At FFCE, we assist you in consulting on the planning of RTC food production. The next in need is Site Selection and Analysis, then Ready to Cook Food Manufacturing Services followed by Licensing and Permitting; you don’t even have to look far to get your production line food safety compliance facilities. Site Selection and Analysis,  Ready to Cook Food Manufacturing Services, Licensing and Permitting; we help you out right to get your production line food safety compliant. Our main areas of expertise are Equipment 

Finalization and Procurement Services with a concentration on the choice of the best sorts of equipment for your products. This is because, in the Architectural and Structural Design service delivery, your facility layout efficiency is preserved in making your products.

Consultancy work in process and mechanical engineering is available in order to help in channeling an improved production line. Furthermore, we offer the Installation and Commissioning of Equipment and Utility design for water steam electricity HVAC and refrigerator for the right temperature for production. We also assist in the development of Food Safety and Sanitation Programs making products safer and ensuring that actors observe the law in every occasion.

What are RTC Foods? 

RTC foods are those foods that are slightly processed and require only a bit of heat treatment or are consumed in their raw form with a little more processing. These products are right for the consumer: It has less preparation time but the food is freshly cooked. Some examples of brand RTC are marinated meats, instant noodles pasta, vegetables cut into portions, and processed meals such as TV dinners. Preparation for manufacturing RTC foods is done with special concern carefully selecting quality ingredients to be used in the manufacturing process depending on which RTC food product is being manufactured. For instance, in the preparations that concern the vegetables they may be peeled and then chopped or sliced, the meats on the other hand may have been ripped or spiced. Such foods are either packed fresh or frozen in order to maintain their quality.

RTC foods, to some extent, portion the equipment such as the portioning machines for portioning of ingredients, vacuum sealer or Modified Atmosphere Packaging for shelf-life improvements and the weighing/filling machines for portioning. The sealing and packaging machines help to pack the RTC items and make them hermetically sealed so that can easily opened while refrigeration is used on the preservation of quality up to distribution time.

Types of Ready-to-Cook Foods

The RTC foods include a variety of foods and all these foods can be grouped in many categories and each category will require different procedures of processing. Hence, the following section provides an overview of some of the most common ones as well as the technologies utilized in their production.

Pre-Marinated Meats

Varieties:

  • Chicken Tikka: Small pieces of chicken which is marinated in yogurt containing selected spices and herbs excellent for barbeque or oven.
  • Barbecue Pork: Ham to be marinated in a thick seasoned barbeque which has been smoked with hickory Added to that is pork which is cooked before marinating and then baked in the barbeque sauce.
  • Spicy Lamb Chops: Chops of lamb marinated with chili garlic, and herbs, prepared for successive grilling.

Technical Processes:

  • Marination: That is, by using tumblers or static mixers thereby attaining even coating /distribution of the flavors applied. The required measure of tenderness and the extent to which the marinade penetrates muscle fibers are controlled by the regulation of the marination time.
  • Packaging: MAP or vacuum packed is considered to be in the use of preserving perishable products for a longer time.
  • Freezing: Meats that take a long time to be sold are frozen at -18°C, information which was obtained from the study found that packing contributed to the improvement of quality and taste.

Instant Noodles

Varieties:

  • Ramen: Often these tasty instant noodles arrive pre-cooked with flavor packets meaning they are boil or microwave preparations.
  • Rice Noodles: The new non-traditional pasta which is gluten-free, does not coky and takes minutes to boil in water.
  • Vegetable Noodles: In fact vegetable noodles and in particular zucchini or sweet potato noodles or any kind of vegetable noodles are much, much better than regular wheat or rice noodles.

Technical Processes:

  • Noodle Dough Preparation: So as to achieve an equal texture, dough is made and mixed with the help of high-speed mixers.
  • Sheeting and Cutting: In the production of the final products, the dough is sheeter a thickness of 1 — 2mm before being cut according to the desired shape and size with the help of cutting knives.
  • Steaming and Drying: The noodles are heat treated either by steeping them in boiling water for 2-5 minutes at a temperature 90-100°C or by blanching them in boiling water for a few minutes then allowed to stand then drained at the temperature of 90-100%C to eliminate the moisture content of 8-12%.
  • Flavoring: Individual single portions of seasoning, dried vegetables or sauces are used rather than buckets as found with KFC.
  • Packaging: Sachets take higher barrier material and this means that it does not end up spoilt due to moisture.

