A new method for frying snacks is keen to tap into the current trend towards healthy eating. US company Harvest Bay has come up with a cooking method whereby by vegetable sticks and chips are vacuum fried leaving the product with half the fat of regular potato chips, the company claims.
In vacuum frying, advanced cooking kettles first draw a vacuum in a chamber, then inject a mist of heated oil around the raw product, cooking the vegetables faster and at a lower temperature than conventional fryers.
Harvest Bay maintains that vacuum fried snacks absorb less oil, and retain more of their natural colours and flavours due to the reduced cooking time and lower temperature.
"We wanted to develop a snack that was healthy but at the same time tasted sinful," said Eric Zitelli, Harvest Bay president. "Vacuum fried snacks give you the satisfying crunch of other fried snacks but taste less greasy and contain less fat. In fact, Harvest Bay vegetable chips contain zero saturated fat and no trans fats," he added.
Recently introduced, Harvest Bay offers six varieties of vegetable chips and sticks, made with carrots, green beans, squash, taro, sweet potatoes, red sweet potatoes and radishes. Flavours include hot and spicy Asian, Tomato Basil, mild Tamari Soy and Original Blend. The products are vacuum fried in 100 per cent non-hydrogenated canola oil.