General Mills Creates Innovative No-Bake Method, Files For Patent

By Sam Lewis

New processing technique gives granola products toasted look and flavor without baking, while maximizing efficiencies

Making grain-based snacks, like granola bars, is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. According to General Mills, the baking process is “particularly time-consuming and typically is the rate-limiting step in the process that holds up the whole of the rest of the production line.” To reduce energy costs and maximize other efficiencies while still creating high-quality products, General Mills has developed a new method to produce some of its grain-based items.

The drying process of grain products is usually completed in an oven. This requires a significant amounts, time, equipment, and factory space. “It would be desirable to eliminate the need for drying the adhered components in a drying oven. It would be desirable to provide an adhered component with a uniform toasted appearance, which in turn results in a uniform taste of the adhered component,” says General Mills in its patent filing. The baking process can also give products an uneven toasting, with the surface of the product receiving most of the heat.

Also mentioned in General Mills’ patent application is processing temperature. The company explains that ingredients should be mixed at temperatures of 200 degrees Fahrenheit and above. This allows the product’s sweeteners — brown sugar, honey, aspartame, sucralose, and corn syrup — to maintain liquid form, letting the whole process be completed with conventional food mixing equipment. The company also specifies that excessive temperatures can make sweeteners caramelize or burn.

At any point during mixing, additional ingredients can be added to oats, rice, barley, maize, quinoa, flaxseed, and other grains. “Although optional ingredients such as nuts, seeds, and fruit are preferred, additional ingredients to enhance the no-bake product can also be added,” General Mills says. This includes sodium bicarbonate for texture, flavors, and colors as well as accelerating the no-bake toasting process. The product is then formed into rectangles for granola bars or formed into clusters for cereal.

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