Method for drying food products

A method for drying a food product, the food product having a core surrounded by an outer surface, the method comprising:

• a) introducing the food product into an enclosure, the enclosure being defined by a tank of a mixer with a double jacket in which at least one heat transfer fluid circulates;
• b) heating the food product in the enclosure by application of heat transfer between the at least one heat transfer fluid circulating within the double jacket of the enclosure and the food product;
• c) stabilizing the temperature of the food product;
• d) cooling the outer surface of the food product upon completion of the step c) to create a temperature differential between the outer surface of the food product and the core of the food product in which an outer surface temperature of the food product is less than a core temperature of the food product;
• and
• e) drying the food product present in the enclosure by applying a vacuum to the enclosure with a pressure less than or equal to 200 mbar and applying heat at a temperature chosen so as to obtain the range of the phase diagram of pure water where the pure water is in the gaseous state, the applying of the vacuum to the enclosure during step e) being initiated at a first time point and concluded at a second time point,
• wherein the heat is applied to the food product present in the enclosure when the vacuum is applied to the enclosure during the step e) so as to keep the temperature of the food product constant or increase it during all or part of the step e), and
• wherein the heat is applied to the food product present in the enclosure when the vacuum is applied to the enclosure during the step e) such that the temperature of the food product at the second time point is greater than or equal to the temperature of the food product at the first time point, and
• wherein the heat applied in the step e) is applied by further heat transfer between the at least one heat transfer fluid circulating within the double jacket of the enclosure and the food product, in which the duration of step e) is chosen so that the food product has lost, at completion of the step e), a weight equal to at least 4% of its weight taken before the implementation of the step e).