New Process Evolved For Meat Dehydration

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27366, 3 June 1954, Page 8

New Process Evolved For Meat Dehydration

“The Press" Special Service

WELLINGTON, June 2. . Important new developments in the dehydration of meat, of tremendous importance in war but also of considerable possibilities in peace, have been made by chemists and engineers of the Dominion After four years* research they have discovered a simple and economic process whereby meat, ranging from mince to chops, can be drastically reduced in weight and volume and yet can still be reconstituted into a palatable and nourishing dish. is a great advance on war-time meat dehydration. Then it was only possible to dehydrate mince which, though nourishing when reconstituted (soaked in water) and cooked, was far from appetising—as troops who served in the Pacific still remember. Because of, its big reduction in volume and weight, dehydrated meat can be carried in only a fraction of the space required for carcases of fresh meat, which are irregular in shaoe and contain much bone. One ship carrying dehydrated and compressed meat carries the equivalent of 15 ships of chilled meat, or 12 ships with frozen meat. Dehydrated, but not compressed, the ratio is 1:5:4 respectively. Refrigerated Ships Unnecessary

Dehydrated meat does not need to be carried in expensive refrigerated ships at rates three times (and more) those charged for ordinary cargo. It can be, transported in aircraft—and with aircraft becoming ever bigger and more economical this medium of transport is a strong possibility in the future:

It has been estimated that the freight on a dehydrated and boned side of beef consigned to Britain would work out at about one-tenth that charged on the original side if sent frozen. Two further advantages are first that it can be stored at either end in ordinary warehouses; and second, that it can be kept indefinitely. Sampling tests carried out by the scientists themselves through their “tasting panels,” by parties of mountaineers, and more recently by visitors to the chemical enginering section of the Dominion Laboratory at Gracefield, show that the dehydrated meat produced in the pilot plant there is definitely appetising and palatable. Reconstituted by soaking in water for a minimum of two hours and then cooked, dehydrated meat is almost indistinguishable from frozen meat, but it is its equal in food value. Dehydra-

tion does not affect the calorific, vitamin, and protein content. The first large-scale field tests of tinned dehydrated meat made 'a*. Gracefield Were carried out by members of the 1953 expedition to the Himalayas. They were supplied with enough tinned dehydrated meat to last them for 100 days but as it was cooked without prjor soaking the results were not as satisfactory as they could have been. Nevertheless, members expressed their appreciation of the new food. Better reports are expected from the present expedition led. by Sir Edmund Hillary. It has also been supplied with enough dehydrated meat, to last for several months. The best reports yet have come from extensive tests carried out during the Christmas holidays by 10 parties of experienced New Zealand mountaineers in the Southern Alps. These parties, each of four men, were supplied with dehydrated meat and vegetable rations enclosed in plastic bags. Each ration, which weighed 19J ounces (including 10| ounces of dehydrated meat), was about one-fourth of the original weight of the food and was calculated as being sufficient for a satisfying and nourishing meal for the party. The tests were medically supervised, and the mountaineers were pledged not to eat any other meat during the 14 days they were out. Their reports are now being studied by scientists and defence authorities. Already it is clear that the. tests were a great success. The climbers were highly pleased with their rations. They found them nourishing, palatable, and easy to prepare. Overseas Research New Zealand is not the only country experimenting with dehydrated meat, and there is much research being carried out in Britain and Australia. The New Zealand product is considered to compare very favourably with the best produced in either of those countries, while the comparative simplicity and economy of the local process are held to give it a definite superiority. With no accurate costing figures to go on—because only a trial pilot plant has been constructed—it is not possible yet to say whether the freight saving on dehydrated meat more than offsets the costs of boning and processing, but present indications are that it might be a little cheaper. Definitely in its favour on economic grounds, however, is the saving in cool storage at either end.