Frozen Meals

Varieties:

  • Pasta Dishes: Lasagna, macaroni, or spaghetti, are prepared by being partially cooked and then transferred to the and then reheated when needed.
  • Casseroles: Meat or vegetables cooked and portioned and encased for either direct pan frying or portioned and encased freeze-ready casserole.
  • Asian Stir-Fries: Capital equipment for stir-frying includes washed and chopped food items from a typical stir-fry meal and bounded meats marinated in a marinade.
  • Technical Processes:
  • Ingredient Preparation: The vegetables are washed, peeled and sliced and the meats are also cooked either by stewing or otherwise prepared beforehand.
  • Assembly: The ingredients are then mixed and placed in trays or containers and probably freeze.
  • Freezing: When portioning store meals in the blast freezers under -30°C to ensure products are quickly frozen to preserve their texture and flavor.
  • Packaging: Modified Atmospheric Packing / Vacuum Packing is used for preserving product characteristics delaying the formation of freezer burn and ultimately increasing the period up to which the product is useful.

Pre-Cut Vegetables

Varieties:

  • Stir-Fry Mix: Musical shapes of vegetables normally cut into small sizes for quick cooking preparations that may include cabbages, carrots, green bell peppers and onions.
  • Salad Kits: Lettuce, packaged and premium processed meat products such as chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and toppings, or a side pack of dressings.
  • Vegetable Medleys: The root vegetables cut into portion sizes suitable for roasting or grilling.

Technical Processes:

  • Washing and Cleaning: Successes: Vegetables being well washed by washing machines in a bid to remove soil and the other matters associated with it.
  • Cutting and Slicing: Blade sharp moving knives designed for proper cutting, chopping or chopping of food items.
  • Packaging: MAP employs nitrogen flushing to counteract oxidation and spoilt foodstuffs following the nitrogen flushing. They are quantities that come nicely in compact easy to reseal hermetic convenience baubles.

Rice and Grains

Varieties:

  • Instant Rice: Parboiled rice that cannot require preparation as is the case when you must warm the rice for only 5 – 10 minutes.
  • Quinoa: Quinoa soaked in water and cooked until it is semi-cooked before it is packaged for sale.
  • Mixed Grain Pilaf: Par boiled rice, barley and dal that can be naturally flavored and mixed with one another for serving hot.

Technical Processes:

  • Pre-Cooking: The grains are prepared to 80-90 percent of total softness to assist in reducing the cooking times taken by consumers. This work carried out through the batch cookers in accordance to the standard environment.
  • Drying: Stages of treatment applied to grains before processing are drying and drying in the air, to remove moisture and prolong storage.
  • Flavoring: Bailey’s (2005) identified the seasonings and oils as components that are added into the recipe most probably for flavor and easy cooking.
  • Packaging: Modified atmospheric packing (MAP) techniques or vacuum-packed bags are used for moisture barrier systems.

Packaging Material used in Fresh Cooking Foods

No doubt that the container plays a significant role in determining the quality and shelf life of RTC foods. It is very important to have many methods of packaging since this depends on the type of product to be packed or the lifespan the product has to be given.

Vacuum-Sealed Packaging

  • Objective: Extend food preservation’s meaning to retaining the foodsh’s ability to stay fresh as well as preventing it from getting contaminated with bacteria.
  • Materials: These will consist of compound layer barrier films which provide hermetic sealing of incoming oxygen and moisture.
  • Benefits: It eliminates exposure to air hence controlling the formation of bacteria which if present would drastically reduce the crispness of the dishes softened by Kiessling’s change.

MAP – Modified Atmosphere Packaging

  • Objective: Maintains the foods fresh and tasty for a long time.
  • Materials: Shipment media still filled with a particular controlled amount of oxygen to edit out sorts of concentrations that would degrade the contents.
  • Benefits: Enhances product shelf-life and diminution of post-harvest spoilage through microbial action and oxidative melee, as seen on ready-to-use vegetable cuts and marinated meat products.

 

Eco-friendly Packaging

  • Sustainable packaging simply refers to use of a packaging solution in a way that it will not have a negative impact on the environment.
  • Objective: Pose fewer effects on the environment and capture customers with a conscience of environmental conservation.
  • Materials: Depending on the requirements we can get pulp molded trays or bags which can be made up of recyclable material, biodegradable material like paper, compostable films, etc.
  • Benefits: Satisfies consumers with sustainability needs while being a quality distinctive high-end packaging solution not expensive in a way that would affect any product.