eli5: How do “instant” versions of foods (instant oatmeal, coffee, rice, etc.) exist? Why are they not the standard since they’re so efficient?
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They require more processing. Instant noodle is cooked, then deep fried, and after that dehydrated. Other instant things like rice and such, similar things are done, but with steam, and once again they are dried. Coffee/tea is basically brewed and freeze dried to remove water to make powder.
They take extra steps and processing, which add costs (Although compensated for by longer shelf life). The noodles I mentioned are not healthy for you. But most “instant whatever” products aren’t really that different from not processed. They might be slightly “inferior” quality because they been processed mechanically and by chemically (as in, not adding chemicals but things like boiling, frying, drying).
But I do know lots of recipies that call for instant versions of common products, or otherwise processed products. Milk powder, condensed milk, instant oats, puffed rice, tea powders, instant potato smash (Like I know that my grandma makes this really good traditional potato casserole every yule and it is done with instant mashed potatoes as a base and powdered potatoes). They are ingredients like any other on the grand scheme of things.
But if you compare the price/kg then instant products are more expensive to “not processed” ones. So 10kg of basic rice is cheaper than 10kg on instant.
But a good thing to remember that these products are efficient from your perspective. From the perspective of supply chains they are not. But consumers are buying more and more of these “processed” food, and lot of them aren’t any less healthy than the regular ones having only been basically cooked and dried. I myself have noticed that having to wait 30 minutes to cook potatoes or rice, just to save few euros… is simply not worth it lot of the time.
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