crystals II

[mikan]

Since you all (well, you know who you are) answered my crystal vs. glass question with such clarity, I think it's time for another question related to crystals (of the Folger's variety): how do they make instant coffee? Obviously it's not just a bunch of smashed up coffee beans; it's some kind of "reconstituted" product (bleh!). Anyone know the nitty-gritty of how this is done? (And yes, if anyone knows what those Folger's crystals are for, please do tell.)

[Doobieous]

Its freeze dried coffee. I am not sure on the specifics, but usually it involves freezing the liquid, then applying a vacuum to evaporate the water, and leave the good stuff, etc. Sorry if this isnt that great :). I dont know what the crystals are though.

[rjk]

I couldn't swear to it (i.e. WAG alert! See the sig.), but freeze-dried coffee was a Big Deal when it first came out, at least according to the ads. That suggests that previous versions of instant coffee were made some other way. Here comes the WAG: I know that a lot of concentrates are made by spraying the hot solution into a current of hot air, so the water evaporates. Coffee could be concentrated the same way, then dried completely in trays and ground to powder.

It doesn't really matter; instant tastes pretty horrible anyway.


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Bob the Random Expert
"If we don't have the answer, we'll make one up."

[sunbear]

Just to clrify, freeze dried means just that.A frozen coffee or other solution is exposed to high vacuum where the water evaporates and a solid is left behind. It's probably how they prepare things like insulin and interferon, for storage as solids.