April 26, 2011 -- Natural Products, Inc. (NPI) of Grinnell, Iowa has strengthened its lineup of soy ingredients with the relaunch of Roasted Full Fat Soy Grits and Meal. Both ingredients are produced on NPI’s new dry roasting and sifting line in the recently-completed factory located in Grinnell, Iowa. The new sifter allows for a more uniform particle size and greatly reduces the amount of fine particles in the finished grits or meal.
According to Jon Stratford, Sales & Marketing Manager, the grits and meal offer industrial bakeries a source of clean label, inexpensive soy protein, with a choice of two easy-to-use particle sizes.
“When you are trying to maximize protein, it’s easy to get way too much functionality from soy ingredients, mainly because of the amount of water that soy ingredients require you to add. Using soy grits or meal alone or in combination with flour, concentrates, or isolates really allows you to include a lot more protein in the bread or bar without changing your dough,” said Stratford. “This makes it much easier to develop protein-enriched or even ‘heart-healthy’ bakery products.”
At 40% protein, roasted grits or meal can be used in breads and muffins at levels of 50% to 75% (wheat flour basis), increasing soy protein by four to six grams per serving.
“In our lab, we were able to add 50% meal on a wheat flour basis to a basic muffin, and 75% to white bread,” said Stratford. “With some basic adjustments to water and mixing, the softness and volume was maintained, and the meal added a nice texture to the muffins and bread.”
Being minimally-processed, full fat roasted grits and meal are among the least expensive sources of non-GMO protein available to industrial bakers. “These are probably the most user-friendly ingredients that we make, in terms of how inexpensive they are and how easy it is to reach a protein target.”
NPI’s roasted grits have a particle size of 8 to 18 mesh; roasted meal has a particle size of 18 to 30 mesh.
