Frontline Food Consultants and Engineers, we support all aspects of creating, formulating and manufacturing Ready to Eat Foods to meet growing customer requirements for tasty, hygienic, and healthy foods on the go. Our Recipe Development and Product Formulation Services let you make fully cooked food, Snacks, Soups and Desserts, and anything else you want in the Ready to Eat category. We take the most of formulations while considering taste, texture, and nutritional content of the food products to retain shelf stability or refrigerated states where necessary.
Our site selection and technical support services as a Ready to eat Consultant help you to make the right selection of the right machinery for Cooked/Pariumg, Portioning and Packaging of RTE foods. In particular, our Process Optimization Services can fine-tune the cooking methods, including retort, pasteurization, or high-pressure processing to extend shelf life and keep the freshness, tenderness and taste of the food product offered by your company. In this list, Regulatory Compliance and Packaging Solutions help making sure that your ready-to-eat foods are safe for consumers.
What are RTE Foods?
The other requirement in preparing RTE foods is to start with good ingredients that are cooked or processed entirely. Depending on the type of product, some of the ingredients are processed through cooking while others are put together in final products, meals or snack items. Cooking is sometimes done by steaming, frying, baking or roasting according to its production method and taste. In foods that are meant to have very long shelf lives, the Ready to Eat foods are sterilized or pasteurized after the packaging process. Retort processing is one of the most typical techniques applied to sterilize RTE products by heat treatment at high temperatures of the sealed product with the view of making the product safe for consumption even after several months of storage without refrigeration. Other products by RTE like fresh salads, and sandwiches may need refrigeration to keep food fresh but the ease of usage is not an issue at all.
The RTE foods when cooked and prepared are then packed in a vacuum packed container, pouch or tray, thereby preserving the integrity of the food and keeping off the causes of spoilage and bacterial contamination. MAP or nitrogen flushing in the course of packing is also common in helping to retain the food’s taste and texture as well as stopping microbial degradation. Last, but not the least, the products are marked with regard to the nutritive value on various parameters and also simple instructions like ‘Easy open – best eaten warm’, ‘Best consumed hot – heat and enjoy!’ Use of labels enables the consumer to clearly understand the gains associated with the use of the product, or how to store it.
Types of Ready-to-Eat Foods
RTE foods belong to different categories whereby each category has special characteristics and is suitable for different occasions and special groups of persons. Table 2 below analyses the various categories of RTE foods together with the technical procedures associated with them.
Ready-to-Eat Meals
Varieties:
- Complete Entrees: Main dishes and affiliate dishes like pasta preparations, curries, meat with its accompaniments.
- Frozen Dinners: Ready-to-eat meals surrounded in a microwaveable tray to heat and serve them immediately without having to cook them.
- Meal Kits: Single products including all the necessary ingredients and a brief list of steps to be followed in order to prepare a meal.
Technical Processes:
- Ingredient Preparation: The choice of ingredients themselves, as well as how they are prepared – pre-cooking, seasoning and so on. Preparation of numbers of ingredients requires heating with an important aim of maintaining their textures as well as flavors.
- Cooking: Large-scale cooking techniques for example steam boiling, pressure boiling or roasting is usually applied to improve the homogeneity of heat distribution. The usual temperature ranges from 90-120°C, 194-248°F while cooking duration varies with various meals.
- Packaging: Shelf-life ready-to-eat food items are packed either in vacuum packs or under a modified atmosphere carried in pouches. Such high level operations like retort processing may be employed as a means of accomplishing the microbial safety of the packaging material.
- Cooling: A fast cool-down rate to temperatures lower than 4°C (39°F) is also necessary to avoid bacterial activity and spoilage.
Benefits:
- Easy to prepare and very much available.
- Protein and carbohydrate-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and lean meats can be added in reasonable proportions.
- Perfect for working people and all sorts of households.
Indian Ready-to-Eat Meals
Varieties:
- Rajma Chawal Meal: Red beans simmered in a blend of ginger-garlic and spices, cooked in tomatoes, and served with rice.
- Chole Chawal Meal: The food consists of curry made from spiked chickpeas and rice.
- Poha: Onion, peanuts with slight use of spices used in preparation of flattened rice.
