The vacuum contact‐plate dehydration of foodstuffs. I.—a first appraisal

Factors which must be considered in the drying of foodstuffs are discussed. The conventional hot‐air drying and the vacuum contact‐plate drying methods are described and compared. The latter yields better dried products than the former, both in appearance and palatability of the reconstituted, cooked material, and there is some evidence that the storage properties are also improved. Relevant factors are the absence of oxygen and the milder heat treatment of the foodstuff during vacuum contact‐plate dehydration. This technique is versatile and may be used to dry a wide range of commodities, many of which cannot be dried satisfactorily by conventional methods.