Dehydrated convenience food

Flavouring of Dehydrated Convenience Food and Kitchen Aids... 

The title of the chapter Dehydrated convenience food and kitchen aids refers to a segment within culinary convenience food where flavours are of utmost importance and a key attribute driving consumer preferences. 

S.4.3.2 Flavour Application during Manufacturing of Dehydrated Convenience Foods... 

Dehydrated convenience foods are powder mixes which are sometimes agglomerated in fluidised beds or extruded as wet powder masses to form granules. Frequently such powder mixes are also compacted to bouillon or seasoning tablets and cubes. Beside this, pasty and partially dehydrated culinary products are offered for seasoning applications. Table 5.25 shows different dehydrated convenience foods and their typical flavour content. 

Table 5.25 Dehydrated convenience foods and their flavour content...

A wide range of flavouring substances is used in powdery or pasty convenience foods. Reaction flavours based on hydrolysed plant proteins, natural flavours, artificial flavours and meat, vegetable, yeast and spice extracts are added to the products to generate the desired flavour profile. The most common savoury flavour types used for dehydrated convenience foods are chicken, beef and vegetable flavours. However various other flavour types are used while formulating dehydrated convenience foods. Amongst them are mutton, crawfish, fish, wine and various spice and herb flavours. 

Fig. 5.57 Manufacturing process for dehydrated convenience foods (flavour addition is indicated in green flavour losses are marked red).

Generally, the mixing process for dehydrated convenience foods is divided into several mixing steps. Adding flavours to simple powder mixes like powdered seasonings or soup and sauce powders can be done in any mixing phase. 

Some dehydrated convenience foods are extruded as wet powder mass or they are agglomerated in a pneumatically or mechanically fluidised bed. Due to the addition of water during the process they require a drying step. Drying, which is done in pneumatically fluidised beds or vacuum ovens, can cause significant losses of volatile components. To reduce such losses, flavours which are added before drying have to be... 

Figure 5.58 shows the different mixing steps while manufacturing dehydrated convenience foods. 

The flavour pyramid of culinary dishes, as introduced in chapter 5.4.1, is a simple scheme for visualising and organising the role and contribution of various commercial products to the taste of a culinary dish. We conclude our excursion into the world of the flavours of dehydrated convenience food and kitchen aids by illustrating the flavour pyramid of culinary dishes with some typical examples of commercial products from the three categories bouillon, fixes and sauces and seasoning in Fig. 5.60. 

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