Ready To Eat Food Processing Plant & Machinery Solutions

Vegetables are washed, peeled and cut to the size the recipe calls for. Pieces are kept uniform so that everything in the pack cooks evenly.

Onion, tomato and spice bases are ground into a smooth gravy and held in jacketed tanks under gentle agitation. A consistent base is what keeps taste the same from batch to batch.

Prepared vegetables, pulses or rice are cooked with the gravy in steam-jacketed kettles. The cooked recipe is held hot until it is filled, so the pack is closed on hot product.

Measured portions are filled into retort pouches or trays and sealed. Seal quality is what the sterilisation stage depends on, so seals are checked as they are made.

Sealed packs are sterilised in a retort so the food keeps without refrigeration, or pasteurised where the pack is sold chilled. Packs are then cooled and surface-dried before they are handled further.

Each pack is leak-tested and inspected, since a failed seal is the main risk in retort products. Passed packs are labelled, coded and cased for dispatch.