . 5 % or less . the degree to which the nuts are roasted should correspond to an agtron color photometer reading of about 60 to about 95 in the green mode with 12 % and 33 % plates defining the reading scale . most preferably , the reading will be within the range of about 80 to about 90 . in air roasting , the nuts are roasted in a stream of hot air at a temperature of about 275 ° f . to about 400 ° f ., advantageously about 320 ° f . to about 335 ° f . roasting times and temperatures can be varied depending upon the particular type of nut being processed , as well as the roasting temperature and degree of roasting desired . illustratively , the time and extent of roasting will be greater for peanuts ( i . e ., about 10 minutes to about 30 minutes ) than for cashews ( i . e ., about 3 minutes to about 15 minutes ). the most appropriate conditions to be adopted in any particular instance can be readily determined by the skilled artisan . in granular roasting , the nuts are contacted with a finely divided heat transfer media which is heated to a temperature of about 315 ° f . to about 465 ° f ., preferably about 380 ° f . to about 410 ° f . roasting times and temperatures will vary depending upon the particular type of nut being processed and the degree of roasting desired . illustratively , the time and extend of roasting will be greater in the case of peanuts ( i . e ., about 1 minute to about 9 minutes ) than in the case of cashews ( i . e ., about 30 seconds to about 3 minutes ). the finely divided heat transfer vehicle useful in the practice of this invention can be any suitable finely divided material which will absorb heat from a heat source , such as a flame , and transfer the heat to the nuts upon contact . preferably , the finely divided heat transfer vehicle can be salt , ceramic beads , sand , or metal balls , and is most preferably ceramic beads . after dry roasting , the nuts are infused with an edible oil by contacting therewith under suitable conditions . the edible oil can be any conventional vegetable oil utilized in foods , including coconut , nut , sesame , cottonseed , corn , or palm oil , which may be partially or wholly hydrogenated . advantageously , a nut oil derived from the same type of nut as the partially - defatted nut of this invention is utilized . for instance , if the partially - defatted nut is a peanut , the oil is peanut oil . however , it is not necessary to use oil from the same sub - type of nut as the partially - defatted nut . for example , if the partially - defatted nut is a jumbo runner peanut , it is not necessary to use the oil from jumbo runner peanuts . in fact , superior results can be achieved when partially - defatted jumbo runner peanuts are infused with oil extracted from spanish peanuts . advantageously , the edible oil contains a flavoring agent which is incorporated into the nuts . suitable flavoring agents include nut flavor concentrates which are naturally present in nuts or nut oil . such materials can be obtained by a variety of conventional techniques ( e . g ., dark roasting nuts and then extracting the nut oil ). these nut flavor concentrates can be recovered from nuts which are either the same as or different from the partially - defatted nut being infused . other flavoring agents include : fruit flavors ; chocolate or other confectionery flavors ; mint flavor ; honey flavor , the flavor of alcoholic beverages such as beer , wine , and whiskey ; and other desired artificial or natural flavor , and mixtures thereof . in addition , the flavoring agents can be encapsulated by known techniques for a superior flavor note . moreover , encapsulation will also serve to protect flavoring agents which may be sensitive to handling or otherwise subject to degradation during the infusion operation or storage of the resulting nuts . such agents include artificial sweeteners , such as aspartame , and fat soluble vitamins , such as vitamins a , d , and e . additionally , other desired additives such as texturizers may be included in the edible oil infusion . suitable texturizers include fiber , especially pea fiber , bulking agents such as methylcellulose , and corn syrup solids . these texturizers assist in the formation of a finished product having a texture and color more nearly that of full - fat nuts . desirably , the edible oil infused into the nuts is at least partially hydrogenated . hydrogenation of the infusion oil leads to a finished product having an improved texture , which more closely approximates that of full - fat nuts . preferably , the edible oil is hydrogenated so as to have a melting temperature of no lower than about 90 ° f ., more preferably no lower than about 105 ° f . the most preferred melting temperature of the hydrogenated oil is between about 110 ° f . and about 120 ° f . in this way , the oil is liquid during the infusion operation , as discussed below , but solid at the temperatures to which the finished product are normally exposed . it has been found that improved flavor of the finished product can be obtained when the edible oil infused into the nuts is oil in which nuts have previously been roasted . although not fully understood , it is believed that roasting oils take up flavor components of the material being roasted therein . accordingly , these flavor components can be transferred to the nuts in which the oil is infused . the roasting oil can be taken from the roasting of any material whose flavoring components are desired to be imparted to the nuts . suitably , the oil is taken from the roasting of nuts , preferably the same type of nut as being infused . it is not necessary , though , to use oil used to roast the same sub - type of nut as being infused . the oil infusion step is distinguishable from prior art oil quenching operations by virtue of the weight ratio of oil in contact with the nuts . when quenching , the nuts are immersed in a bath , causing the nuts to return to approximately a full fat level ( i . e ., about 55 weight %). by contrast , in the oil contacting step of the present invention , a large amount by weight of nuts is contacted with a relatively small quantity of oil . as a result , only that limited quantity of oil is capable of being infused into the nuts , maintaining a low calorie content . the quantity of oil utilized is about 3 to about 15 , preferably about 10 , pounds of oil per 100 pounds of nuts which will return the fat content of the nuts to about 33 % to about 40 % by weight . in the infusion operation , both