flash freeze

[RawMagnolia]

Does anyone know what this means?

[heabrook]

Flash freezing is used in the food industry to quickly freeze perishable food items. In this case, water contained inside the food items is subjected to temperatures well below its melting/freezing point. This causes the water inside the foods to freeze spontaneously and in a very short period of time.

[RawMagnolia]

Does this "kill" the food? Or is it still raw??

[heabrook]

Freezing allows foods to be stored for longer periods than refrigeration because it inhibits enzyme activity and microbial growth to a greater degree. The greatest disadvantage of freezing is that the water in food expands and forms ice crystals. The ice crystal formation disrupts the structure of plant cells. Faster freezing, such as flash freezing, means that smaller ice crystals form, resulting in less damage to cells.

Therefore.. ?? hard to say if it would be considered raw. Flash freezing does less damage to the plant cells. Of course, it isn't 100% raw since it has been processed to a degree. This, I would say, would have to be a personal judgement on your part. If you want to eat 100% raw, then you will eat only raw and not frozen. Otherwise, you can incorporate some frozen fruit.

[RawMagnolia]

Well I'm not 100% (would like to be tho ;) ) so for now this will work well for me then.

Thanks for the info :)

[heabrook]

You're welcome.

I don't see anything wrong with using frozen fruit, though. I think Alissa uses it in some of her recipes too. But technically speaking, frozen is not completely raw.

Cute bunny :)

[RawMagnolia]

I agree that fresh is best... but in my neck of the woods (we are still in winter) the next best will have to do!! ;)

[Sheryl]

I would say that frozen foods are still raw, but they are not LIVE!

Raw = not heated above 118
Live = there is still cellular life in the plant (or the potential for it in a seed)

There are actually raw foodists that only eat live foods, and many that eat both raw and living foods.

Cheers,
Sheryl