In the large-capacity potato chip production line and frozen french fries processing line, sliced potato chips and potato strips need to go through the blanching process to be fried and seasoned. Why? Blanching potatoes can help remove residual potato skins, protect color and prevent oxidation.
What is potato blanching?
Normally, a continuous blanching machine is used in the fully automatic potato chips and fries processing line, which can perform continuous blanching on the cut potato chips for about 3-5 minutes.
In the semi-automatic processing plant, the blanching machine needs the manual operation, and the blanching work is carried out in batches. Each batch takes about 3 minutes. The potato blanching temperature is between 80 ℃ -100 ℃, which can be adjusted according to different potato varieties.
Is the longer the potato blanching time, the better?
Although potato blanching is easy to handle, it has special requirements for blanching time. If the bleaching time of potatoes is too short and the temperature is too low, it will stimulate the activity of enzymes present in potatoes, which will lead to the loss of flavor, color and texture of potatoes.
If the blanching is excessive, the quality of the potato will decline, which will affect its flavor, color, vitamin and mineral content, and will increase production costs.
What are the benefits of blanching potatoes?
1. Blanching can help deep clean the surface of potatoes. It can kill bacteria, mold and other organisms present on the surface of potatoes.
2. Potato blanching can prevent the action of enzymes. When the vegetable is mature, the enzyme will continue to work until the vegetable has developed a viable seed reproduction. Blanching can kill the enzymes in the potatoes, thereby maintaining the flavor, color and texture of the potatoes. It can also extend the storage life of potatoes. After blanching, potatoes will not turn black even if they are exposed to oxygen.
3. Blanching can gelatinize the starch on the surface of potatoes. During the frying process, the blanched potatoes will quickly form a layer of gelatinized starch on the surface layer, thus limiting the absorption of oil, which can reduce the oil content of potato chips or fries and make them taste better.
4. Blanching can reduce the acrylamide content in french fries. Blanching can extract reducing sugar and amino acid-asparagine in potatoes, and reduce the content of acrylamide in french fries. After frying, the potatoes can form a uniform color.
In summary, we can conclude that blanching is necessary during the processing of French fries and potato chips.