- Idli: Small rice cakes steamed and accompanied by chutney and sambar.
- Dosa Mix: Instant mix for crispy dosas.
- Khichdi Mix: A blend for the preparation of rice and lentils with appropriate seasoning.
- Pasta Mix: sauce; ready-to-use mix for immediate preparation of pasta meals.
Technical Processes:
- Ingredient Preparation: Cooking preparations at exon involve washing, soaking, and parboiling the ingredients. Flavours are developed at a temperature of 100-150°C (212- 302°F) for 2- 5 minutes depending on the type of spice.
- Cooking: Applying of steam cooker or pressure cooker for cooking the food at temperature between 100 to 120 degree centigrade that is 212 to 248 degree Fahrenheit.
- Mixing and Blending: Uniform distribution of spices and flavours by applying ribbon blenders or using paddle mixers while blending similar materials.
- Packaging: Processing methods that involved packaging of the meal in retort pouches or vacuum-sealed trays and then heat treated under aseptic conditions to avoid microbial contamination and whereby the packed samples should be able to have long shelf life.
- Sterilization: Methods such as heatstoff procedure at 121°C (250°F) for 15-30 min are likely to eliminate microorganisms.
Benefits:
- Real-tasting meals of good quality.
- Quick approach to making food that is prepared in conventional style.
- If the diet today consists of a mix of various products, then it maintains this principle of nutritional balance with varied ingredients.
Sandwiches and Wraps
Varieties:
- Classic Sandwiches: Different types of sauces as well as meats, cheese, vegetables and fruits.
- Wraps: Mexican quesadillas are tortillas with stuffing including chicken, lettuce as well as sauces.
- Subs and Paninis: Increased sizes can be toasted or pressed.
Technical Processes:
- Ingredient Preparation: Raw materials are procured and put together: This involves buying and raw parent materials that are not processed but are rather incorporated raw in the food product. Baking or stewing is usually in order to effectively cook the food and to bring out their flavors.
- Packaging: Sandwiches, and wraps mostly come in vacuum-packed bags or trays or are in M.A.P packaging to uphold their freshness.
Benefits:
- Easy to transport in bags and also a meal that you can consume without much preparation.
- It has a numerous list of products, flavors, and ingredients that it uses.
- Can be ‘bad’ with processed foods and saturated fats, but can also be ‘good’ with whole grain foods and high protein.
Snacks
Varieties:
- Chips and Crackers: Different kinds of chips including potato chips, tortilla and other vegetable chips.
- Nuts and Seeds: Fruits; almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and trail mixes.
- Bars: Biscuits, cereal bars, protein bars, and energy bars.
Technical Processes:
- Processing: Techniques used include frying, baking or extruding. Since the process involves the making of different snack types the technique to be used varies. To realize the right textures and densities in the foods that are produced, regularity in temperature is crucial throughout the process.
- Packaging: Foods that do not require heating are kept in sealable air-tight packs in order to minimize the spoiling of the crispness and the kind of spoiling that may be caused by bacteria.
Benefits:
- Quick and satisfying.
- A variety of outcomes in terms of flavors and nutritional values.
- Great for between-meal consumption or even as a snack.
Breakfast Items
Varieties:
- Breakfast Burritos: Sometimes it is just a container which contains the eggs and cheese with meats or vegetables.
- Muffins and Pastries: Sweet baked goods.
- Yogurt and Parfaits: Yogurt that has fruits and granola added to it before being packed in a bowl.
Technical Processes:
- Baking: The use of ovens is to regulate the temperature in order to control texture and flavor of baked foods.
- Mixing: Admixing is done properly to guarantee the right ith composition, texture, and taste of the final product.
Indian Breakfast Items
Varieties:
Idli and Dosa:
Idli: Small round shaped rice cakes prepared out of fermented rice and urad dal. Is usually prepared to accompany chutney and sambar.
Dosa: A thin pancake prepared by fermenting a batter of parboiled rice and black skinned undertroat, called urad dal, accompanied by a selection of chutneys and sambar.
Poha:
Boiled rice that has been beaten or pounded and then cooked with onions, peanuts and spices. It is usually accompanied by garnishing of fresh coriander and the juice of lemons as well.
