Process of caramelization

Caramelization is what happens when any sugar is heated to the point that the molecules undergo chemical reactions with oxygen in the air and with each other – the molecules either break apart into smaller molecules, or combine with one another to make larger molecules. The result is a very complex, brown colored mixture that normally call caramel.

Caramelization occurs in food, when food surfaces are heated strongly, e.g. the baking and roasting processes, the processing of foods with high sugar content such as jams and certain fruit juices, or in wine production.

Sugar is caramelized when it is melted into a clear golden to dark brown syrup, reaching a temperature from 320 to 356 degrees F. It goes through many stages which are determined by the recipe being made.

At 338 degrees F, the sugar syrup begins to caramelize creating an intense flavor and rich color, from light and clear to dark brown. Depending upon when the cooking stops and it cools and hardens, caramel textures can range from soft to brittle. A soft caramel is a candy made with caramelized sugar, butter and milk. Crushed caramel is used as a topping for ice cream and other desserts.

The large brown molecules (caramelin, caramelen and caramelan) are what give caramel its color, its viscosity and its stickiness. The aroma molecules give caramel its flavor.

Caramel colors, i.e. ammonia caramel, ammonia sulphite caramel, and caustic caramel are the most widely used food additives and are found as coloring agents in a wide range of foods and beverages.
Process of caramelization 

Process of smoking

Smoking foods is one of the most ancient food preservation processes and is some communities one of the most important. The use of wood smoke to preserve food is nearly as old as open air drying.

At first smoking of food could be considered a side effect due to preservation by drying in the fireplace. Later on, the process was developed and changed and was combined with other processes such as salted dried, and fermented.

Smoking has been mainly used with meat and fish. The main purpose are it imparts desirable flavors and colors to the foods and some of the compound formed during smoking have a preservative effect due to the presence of a number of compounds. 

Depending to the smoking procedure, the moisture drops 10-40%. Compounds present in smoke with bactericidal and antioxidative properties are deposited on and penetrate into the food especially meat. 

Important smoke ingredients include phenols, acids and carbonyl compounds.

Smoking of meat uses the heat of burning wood to cook the meat while adding flavor to the meat through the variety of wood being used. The wood used to generate the smoke should be of the hardwood species. In America, the wood varieties that are used are hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, maple, apple, cherry and plum.

Curing and smoking of meat are closely interrelated and are often practiced together, that is cured meat is commonly smoked and vice versa.

Meat exposed to temperature s of 165 to 185 degrees will fully cook. The best methods ensure meat in the smoker is fully cooked is to use a meat thermometer and probe into the deepest part of the cut to ensure the heat has reached all the way to the center.
Process of smoking

The Important of Flavorings in Food

Flavorings are compounds, many of which are natural, although there are also many synthetic ones that are added to foods to produce flavors or to modify existing flavors.

Flavorings are the complex mixtures of individual ingredients which are often natural constituents of food, and can be produce through physical means form traditional plant and animal sources, chemical synthesis and processes incorporating the techniques of modern biotechnology.

Flavoring means adding a new flavor to a food, thus changing or modifying the original flavor.

The flavor substances are comparatively strong smell organic compounds with characteristics, usually pleasant odor.

In the early days of human existence, salt, sugar, vinegar, herbs, spices, smoke, honey, and berries were added to foods to improve their taste or to produce a special, desirable taste.

The range of natural and synthetic flavoring available to the modern food technologists is very large.

Essential oils form a major source of flavorings. Most foods derive their characteristics flavor from chemicals that are present at levels ranging from parts per billion to parts per million.

With the discovery of distillation, it became possible to separate the flavor chemical mixture from botanical material.

Because of their weak effects, fruit extracts may be intensified by combining them with other flavorings.

Flavoring can be added at the beginning, middle or end, depending on the cooking time, the cooking process and the flavoring ingredient.
The Important of Flavorings in Food

PH Control Substances

PH Control Substances
Natural or synthetic acid or alkali ingredients change or maintain the initial pH of a product.

For example, acidulents flavor, preserve and regulate pH.

The acid ingredients regulate by lowering the pH and preserve foods by inhibiting microbial growth.

Regardless of the acid level of food ingredients, food acids are incorporated into foods in order maintain a constant acid level.

Natural acids include the following acetic acid or vinegar and citric acid from citrus, which control unwanted trace metals otherwise catalyzing oxidation reactions; malic acid (an organic acid from apples and figs); and tartaric acid (a weak acid).

These acids may be added to foods to impart flavor and control tartness.

Lactic acid present in almost all living organisms, is an acidity regulator and is used in balancing the acidity in cheese making, as well as adding tartness to many other foods.

