A food dehydrator with a heating element located beneath a fan in a chamber of the food dehydrator. The heating element includes resistors, connected in series, sandwiched between and in thermal contact with two heatsinks to heat and dry the air within a volume defined by the chamber.

A method for combining a slice of raw meat and a layer of reconstituted raw piece of meat to obtain a combined raw piece of reconstituted meat/meat.

Prior products have been rejected as disadvantageous because: they contain chemical additives such as aminases; they are expensive to produce; they have an inhomogeneous appearance; they tend to separate/disassemble into single components during handling, reducing their shelf-life.

Invention contains only glycerol and salt as binders; stabilizing and preserving are carried out in a single step by drying to a residual moisture of approx. 10%. The raw combination of reconstituted meat/meat has the optical appearance of pure meat, similar elasticity and a precisely adjusted residual juice content. Such a pet food snack can include all types of meat of respective prey animals and shows no tendency to separate, even when subjected to impact, pressure, or shock stresses in a loosely stacked bag package.

A method for combining a slice of raw meat and a layer of reconstituted raw piece of meat to obtain a combined raw piece of reconstituted meat/meat.

Prior products have been rejected as disadvantageous because: they contain chemical additives such as aminases; they are expensive to produce; they have an inhomogeneous appearance; they tend to separate/disassemble into single components during handling, reducing their shelf-life.

Invention contains only glycerol and salt as binders; stabilizing and preserving are carried out in a single step by drying to a residual moisture of approx. 10%. The raw combination of reconstituted meat/meat has the optical appearance of pure meat, similar elasticity and a precisely adjusted residual juice content. Such a pet food snack can include all types of meat of respective prey animals and shows no tendency to separate, even when subjected to impact, pressure, or shock stresses in a loosely stacked bag package.

High meat content extruded pet foods and methods of preparation thereof, preferably include initial treatment of a high moisture meat slurry to create a dewatered meat fraction and a liquid fraction. The liquid fraction is directed to an extruder, along with typical dry pet food ingredients, in order to create an extruded intermediate. This intermediate is then mixed with the dewatered meat fraction, and the mixture is then extruded and dried to create a final pet food. The methods may be carried out using separate processing systems each including a mixer, an extruder, and a drying assembly, in order to maximize production rates.

A method for drying a food product includes the step of: a) inserting the food product in an enclosure, the enclosure being defined by the vessel of a mixer; and b) drying the food product in the enclosure by applying a vacuum to the enclosure. The supplying of heat to the product located inside the enclosure is carried out when the vacuum is applied to the enclosure during step b) such as to maintain and/or increase the temperature of the product during all or part of the process of drying by applying a vacuum to the enclosure. The supplying of heat is carried out by heat transfer between at least one heat-transfer fluid and the product and/or by irradiating the product with electromagnetic radiation.

A method for drying a food product includes the step of: a) inserting the food product in an enclosure, the enclosure being defined by the vessel of a mixer; and b) drying the food product in the enclosure by applying a vacuum to the enclosure. The supplying of heat to the product located inside the enclosure is carried out when the vacuum is applied to the enclosure during step b) such as to maintain and/or increase the temperature of the product during all or part of the process of drying by applying a vacuum to the enclosure. The supplying of heat is carried out by heat transfer between at least one heat-transfer fluid and the product and/or by irradiating the product with electromagnetic radiation.

A system to control the conditions of an aging room for food in which independent feedback loops control the dry bulb temperature and the dew point while controlling the difference between the vapor pressure in the room and the vapor pressure of the food stuff being aged, thereby controlling the aging of the food stuff and its quality.

A system to control the conditions of an aging room for food in which independent feedback loops control the dry bulb temperature and the dew point while controlling the difference between the vapor pressure in the room and the vapor pressure of the food stuff being aged, thereby controlling the aging of the food stuff and its quality.

Systems and methods for treating large quantities of potatoes, other tubers, vegetables, produce, and/or other crops are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a crop storage facility configured in accordance with the present technology includes a treatment system configured to distribute a treatment agent configured to inhibit spoilage of the crops. The treatment system can include a combination of two or more chemical compositions configured to release different concentrations of the treatment agent to produce a desired level of the treatment agent in the storage facility.

Meat that has been treated by a combination of comminution, treatment with alkali and drying exhibit excellent properties for use as a new food ingredient. Dried Functionalized Protein Product is prepared by comminuting meat to form a comminuted meat having particle size of less than 5 mm; mixing the comminuted meat with water, a food grade alkaline composition, and a food grade salt to form a Functionalized Protein Brine having a pH in the range of from about 6.5 to about 9.5. The mixing is carried out so that the meat is not exposed to acid in a manner that would cause the pH of the meat to be less than about 5.3. The resulting Functionalized Protein Brine is dried to form a Dried Functionalized Protein Product. Water can be added to the Dried Functionalized Protein Product to form a Reconstituted Functionalized Protein Formulation.