As American as Apple Fries: cryogenic freezing improves product quality for apple snack manufacturer.(FIELD REPORTS)(Excellent Foods)

Excellent Foods in Burbank, WA, is hoping its new Apple Fries product will become as American as apple pie. Similar in appearance to wedge-cut French fries, but with a better nutritional profile, Apple Fries are made with 100% Washington-grown Granny Smith and Fuji apples, free of preservatives and artificial color and low in calories, fat, carbs and sodium.

As consumers continue to turn toward healthier fare, inventor Rich Shepard is hoping that Apple Fries will capture the fancy of the American public.

However, the advent of Apple Fries didn't happen overnight. Shepard, president of Excellent Foods, spent four years developing the product. His determination, -320[degrees]F liquid nitrogen and Air Products, an industrial gas and technology provider, all came together to give Apple Fries a shot at becoming the next American staple.

Following a trial-and-error period in which Shepard experimented with a variety of apples and more than 300 different recipes, he and Roy Hillman, operations manager and CEO for Excellent Foods, found a former asparagus processing plant in Burbank, WA, gutted it and built a processing line partly with used machinery and partly with equipment built to their specifications.

"Since no one made Apple Fries, we couldn't just pick up the phone and order the machinery" says Hillman. "We had to either make it or modify it."

Even with a plant and proper equipment in place, there was still a significant hurdle to clear regarding the freezing process. Freezing Apple Fries in a normal-chill blast tunnel dehydrated the product by 10%. This created a void in the apple wedges, causing the prototypes to become saturated in grease when cooked. Excellent Foods found that it could solve the problem with -320[degrees]F liquid nitrogen, which ...