low-fat fruit and vegetable chip vacuum fryer

1. Brief Introduction of vacuum fryer

First, vacuum fryer is an intermittent or batch type vacuum fryer. Technically, this is a device which is primarily used for deep-frying food. The frying occurs inside a chamber which reduces the amount of oil that is absorbed by food. Hence, it considered as a healthier alternative to common fryers. Today, it has been widely used for commercial purposes in frying various types of food such as fruits chips and vegetable chips.

Vacuum frying is a suitable processing method for the production of high quality fruit crispy. With this technology, fruits which are abundant and sometimes wasted at harvest season, can be processed and still have high selling price.

The vacuum frying technology produces fruit crispy with original color and fruit aroma and an ideal crispy texture. The crispiness is obtained because the process of moisture content reduction in the fruit occurs gradually.

Vacuum frying of fruits enables frying at lower temperatures compared to atmospheric frying, thereby improving quality attributes of the fried product, such as oil content, texture, retention of nutrients, and color.

Shengchuan customized vacuum fryer is a kind of equipment for deep-fat frying designed to fry under reduced pressure and in a closed system that lowers the boiling point of both oil and water in food. Due to the application of pressure below atmospheric (vacuum) pressure, water in the food material rapidly vaporizes at increased rate when the food products is immersed in hot oil. Also, under vacuum, the food material expands and allows further removal of trapped moisture.

The vacuum frying conditions(temperature and time)for various food products varied considerably and there was also a wide variation in the vacuum pressures used.

The choice of the vacuum frying conditions for the food samples was dictated by a range of physical parameters, as well as pre-treatment conditions.

There was no other way to design a vacuum frying process for a specific product except to carry out experiments to obtain an optimized process.

1. Components of vacuum fryer

The low temperature vacuum fryer is composed of the following parts:

vacuum frying tank, oil heating system, vacuum system, oil storage and adding system, pneumatic system, automatic deoiling system and electric control system.

• Merits of vacuum frying
• Preserve natural color

With vacuum frying it is easier to maintain natural colors and flavors of the finished product. Due to the lower temperatures applied (approx. 130 °C (266 °F)), the formation of suspected carcinogen acrylamide is significantly lower than in standard atmospheric fryers, where the frying temperature is approx. 170 °C (338 °F).

• Low moisture content <6%
• Reduced shrinkage
• Low water activity <0.3
• Heat sensitive nutrients-preserve 90% of trans-carotene
• Prevention of carcinogenic compounds formation-97% less acrylamide in potato chips
• Reduce the fat content–80-85% less oil in potato chips
• Suitable for high sugar content products
• The oil content rate of the food is below 15%.
• The centrifugal deoiling technology for vacuum fry has wide adaptability and unique effect.
• Less adverts effects on oil quality

The temperature in vacuum frying is low enough to retain the natural color and flavor of food while giving it a crispy texture. The food absorbs less oil which makes it healthier to eat. Since less oil is absorbed, frying oil turnover is greatly reduced. Furthermore, oil deterioration in vacuum frying is slower since it only uses about 100 °C to 130 °C which are not high enough to accelerate oil degradation during frying.

1. Technical parameter of vacuum fryer

1. Advantages of vacuum fried chips

1.Nutritional Advantages

Another advantage of using the vacuum fryer is that it retains the amount of nutrients that are originally in the food. Since it involves a locked-in procedure, even if the food is subjected to heat, more vitamins and minerals remain intact compared to traditional deep-frying. For example, if potatoes are deep-fried using regular pans and a whole lot of oil, the remaining Vitamin C in it after cooking is only 50%. On the other hand, with the use of a vacuum fryer, it has been observed that at least 95% of the original Vitamin C remains.

It has to be noted that the main reason why vacuum frying is considered to be healthier is because it does not involve the use of a lot of oil. That is why, the end product would not be soaked in whopping amount of fat. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that this does not reduce the amount of carbohydrates. Hence, for people who would like to cut down their intake of carbs to be able to maintain ideal weight and health status, they should still take necessary precaution when eating food that are prepared using the vacuum fryer.

2.Better Food Quality

A vacuum fryer does not only contribute to the nutritional value of food. This is also used by various restaurants and food manufacturer because of its benefits when it comes to the aesthetics of the processed food. The vacuum fryer is used these days not just for potatoes but also for vegetables, fruits, fish and meat. It helps in keeping the vibrant color of the food. Aside from that, it also lowers the tendency of overcooking which could ruin the texture. With the use of this device, there is no need to put too many artificial flavoring too because the natural taste of the ingredients are preserved.

These positive results are possible with the use of vacuum fryer because it cooks food at a lower oil temperature. Because of the technology it uses, moisture and air is not present within the atmosphere while the food is being fried. Hence, the end product is much better compared to traditional, oil-soaked frying process.

1. Materials can be dealt by vacuum fryer

1) Fruits: peaches, apples, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, jujube, strawberry, jackfruit,Tommy Atkins mango, persimmon,Pitaya,hawthorn, pear,Chinese gooseberry, carambola, muskmelon, apricot

2) Vegetables: Radish, okra, carrots,  sweet potatoes, pumpkin, garlic, onions, mushrooms,  okra, green beans, broad beans, peas, yam chips, taro, ginger,blue potato, lotus root, balsam pear,beetroot,date, soybean sprouts, cauliflower, cucumber, kidney bean, sprout beans,zucchini, shallot, purple yam,

3) Seafood: oyster, fish, lobster, crab, Mantis shrimp, shellfish, seaweed, squid

4)Nuts: Cashew nuts,green beans, lotus seed, amber walnuts, peanuts,almonds, pea, chest nut.

Others: Bean Product, meat, Chinese herbal medicine,duck neck,grasshopper, silkworm chrysalis, cicada, etc

• Vacuum frying vs normal frying