One of many final, however most important steps of growing a brand new meals product is to find out the shelf lifetime of the product. How lengthy will your scrumptious new creation final with out turning into unsafe to eat or dropping high quality? You might need encountered crusts that flip soggy, lotions that flip arduous, or fruit jams that develop molds.
However, you don’t know stop this from taking place. What’s extra, you’d wish to find out about it early on within the growth course of, not all the best way on the finish when the product is nearly prepared for launch. That method, it wouldn’t trigger any delays, or drive you to recall any merchandise.
For a lot of of those eventualities, you’ll be able to sign and forestall the issue from taking place effectively earlier than launch. All you must know is how a lot ‘obtainable water’ your product incorporates. That’s, you must know the water exercise of your product. It will probably enable you predict how your product will behave over time. We’ll talk about three eventualities during which moisture issues.
State of affairs 1: Stopping soggy fruit biscuits
All of us intuitively know {that a} crispy cookie with a gentle fruity filling may not stay crispy for lengthy. The cookie usually will get soggy, whereas the fruit filling would possibly flip chewy. The identical for a freshly made cream pie, we all know the crust gained’t stay crunchy for lengthy. Inside a day or two the crust shall be gentle.
It is advisable stop water motion
That is all because of the motion of water. Water will all the time transfer via meals merchandise, from locations the place there’s loads of obtainable water, to locations the place there’s not as a lot. Water likes to distribute itself evenly. In our biscuits, water strikes from the gentle fruit filling to the crunchy cookie. Within the pie, water strikes from the filling to the crust.
If you do not need this water motion to occur, you need to be certain that the ‘water exercise’ of each parts is similar. Water exercise is a measure of the quantity of accessible water in a product. If the water exercise of your crust and fruit filling are the identical, water gained’t transfer.
Fortunately, it is vitally simple to measure the water exercise of most meals. A easy water exercise meter can decide the water exercise inside a couple of minutes, by merely putting a pattern of the product in a measurement cup.
How to make sure equal water exercise values
If the water exercise of your two parts is a good distance aside you need to begin altering your product. There are loads of methods to take action. As an example, you’ll be able to add extra sugar to your fruity filling. Sugar binds water, and makes it much less prone to transfer. Or, you’ll be able to go for modifying your cookie model to make it moister from the onset. Alternatively, you’ll be able to add a barrier in between the fruity filling and the biscuit, to make it tougher for the moisture to maneuver.
There are a lot of choices, we’ve mentioned a number of intimately in “Stopping Soggy Pie Crusts“. However, all depend on realizing the water exercise of your parts first, to strategically enhance the product.
State of affairs 2: Guaranteeing an extended shelf life
Microorganisms can spoil our meals, making it dangerous or simply unappetizing to eat. Similar to people, microorganisms want water to develop and thrive. If there’s not sufficient water, they will’t develop. This offers meals producers with a good way for making certain an extended shelf of their merchandise. As soon as the water exercise of your product is beneath a sure threshold, it may be stored for a really very long time, with none microorganisms rising on it.
Micro organism are most simple to cease this fashion. They cease rising at water exercise values beneath roughly 0,87. Molds and yeasts want much less water and gained’t cease rising till values beneath 0,60. By once more measuring the water exercise of your product, you’ll know whether or not or not microorganisms can nonetheless develop, and in that case, which.
To make sure no microorganisms can develop, you’ll must decrease the water exercise sufficiently. Once more, there are a number of methods to take action. For one, you’ll be able to lower the quantity of water, as an example by baking or frying a product. Or, you’ll be able to add components that maintain on to water, making certain that it’s not obtainable to make use of by microorganisms. Sugar is nice at holding onto water and one of many causes {that a} product like fruit jam incorporates an affordable quantity of sugar.
State of affairs 3: Guaranteeing powders don’t clump
Milk powder, icing sugar, and wheat flour are all speculated to be gentle free-flowing, easy powders. Nonetheless, if not saved appropriately, they will begin to type clumps. These clumps may not be a giant concern if utilized by customers at dwelling. You’ll be able to break them by hand, or just work your method round them. However, in lots of larger-scale manufacturing services, clumped powders can wreak havoc. Powders could not movement via pipes, or get caught in feeders.
The shape you have got chosen doesn’t exist.
Clumping of powders occurs as a result of the powders soak up water. The water causes the person particles to stay collectively and type a clump.
Whether or not powders soak up moisture is determined by the quantity of moisture within the powder itself, the quantity of moisture within the surrounding air and on the powder properties itself. Some powders are much more vulnerable to turning into clumpy than others. Icing sugar and milk powder as an example are each extra vulnerable to forming clumps than wheat flour is.
On this occasion, you once more will wish to know extra in regards to the water exercise of your product. However, on this occasion, the evaluation is barely extra difficult. You’ll wish to know the connection between the quantity of water within the air and the quantity of water in your product. You are able to do so by making an isotherm. It’s a barely extra superior technique, once more based mostly on water exercise.
As soon as beneath which circumstances your powder begins to clump, you can begin stopping it from taking place. You would possibly want to regulate your packaging, or the storage circumstances. Or, you would possibly want so as to add an anti-clumping agent (which you’ll usually see added to icing sugar).
Why Moisture Issues
Powders that clump throughout storage. Pie crusts or cookies that flip soggy throughout shelf life. Or merchandise that spoil too quick. As a meals maker, you wish to keep away from these from taking place, ideally, effectively earlier than your product has launched.
The issue is, moisture strikes or permits the expansion of microorganisms. If it occurs, you would possibly must recall merchandise, or change the best-by dates.
Nonetheless, if you happen to do a easy evaluation to find out the water exercise of your merchandise, you’ll be able to repair the issues, earlier than they happen. It offers you a transparent route as to change your product, or possibly the packaging, to make sure your product stays good.
Assume moisture could be supplying you with bother? And desire a second pair of brains to assist brainstorm options? Simply ship me a message, I’d love to debate your challenges.
