European Freeze Dry reveals new gourmet ingredients range
Leading freeze dry manufacturer European Freeze Dry has released its latest range of gourmet ingredients to be used in high quality snacks and ready meals with a shelf life of up to two years.
The new gourmet range includes a range of high quality freeze dried ingredients which can be added into savoury and sweet NPD including ready meals, noodle pots and cereal bars.
The latest range of ingredients includes:
- Mulled apple; spiced apple pieces perfect for additions to porridge pots or cereal bars.
- Char sui pork; BBQ pork pieces to be added to oriental noodle cups.
- Carne Asada beef; Mexican inspired grilled cuts of steak with a marinade to be included in ready meals or as pizza ingredients.
- Chilli marinated shrimp; spicy shrimp which can be supplied as whole pieces or as a flavouring powder for crisp seasonings.
Sarah Lacey, Development Manager for European Freeze Dry, said: “Our new gourmet range of freeze dried ingredients will allow food producers to develop exciting and tasty new products.
“Consumers tastes are more refined now than ever before and we are ready to help NPD managers to meet the demand for high quality, luxury ingredients to make up ready-to-eat products such as ready meals, porridge pots and noodle cups.
“Each product is gently freeze dried, meaning that it retains the flavour, structure and nutritional value, while remaining tasty to eat for up to two years at room temperature.”
The latest release of gourmet and infused ingredients adds to a range of new vegan ingredients introduced earlier in the year, which included turtle beans, diced sweet potato, black-eyed beans, diced beetroot and caramelised onion.
Sarah added: “Our R&D team is constantly working with new flavours and products to create the best possible ingredients. This includes testing in our real life kitchen with a team of tasters, conducting trials and market research to ensure our products are as tasty as possible when they become available for purchase.
“Additionally, we are always working with customers to help bring their ideas to life, whether that is crisp seasonings, salad toppers, beverage flavours or something entirely new.
“In addition to creating a nutritious and tasty ingredient, the freeze drying process ensures that we can reduce the food waste and resulting carbon footprint, boosting customers’ green credentials in the long term.”
At European Freeze Dry, all products for freeze drying start as frozen raw materials, and undergo a process known as sublimation under specifically designed programmes.
During the freeze drying process a deep vacuum is applied, and under these conditions neither ice or water can exist. The pressure from the vacuum, with a controlled amount of heat applied, causes the ice to leave the product as a vapour trail which is then captured on an ice condenser within the freeze drier, upon which the vapour forms again as ice.
The process takes on average a day to complete, carried out in a set of ‘chambers’ which can be controlled at various temperatures and time schedules depending on specific product requirements.
The reduction in water in the final freeze dried product means there is a much reduced potential for microorganisms existing in such low amounts of water, leading to a shelf life of up to two years at room temperature.