The acid salt calcium propionate is added to control pH of breads.

Sodium lactate (the salt of lactic acid) may be used in processed meat and poultry products.

Examples of alkaline ingredients include sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), an ingredient that balances the acid component of baking powder, sodium hydroxide, used in modified starches, and potassium hydroxide.

Alkaline compounds are used to neutralize excess acid that otherwise could produce unwelcome flavors. In food they leaven and soften hard water.
PH Control Substances

The Softdrinks

The Softdrinks
All softdrinks have a basic compositional structure. First, there is the water that makes up about 87 to 92% of the beverage volume.

The water used is normally separately pretreated to remove impurities, microorganisms and other undesirable attributes, such as off-tastes, odors and turbidity.

It is also treated to regulate alkalinity and hardness. Make no mistake about the fact that water used in softdrinks made by more reputable bottling companies is much more purified than what comes out of the common tap in your house.

Next we have the sweetener, which is usually refined white sugar, though other natural or artificial sweeteners are being used as alternatives.

In a natural sweetened softdrinks, the sugar makes up about 8 to 12% of the beverage by mass.

Another ingredient common to almost all softdrinks is the acidulant. This is term used for any inorganic or organic acid that contributes to the sourness of the beverage.

The balance between sweetens and sourness is what gives it the basic typical taste profile of all flavored softdrinks.

Without this sweetener and acid balance, the beverage would taste totally wishy-washy and unexciting.

To this basic taste background, a flavorant, or a flavorant combination, is added.

Flavorant may be natural, nature identical, or completely synthetic. They are usually in very concentrated forms and give beverages their characteristics tastes.

Flavorant can be c0mpared to perfumes in as much as they also contribute to the smell of the product, which plays an important role in the general overall sensory perception of the drink.

To round off the taste of the softdrinks, colorants are added to the composition when such coloring is considered essential to the visual impact the drink has on the consumer.

Colorant may be natural ingredients but are more commonly synthetic food dyes. They are used in minute quantity individually or in combinations that give us the rainbow spectrum of softdrinks colors we see in the marketplace.
The Softdrinks

Milk Processing: Flavor Treatment

Milk Processing: Flavor Treatment
Milk is usually given what is called a flavor treatment to provide a product that is uniform in odor and taste.

During flavor treatment, milk is instantly heated to about 195 degree F (90.6 degree C) with live steam (injected directly into the product) after which it is subjected to a vacuum of about 10 in. (25.4 cm) in one chamber and to a vacuum of about 22 in. (55.9 cm) in another chamber.

The high vacuum treatment serves to regulate flavor, to cool the milk to about 150 degree F (65.6 degree C) and to evaporate water that may have been added through the injection of steam.

While the milk is still hot, it is usually homogenized by passing it through a small orifice that breaks up the fat globules to a small size, preventing the separation of cream from the milk.

The milk is then quickly cooled to about 35 degree F (1.7 degree C). This is done by the same general procedure used in heating, except that refrigerated water or brine, or directly expanded ammonia is used in the coils, vat jacket, outer tubes of the pasteurizer.

During HTST (high temperature short time) pasteurization and during flavor treatment and homogenization, milk is passed through the heating and cooling cycles at such a rapid rate that at no time is it held for long periods at high temperature.

After processing and cooling, milk is filled mechanically into containers, made of waxed or plastic-coated cardboard of different volumes up to 2 qt and of semi-rigid plastic containers of 2 qt. or 1 gal and the containers are sealed.

In this state, milk should be held as close to 32 degree F as possible until consumed.
Milk Processing: Flavor Treatment

Ready to Eat Cereals

Ready to Eat Cereals
Ready to eat cereals are processed grain formulations suitable for human consumption without further cooking in the home. They are relatively shelf-stable, lightweight, and convenient to ship and store. There are made primarily from corn, wheat, oats or rice, in about that of order of the quantities produced, usually with added flavor ad fortifying ingredients.

Hot cereals, on the other hand, are made primarily from oats or wheat; those made from corn or rice are of minor importance, being produced in relatively small quantities. The original hot cereals required cooking in the home before they were ready for consumption, but now some varieties are preprocessed so that they are ready for consumption with the addition of either hot water or milk to the cereal in the bowl.

The processing of ready to eat cereals typically involves first cooking the grain with flavor material and sweeteners. Sometimes the more heat stable nutritional fortifying agents are added before cooking, Two general cooking methods are employed in the industry today – direct steam injection into the grain mass in rotating batch vessel, and continuous extrusion cooking , with the latter very much on the increase in recent decades.
Ready to Eat Cereals