Freeze Drying Technology
The Prepared Consumer Food Centre (PCFC) offers access to freeze drying technology. The freeze drying process was first applied to food products in order to preserve and store foods without the need for refrigeration. The basic principal of freeze-drying is the removal of water from a product while the water is in its solid state (ice). This removal occurs through a process known as sublimation, which vaporisation of water directly from its solid state to its vapour state without first passing through an intermediate liquid phase. This equipment uses a process called lyophilisation to lower the temperature of product to below freezing, and then a high-pressure vacuum is applied to extract the water in the form of vapour. The vapour collects on a condenser, turns back to ice and is removed. Finally, a gradual temperature rise extracts all remaining 'bound' moisture from the product. This process retains the physical structure of the food product and preserves it for reconstitution (re-hydration) at a later date. The advantages of freeze drying foods and liquids are that they can be dried at low temperatures without damaging their physical and chemical structure. Conventional drying methods also have a major disadvantage as the high temperatures used can change the taste or texture of a food product could make it inedible or less palatable. Freeze-dried foods can be reconstituted quickly and easily by adding water.
Features
• 80kgs of water (as ice) dried in 24hours
• 15 x 12-step recipe programming capacity
• Additional Blast Freezer units can be used to prepare samples in advance
• Moisture analysis can be carried out on site in the PCF Centre
For More Information Contact
Email: shay.hannon@teagasc.ie
Phone: +353 (0)18059990 / +353 (0)876723696
Useful Links
Cuddon Freeze Dry FD 80 Demonstration Video