Drying process of noodles

Drying is a classic process to preserve foods, which grant longer shelf life, making the food lighter and even smaller for storage and easy to be transported compared to wet product.

Drying can be carried out in a solar dryer or a fuel-fired dryer. The noodles can be dried in the sun, but the quality will be lower than if a dryer is used.

The traditional drying processes and common practices for the traditional dried instant noodles are relied on air temperature ranges between 29ºC and 35°C.

In a commercial production process of instant noodles, drying temperature is an important factor controlling quality of the noodles. When noodles are dried at high temperatures, a foaming phenomenon is caused in the inside of noodles. This phenomenon decreases the product value.

Noodle drying can be achieved by air drying, deep frying or vacuum drying. Air drying usually takes 5-8 hours to dry regular noodles (long and straight) and 30-40 minutes to dry steamed and airdried instant noodles. Drying by frying takes only a few minutes. Vacuum drying of frozen noodles is a newer technology making it possible to produce premium quality products.
Drying process of noodles