the nuts and the oil can be at relatively high temperatures , i . e ., about 180 ° f . to about 320 ° f . preferably , the nuts are at a temperature of about 200 ° f . to about 300 ° f ., most preferably about 270 ° f . to about 300 ° f . the edible oil is preferably at a temperature of about 240 ° f . to about 320 ° f . for effective infusion . it is desirable , but not critical , that both the nuts and the oil are at approximately the same temperature . an acceptable product is produced when the oil is at a lower temperature than the nuts or the nuts are at a lower temperature than the oil , although the latter situation may be less preferred . when both the nuts and the oil are at relatively low temperatures , i . e ., about 180 ° f . to about 200 ° f ., contacting the nuts with the edible oil may cause the oil to solidify on the surface of the nuts ( depending on the melting temperature of the oil ). when this occurs , the nuts can be warmed to a temperature sufficient to melt the oil ( usually 220 ° f . is sufficient ) which will cause the oil to infuse into the nuts . it will be understood that , when the nuts are dry roasted prior to infusion , and when the infusion oil is taken from a prior roasting operation , the nuts and oil can be maintained at the temperatures of the respective roasting operations . the edible oil and any other additives are mixed in a suitable vessel by conventional means . infusion can then be effected by any conventional technique . for example , spraying a controlled amount of oil onto moving nuts in a continuous coating drum for a period of time sufficient to allow infusion of edible oil and any additives to a level of about 2 % to about 10 % by weight of the nuts . typically , infusion is carried out for about one minute to about five minutes , more preferably about two minutes to about four minutes . when oil roasting is desired , infusion of the partially defatted nuts with an edible oil is advantageously effected prior to or during roasting . the infusion is performed by contacting the nuts with an edible oil as described above . when oil roasting , typically , the nuts are roasted in an edible oil such as refined peanut oil at a temperature in the range of about 300 ° f . to about 330 ° f ., preferably from about 315 ° f . to about 325 ° f ., and for a time which will vary depending upon the particular type of nut being processed and upon the temperature of roasting and the degree of roasting desired . illustratively , the time and extend of roasting will be greater in the case of peanuts ( from about 4 . 5 to about 7 minutes ) than in the case of cashews ( from about 1 . 5 to about 3 . 5 minutes ). the most appropriate roasting conditions to be adopted in any particular instance can be determined readily by the skilled artisan . after infusion and roasting , the nuts can be coated with various powdered flavoring agents such as allspice , cinnamon , clove , caraway , bay , sage , ginger , basil , and the like . these materials can be employed alone or with condiments such as salt , pepper , monosodium glutamate , and the like . in addition , texturizers such as glycerine and polyproplyene glycol and binders such as natural gums , dextrins , gelatin , sugars , and the like . after the nuts have been defatted , roasted , and infused ( and coated , if desired ), they are preferably cooled and packaged . in fact , the reduced calorie , infused nuts of the present invention can be packaged with full - fat nuts to provide a package of nuts having an overall reduction of fat and calories when compared with a package containing only full - fat nuts . for instance , it is anticipated that a blend comprising about 60 % of the low fat nuts prepared by the process disclosed herein and about 40 % of full - fat nuts will result in a net decrease in calories of between about 8 % and about 15 %, and a net decrease in fat of between about 15 % and about 25 %. in addition , when low fat nuts are packaged with full - fat nuts in this manner , flavor and texture improvements in the low fat nuts are detected . although the reason for this is not fully understood , it is believed that gas exchange between the nuts takes place in the package , leading to the observed flavor and textural improvements . moreover , the combination of low - fat and full - fat nuts in the same package may lead to interesting , textural mouthfeel sensations for the consumer . the following example is presented to further illustrate and explain the present invention and should not be viewed as limiting in any regard . unless otherwise indicated , all parts and percentages are by weight , and are based on the total weight of the product at that particular stage in processing . pressed , partially defatted virginia runner peanuts ( 100 lbs ), from which about 50 % of the fat has been removed , are reconstituted using steam at atmospheric pressure for one minute . the reconstituted nuts are then roasted in hot air at 300 ° f . for 25 minutes . the roasted nuts are then separated into individual groups and contacted with 4 % by weight of partially hydrogenated peanut oil having an iodine value of 31 . 7 and trans isomers of 24 . 7 % to effect infusion . the nuts and oil were at the temperatures detailed in table 1 . table i______________________________________temperature of oil (° f .) temperature of nuts (° f . ) ______________________________________320 300320 200300 280300 200280 260280 200260 240260 200240 300240 220220 300220 200200 300 180 * 200 180 * 195 180 * 190 180 * 185 180 * 180______________________________________ * nuts were warmed in oven after contact to effect infusion . all of the resulting nuts were found to exhibit a texture , flavor , and mouthfeel approximating that of full - fat nuts . the above description is presented for the purpose of teaching the person of ordinary skill in the art how to make and use the invention . it is not intended to detail all those obvious modifications and variations of the invention which will become apparent to the skilled worker upon reading the description . it is intended , however , that all such obvious modifications and variations be included within the scope of the invention which is defined by the following claims .
the present invention relates to flavorful partially - defatted nuts and a process of preparing them by infusing the nuts with an edible oil . this process makes it possible to produce partially - defatted nuts having both an improved flavor and a low caloric content .