Designing A Ready Made Meal

Designing A Ready Made Meal

Project Brief

Design and make a main course food product for the cook chill or

freezer cabinet.

Introduction

A ready-made meal is a portion of food that has been prepared, cooked

and stored in the chill cabinet or freezer. It should only require

reheating in the microwave or convention oven for a short amount of

time.

Analysis Of Task

I am going to research on freezing and chilling products, portion

size, cost, appearance, flavour and packaging which also includes

labelling, storage, cooking instructions, materials and ingredients. I

am going to find this information by looking on the Internet and by

looking at the product packaging and by looking at the product itself.

Research Into Prevention

Cook-chill meals can contain a wide variety of ingredients. Fish,

meat, poultry and vegetables can be combined with pasta, rice and a

range of sources. To develop a successful cook-chill product, food

technologist must know about:

[ their nutritional value

[ how they are stored when raw

[ different ways in which they can be cooked

[ how well they can be re-heated

Cook-Chill Products

Cook-chill products are often thought to be of a better quality than

frozen products. They have a shorter shelf life but do not need to be

defrosted. Frozen products can be stored for a lot longer. Cook-chill

products are prepared, cooked and chilled rapidly. They are stored at

a temperature above 0.01°c and is normally 3°c or 4°c. When stored at

this temperature it slows down:

[ the rate at which micro organism multiply

[ the rate of any chemical reactions which could spoil the food.

Chilling Desisions

Most foods are suitable for chilling. The main advantages of this are:

[ there is very little change in flavour

[ fresh food can be kept at maximum quality for a longer time than

usual

[ there is very little change in textur colour or shape to the food.

Chilling