One of many final, however most important steps of creating a brand new meals product is to find out the shelf lifetime of the product. How lengthy will your scrumptious new creation final with out changing into unsafe to eat or dropping high quality? You may need encountered crusts that flip soggy, lotions that flip laborious, or fruit jams that develop molds.

However, you don’t know methods to forestall this from occurring. What’s extra, you’d need to find out about it early on within the improvement course of, not all the best way on the finish when the product is sort of prepared for launch. That manner, it wouldn’t trigger any delays, or pressure you to recall any merchandise.

For a lot of of those eventualities, you possibly can sign and forestall the issue from occurring effectively earlier than launch. All it is advisable to know is how a lot ‘out there water’ your product accommodates. That’s, it is advisable to know the water exercise of your product. It could actually assist you to predict how your product will behave over time. We’ll talk about three eventualities during which moisture issues.

Situation 1: Stopping soggy fruit biscuits

All of us intuitively know {that a} crispy cookie with a delicate fruity filling may not stay crispy for lengthy. The cookie usually will get soggy, whereas the fruit filling would possibly flip chewy. The identical for a freshly made cream pie, we all know the crust received’t stay crunchy for lengthy. Inside a day or two the crust can be delicate.

You have to forestall water motion

That is all as a result of motion of water. Water will all the time transfer by meals merchandise, from locations the place there’s a number of out there water, to locations the place there’s not as a lot. Water likes to distribute itself evenly. In our biscuits, water strikes from the delicate fruit filling to the crunchy cookie. Within the pie, water strikes from the filling to the crust.

If you don’t want this water motion to occur, it’s a must to be sure that the ‘water exercise’ of each elements is identical. Water exercise is a measure of the quantity of accessible water in a product. If the water exercise of your crust and fruit filling are the identical, water received’t transfer.

Fortunately, it is vitally straightforward to measure the water exercise of most meals. A easy water exercise meter can decide the water exercise inside a couple of minutes, by merely putting a pattern of the product in a measurement cup.

How to make sure equal water exercise values

If the water exercise of your two elements is a good distance aside it’s a must to begin altering your product. There are a number of methods to take action. For example, you possibly can add extra sugar to your fruity filling. Sugar binds water, and makes it much less more likely to transfer. Or, you possibly can go for modifying your cookie type to make it moister from the onset. Alternatively, you possibly can add a barrier in between the fruity filling and the biscuit, to make it tougher for the moisture to maneuver.

There are lots of choices, we’ve mentioned a number of intimately in “Stopping Soggy Pie Crusts“. However, all depend on figuring out the water exercise of your elements first, to strategically enhance the product.

Situation 2: Guaranteeing an extended shelf life

Microorganisms can spoil our meals, making it dangerous or simply unappetizing to eat. Identical to people, microorganisms want water to develop and thrive. If there’s not sufficient water, they will’t develop. This offers meals producers with an effective way for making certain an extended shelf of their merchandise. As soon as the water exercise of your product is under a sure threshold, it may be stored for a really very long time, with none microorganisms rising on it.

Micro organism are most straightforward to cease this fashion. They cease rising at water exercise values under roughly 0,87. Molds and yeasts want much less water and received’t cease rising till values under 0,60. By once more measuring the water exercise of your product, you’ll know whether or not or not microorganisms can nonetheless develop, and in that case, which.

To make sure no microorganisms can develop, you’ll have to decrease the water exercise sufficiently. Once more, there are a number of methods to take action. For one, you possibly can lower the quantity of water, for example by baking or frying a product. Or, you possibly can add substances that maintain on to water, making certain that it’s not out there to make use of by microorganisms. Sugar is nice at holding onto water and one of many causes {that a} product like fruit jam accommodates an inexpensive quantity of sugar.

Situation 3: Guaranteeing powders don’t clump

Milk powder, icing sugar, and wheat flour are all alleged to be delicate free-flowing, clean powders. Nonetheless, if not saved appropriately, they will begin to type clumps. These clumps may not be a giant concern if utilized by shoppers at residence. You may break them by hand, or just work your manner round them. However, in lots of larger-scale manufacturing services, clumped powders can wreak havoc. Powders could not movement by pipes, or get caught in feeders.

Clumping of powders occurs as a result of the powders take up water. The water causes the person particles to stay collectively and type a clump.

Whether or not powders take up moisture will depend on the quantity of moisture within the powder itself, the quantity of moisture within the surrounding air and on the powder properties itself. Some powders are much more prone to changing into clumpy than others. Icing sugar and milk powder for example are each extra prone to forming clumps than wheat flour is.

On this occasion, you once more will need to know extra concerning the water exercise of your product. However, on this occasion, the evaluation is barely extra sophisticated. You’ll need to know the connection between the quantity of water within the air and the quantity of water in your product. You are able to do so by making an isotherm. It’s a barely extra superior technique, once more based mostly on water exercise.

As soon as beneath which circumstances your powder begins to clump, you can begin stopping it from occurring. You would possibly want to regulate your packaging, or the storage circumstances. Or, you would possibly want so as to add an anti-clumping agent (which you’ll usually see added to icing sugar).

Why Moisture Issues

Powders that clump throughout storage. Pie crusts or cookies that flip soggy throughout shelf life. Or merchandise that spoil too quick. As a meals maker, you need to keep away from these from occurring, ideally, effectively earlier than your product has launched.

The issue is, moisture strikes or permits the expansion of microorganisms. If it occurs, you would possibly have to recall merchandise, or change the best-by dates.

Nonetheless, for those who do a easy evaluation to find out the water exercise of your merchandise, you possibly can repair the issues, earlier than they happen. It offers you a transparent course as to methods to change your product, or perhaps the packaging, to make sure your product stays good.

Assume moisture may be providing you with bother? And desire a second pair of brains to assist brainstorm options? Simply ship me a message, I’d love to debate your challenges.