Upma:
A satisfying food prepared with the help of rava or semolina, garnished with vegetables, seasonings and sometimes nuts.
Paratha:
Indian bread that can be stuffed with mashed potatoes (aloo paratha), cauliflower (gobhi paratha) or cheese (paneer).
Chila:
Crisp fasting food which can be prepared using besan (gram flour) or moong dal (green gram) and various vegetables and spices.
Porridge (Khichdi):
An easy recipe comprised of rice and lentils, seasoned and sometimes may contain vegetables.
Technical Processes:
Ingredient Preparation:
- Soaking and Fermentation: For making idli and dosa, rice and urad dal are first soaked for over night and then is allowed to ferment in order to get tangy and soft texture. The fermentation process is usually done at a temperature between 1 – 1 ½ ° centigrade above the room temperature for roughly twelve to twelve hours.
- Pre-Cooking: This is the case of commodities like poha that are washed and have to be partially cooked. Spices are generally dry roasted at this temperature of 100- 150oC or at 212-302oF for 2 to 5 minutes for better flavor.
Cooking:
- Steaming: South Indian steamed idlis are cooked in specially designed tiered idly stand, which is placed in the boiling steamer the temperature of which is around 100°C (212°F).
- Pan-Frying: Dosas are cooked in tawa and parathas which are also cooked in tawa but the temperature of the tawa has to be control to get crispy parathas.
- Boiling and Sautéing: Upma is made by roasting semolina and poha is made with spluttering spices, vegetables and then cooking with main stuffs. The temperatures are in a range between 90 and 100 centigrade degrees (194 to 212 in Fahrenheit).
Mixing and Blending:
- Batter Preparation: Even for dosas and idlis, ingredients are blended in wet grinders or blenders so that a smooth lump free batter is obtained. Proper blending helps in uniform fermentation as a well as texture.
- Spice Integration: Ingredients combined with spices use ribbon blenders or by manual way of mixing to promote even distribution of spices in the food.
Packaging:
- Immediate Packaging: Usually pre-cooked or instant foods are packed in vacuum bags while some packaged snack foods packed in moisture proof packs or pouches.
- Aseptic Conditions: The packaging is carried out in hygienically proper manners and it is done in controlled environments to control the shelf life required.
Benefits:
- Convenience: Almost all Indian breakfast foods are easy to prepare, especially when they are using readymade mixes or instant variants.
- Nutritional Value: These dishes give one complex carbohydrates, proteins and essential nutrients, giving the body the best nutrients required. Eaten, the above prepares contain probiotics that help in digestion for instance in idlis and dosas.
- Variety: Having a broad assortment of products, which are orientated on various directions of tastes and desires of people paying attention to their nutrition.
- Portability: Most of the items can be conveniently packed for, for instance, to-go meals or combined with other foods.
Soups and Stews
Varieties:
- Canned Soups: Teriyaki sauce Flavored ready to heat noodles and rice.
- Microwaveable Soups: Meats in resealable plastic bags/packets/cans and soups in microwave-safe dishes.
- Stews and Chilis: There are thick soups as meat soups, bean soups, and any kind of vegetable soups.
Technical Processes:
- Cooking: Bouils and stews are among the voluminous products being cooked with large vessels and at specific temperatures for certain time.
- Sterilization: Canning processes include an application of high heat to make them stay on the shelves for a very long time and still be safe.
Benefits:
- Warm and comforting.
- A good source of Nutrients and contains high percentage of protein.
- Easy to prepare and serve.
Desserts
Varieties:
- Puddings and Custards: Single serving cups are used for creamy desserts.
- Cakes and Pastries: Pieces of baked products.
- Fruit Cups: Fruits that have been cooked in juice or syrup and canned.
Technical Processes:
- Preparation: Baked products are a type of dessert which undergo controlled baking or cooking to develop corresponding texture and taste.
- Packaging: Portion control packaging to ensure the convenience and to avoid contamination by exposure to light and air, reasons being.
Benefits:
- It is recommended to quell sweet desires at once.
- Different types of tastes and structures.
- They always arrive in convenient singular portions.