Food concentrates: overview, classification, advantages and disadvantages

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Food concentrates can make life a lot easier. Today, such products are used quite widely, and they have found application not only in ordinary kitchens. Compactly packaged mixtures, which are light in weight and allow you to easily and quickly prepare a full meal, are widely used by tourists, are part of military and rescue dry rations, and are delivered as humanitarian cargo to regions that have survived natural disasters, epidemics, and hostilities.

Our article will tell you about these products, the features of their use, storage rules and use in everyday life.

What are food concentrates?

Specialists classify this category of products as dry canned food. They are mixtures of dried products of natural origin, technologically prepared for quick and easy cooking. The components that make up concentrated mixtures are first cleaned of inedible parts, then crushed, subjected to heat treatment and dehydration.

As a result of such processing, concentrates are quickly brought to readiness and are well absorbed by the body. Cooking time is reduced to a few minutes.

Concentrates contain the maximum amount of nutrients in a relatively small volume. They are stable during storage, well tolerate transportation.

The shelf life of hermetically sealed concentrates, properly stored, can range from a few months to several years. Thanks to these properties, dry canned food is considered one of the most convenient food products in field, expedition and camp conditions.

In the modern world, the choice of products belonging to this category is simply huge, ranging from common and inexpensive bouillon cubes to dishes that are much more complex in composition. Among the presented assortment, supporters of a he althy diet can also find an option to their liking.

History of making concentrates

People have been interested in instant food for a long time. The reason was the endless skirmishes with neighbors, the development of trade and navigation. On long journeys, especially in the steppe and desert regions, warriors and merchants always had to have something edible in their travel bag, because hunting was far from always possible.

Nomadic peoples widely used cured and dried meat. Sailors of the North ate dried fish and cakes made from flour, dried in the sun.

At the beginning of the 18th century, pemikan, a meat powder, became widespread. Along with it, fish meal, dried vegetables, greens, and mushrooms ground into powder were used. Byin fact, all these products were also food concentrates. They were designed for long transportation and quick preparation of nutritious meals.

Arctic explorers Amundsen, Piri, Nansen and others used food concentrates to feed crews on long expeditions.

World wars gave a huge impetus to the development of technologies for the manufacture of canned food and other semi-finished products. At the beginning of the 20s, Austria was the leader in this issue, already producing more than two and a half dozen types of dry concentrates. During the First World War, the troops of the Austro-Hungarian bloc were very familiar with briquetted first and second courses.

After the end of the First World War, the States, England, Japan were actively involved in the production of concentrates.

In the USSR, development began in 1932. Within 4 years, enterprises in Moscow, Serpukhov, Odessa and other cities produced more than 20 types of lunch dishes and drinks. Currently, this figure has increased by about 15 times.

In Russia, food concentrates are produced not only for civilian purposes. For example, Adapton vitamin drink and powdered cream are included in many IRP army rations.

Currently research is ongoing. New technologies are developing, which means that the range will continue to expand.

Main Groups

Currently, experts divide the entire huge range of food concentrates into several main groups:

• complex food concentrates forpreparation of first and second courses, drinks, desserts, sauces;
• complex mixes for dietary and children's menus, dairy, vegetable and dairy-free;
• monoconcentrates, consisting of one component.

Each of the groups contains several subgroups. Let's take a closer look at them.

Breakfast cereals

A full-fledged tasty and he althy breakfast, for which you just need to mix a couple of ingredients in a plate, has already become a salvation for many people. The popularity of ready-made solutions for morning meals is only growing.

According to nutritionists, breakfast should be rich in carbohydrates and give energy for the day. That is why cereals are used to prepare this group of concentrates.

Examples include Nesquik and Cosmostar balls, corn flakes, popped grains.

You can prepare breakfast very quickly: you need to pour the concentrate into a plate and pour milk over it. You can eat cereals and balls and dry, as a snack or a he althy sweet.

The disadvantages of this group include only the relatively high price of some types of foreign-made breakfast cereals. But the price is justified by the advantages: balanced composition, rich taste, good digestibility. It is also important that such breakfasts are great for the menu of schoolchildren and preschoolers.

First courses

Surely everyone has come across such products as "Kharcho", "Rassolnik", "Chicken with Vermicelli", "Mushroom Soup Puree" and "Pea Soup" in briquettes orsmall sachets. A similar product can be found in any supermarket.

Such dishes are very popular among tourists, because one briquette weighing 150-175 g is enough to prepare several servings of the first course. Saving time (and therefore firewood and drinking water) is also evident.

Soups designed for brewing in a cup can be distinguished into a special group. One sachet - one portion, which does not even need to be cooked! Great snack option for work or school.

Some housewives also use briquetted soups, wanting to diversify the menu and save energy on cooking.

Sauces, broths and gravies

Bouillon cubes allow you to give an expressive taste to even the simplest first and second courses. In addition, they significantly improve the color of the broth. You can use similar semi-finished products for cooking meat and fish sauces.

Very common and ready-made solutions for creating sauces. The composition of such concentrates usually includes flour, animal fats, dried vegetables, herbs, spices. Optionally, mushrooms, eggs, milk powder may be present in the composition. Some manufacturers produce sauces with such a useful additive as kelp.

Desserts

With the help of such concentrated mixtures, even a novice housewife will cope with the preparation of pancakes, fritters, puddings and even cakes. A few years ago, the usual assortment of mixtures was replenished with concentrated bases for making creams, glazes, ganache, ice cream.

If you plan to use the concentrate for dessert, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly. Do not experiment with the interchangeability of components, do not try to reduce the time (it is already small), follow the technology. In most cases, milk or water should be poured into the prepared mixture, kneaded and carried out the necessary processing depending on the type of product: baking, cooking in a water bath, cooling.

Beverage mixes

Not everyone has the opportunity to use fresh fruits and vegetables in cooking. In this case, food pressed concentrates can also be used. For example, with the help of a ready-made briquette, you can easily and quickly cook jelly, compote, coffee drink with milk, fruit tea.

Forms of issue may be different. Beverage concentrates are produced in granules, powder, briquettes. There are also liquid forms: gels and syrups.

Oatmeal Diet Foods

Hercules Oatmeal is a popular breakfast option. The grain is prepared according to a special technology, processing it thermally and then evaporating the moisture. Thanks to this, the flakes quickly soak in boiling water, turning into a tender porridge.

Oatmeal flour - oatmeal - is used not only in cooking. This product is also valued in the beauty industry.

Children's menu

For the menu of children older than a year and a half, a variety of concentrated products can be used, from Hercules oatmeal to fruitdrinks.

But there is another large group intended for children - milk formula. They can be a complete alternative to breastfeeding. Along with formulas for general use, special products are now being produced for children with allergies, casein intolerance or lactose intolerance, problems with the gastrointestinal tract.

Such instant products require careful adherence to technology. It is unacceptable to experiment with mixtures, diluting them, for example, not with water, as the manufacturer recommends, but with milk or juice. Be sure to observe the temperature regime of preparation: some mixtures dissolve in hot water, others need to be boiled.

Storage rules

About how to properly store the product, the manufacturer reports in a simple and accessible language on the packaging. For example, Nesquik balls can be stored for a year before unpacking, and after only a couple of months.

In all cases, concentrates should not be stored in humid and too hot places. The best place is a shelf in a cool kitchen cabinet or a drawer in the refrigerator door.

Specialists believe that with all the advantages of concentrates, you should not get carried away with them. The basis of the diet should be dishes from natural fresh ingredients.