APPLICATION
Individually Quick Frozen food coated with cream
Ready-to-cook food particles coated with a creamy preparation.
BASE
Core products
Vegetable, meat, or fish chunks, cut or diced to a smaller size (10–50 mm).
RECIPE
Ingredients
The preparation is generally an emulsion of :
- fat, dairy, or vegetable cream
- texturizing agent
- emulsifier
- herbs, spices, and flavours
It is mixed and prepared at the required temperature.
PROCESS
How does it work?
Upstream
The ingredients are cut, diced, sliced, and blanched.
Coating occurs by a repeated application of cream and cryogenic gas while mixing and tumbling.
Downstream
The coated particles may require a final freezing step before storage and packaging.
1.
Ingredient preparation
2.
Repeated cream and cryogenic gas injection
3.
Completed by freezing
PROCESS
Coating system
Batch systems allow repeated cream slurry applications with intermediate freezing phases to set the cream. A continuous tumbler or screw system is used when a small application provides for a single pass in the system.
Coating systems are completed with product feeding and discharge systems with slurry and gas injection devices.
PROCESS
Coating system
Coating systems are completed with product feeding and discharge systems with slurry and gas injection devices.
PRODUCT EVALUATION
How do you measure your success?
Key quality features
After defrosting and cooking, the result should look as just made by a cook. To achieve this, a few features to achieve:
Homogeneity
Even coating of the food chunks.
Aspect
No agglomerated product.
Product integrity
No broken product nor fines.
Key quality parameters
The long and complex process uses multiple parameters.
Dosage control
Careful dosage of the preparation to coat but avoid excess.
Design and operation
The motion speed adjusts the mixing and tumbling motion.
Time control
Adjusting periods of subsequent actions.
How to tackle a project?
Do you want to develop or improve the coating of a food product? Or do you have a problem that we can solve with a coating application?
First, write the brief, and define the purpose of the coating: aspect, texture, taste, flavour, preservation, and functionality.
Core product
What is the core centre to coat? Composition, size, shape, texture, moisture, bulk density.
Ingredients
Are they specific ingredients to apply, or are you looking for the right ingredients?
How does it work?
Upstream
Where does the core product come from? How is it shaped?
Coating process
Is there an existing process, or are you seeking a technical solution?
Downstream
A finishing step is probably required to stabilize and give its characteristics to the coated product.
Step 1
Upstream
Forming process
Step 2
Repeated cream and cryogenic gas injection
Step 3
Downstream
Finishing process
Coating system
The challenge is to reproduce at a larger scale what has been done manually in the kitchen or at the bench scale. What operating principle to choose: band, pan, tumbler with dipping, dribbling, dispersing, spraying.
Coating system
If existing, what are the coating system characteristics? Type, capacity, making. Any picture, documentation, or reference of it? Where to source it?
How do you measure your success?
Key quality features
After defrosting and cooking, the result should look as just made by a cook. To achieve this, a few features to achieve:
Homogeneity
Even coating the food chunks.
Aspect
No agglomerated product.
Product integrity
No broken product nor fines.
Key quality parameters
The long and complex process uses multiple parameters.
Dosage control
Careful dosage of the preparation to coat, but avoid excess.
Design & operation
The motion speed adjusts the mixing and tumbling motion.
Time control
Adjusting periods of subsequent actions.