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Background/Objectives: Convenience cooking foods have gained popularity as they reduce the time and effort spent on preparation. These types of products are often deemed unhealthy and low in nutrients. However, if these products had an adequate serving and variety of vegetables and healthful sources of protein, they could be a good time-efficient and cost-effective alternative. However, there is no established evidence on health professionals’ opinions and ideas about convenience cooking products, nor is their information whether if they consume them or recommend them to their patients/clients, or whether they could provide a solution when patients are confronted with decision fatigue. The objective of the present study is to define the opinions that health professionals have regarding convenience cooking products and their healthfulness, if they use these products themselves, if they recommend these products to clients, and their ideas regarding decision fatigue and the use of convenience cooking products. Methods: A cross-sectional survey analysed the opinions of 143 Australian health professional participants, including dietitians, nutritionists, and doctors on their use of the products, if they recommend them to their clients, their health opinions of the products and decision fatigue. Results: The findings indicate that 74.8% of the participants use convenience products. The participant’s professions (p = 0.0014) and their personal usage of the products (p = 0.0154) significantly correlated with their recommending these products. Additionally, 86.7% of participants believed that decision fatigue impacts food choices. Conclusion: These insights highlight the complex role of convenience cooking products in dietary practices, particularly for time-poor individuals, and provide insight into the potential for future improvements in the nutritional formulations of these products to enhance their acceptability among health professionals.

The quick-cooking rice product is an interesting product for the market which is easy to cook, with good sensorial qualities and health benefits. This work aimed to study the effect of the soaking conditions, namely baking powder concentration (0.1, 0.2, or 0.3%), soaking temperature (room temperature, 50 or 60 °C), and soaking time (10, 20, or 30 min), in order to improve the physical properties and also the sensory characteristics, with high bioactive compound content, of Quick-Cooking Black Jasmine Rice (QBJR). The physical properties of the final product, namely the rehydration capacity, morphology, and texture, were observed. Moreover, the total phenolic, total flavonoid, and total anthocyanin were determined. The results showed that the samples with a high baking powder concentrations soaked at high temperatures for longer time affect the low rehydration capacity with a high hardness value and a decreased bioactive compound content. In addition, the sensory score including softener, flavor, and overall acceptance were lower score. Moreover, to determine the best soaking condition with complex data, the Fuzzy Analytical Method (FAM) was performed by an online FAM program. The results showed that soaking at room temperature for 30 min in 0.1% of baking powder showed the highest overall performance index of 6.52.

This research introduced an energy-efficient drying method combining hot-air drying with stepwise microwave heating for producing quick-cooking red beans. Crucial parameters such as the effective diffusivity coefficient (De), and specific energy consumption (SEC) were examined across varying conditions with the aim of optimizing the drying condition. The results showed that De and SEC varied in a range of 0.53 × 10−9–3.18 × 10−9 m2·s−1 and 16.58–68.06 MJ·(kg·h−1)−1, respectively. The findings from the response surface methodology indicated that optimal drying conditions for cooked red beans are achieved at a hot air temperature of 90 °C, a microwave power of 450 W (corresponding to an initial intensity of 2.25 W·g−1), and a rotational speed of 0.2 Hz. These conditions lead to the maximum effective diffusivity coefficient and the lowest specific energy consumption. Further investigations into step-up (150–300 W to 300–450 W) and step-down (300–450 W to 150–300 W) microwave heating modes were conducted to refine the drying process for enhanced energy efficiency. The synthetic evaluation index revealed that step-down microwave heating strategies of 450 W-to-150 W and 300 W-to-150 W, applied at a temperature of 90 °C and a rotational speed of 0.2 Hz, were notably effective. These methods successfully minimized energy use while preserving the quality attributes of the final product, which were comparable to those of traditionally cooked and freeze-dried red beans. The combined approach of hot-air drying with step-down microwave heating presents a promising, energy-saving technique for producing quick-cooking beans that retain their rehydration qualities and texture.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) is one of the emerging technologies that has been applied in many aspects of the food industry. This study examined the impacts of a PEF on the cooking quality, physicochemical properties, nutritional factors, and in vitro protein and starch digestion of two varieties of rice, including Jasmine 105 (white non-glutinous rice) and San Pa Tong 1 (white glutinous rice). Response surface methodology (RSM) and a three-level, three-factor Box–Behnken design were employed to assess the effects of the pulse number, electric field strength, and frequency on cooking time. The findings demonstrated that the number of pulses was a crucial factor influencing cooking time. Under optimal conditions (3347–4345 pulses, electric field strengths of 6–8 kV/cm, and frequencies ranging from 6 to 15 Hz), the rice cooking time was significantly reduced by 40–50% (p < 0.05) when compared to a conventional method. Moreover, PEF-treated rice showed a significant enhancement in in vitro protein and starch digestibility (p < 0.05), as well as retained a higher content of rapidly digestible starch. These results suggested that PEF treatment is a promising green technology for producing a novel quick-cooking rice with an improved eating quality.

With rising consumer demand for fast-food options, quick-service restaurants are constantly developing new menu items to attract consumers. Sous vide cookery has become popular for the in-home and fine dining consumer but has not been considered the first cooking option for quick service applications. Therefore, ground beef patties were manufactured to measure the influence of sous vide cooking time on the patty characteristics of moisture, color, and objective tenderness. Patties were randomly assigned a sous vide cooking time of 30, 60, or 90 min and then grilled to an internal temperature of 71.1 °C. Patties sous vide cooked for 30 min exhibited the greatest (p < 0.05) cook loss, Allo–Kramer Shear Force (AKSF) and were darker (L*) than patties sous vide cooked for 60 or 90 min. Additionally, neither internal redness, calculated spectral values of chroma, hue angle, or red-to-brown differed (p > 0.05) regardless of sous vide cooking time. Sous vide cooking duration prior to grilling the ground beef patties altered the moisture, color, and objective texture characteristics of ground beef patties.

The proliferation of cooking videos on the internet these days necessitates the conversion of these lengthy video contents into concise text recipes. Many online platforms now have a large number of cooking videos, in which, there is a challenge for viewers to extract comprehensive recipes from lengthy visual content. Effective summary is necessary in order to translate the abundance of culinary knowledge found in videos into text recipes that are easy to read and follow. This will make the cooking process easier for individuals who are searching for precise step by step cooking instructions. Such a system satisfies the needs of a broad spectrum of learners while also improving accessibility and user simplicity. As there is a growing need for easy-to-follow recipes made from cooking videos, researchers are looking on the process of automated summarization using advanced techniques. One such approach is presented in our work, which combines simple image-based models, audio processing, and GPT-based models to create a system that makes it easier to turn long culinary videos into in-depth recipe texts. A systematic workflow is adopted in order to achieve the objective. Initially, Focus is given for frame summary generation which employs a combination of two convolutional neural networks and a GPT-based model. A pre-trained CNN model called Inception-V3 is fine-tuned with food image dataset for dish recognition and another custom-made CNN is built with ingredient images for ingredient recognition. Then a GPT based model is used to combine the results produced by the two CNN models which will give us the frame summary in the desired format. Subsequently, Audio summary generation is tackled by performing Speech-to-text functionality in python. A GPT-based model is then used to generate a summary of the resulting textual representation of audio in our desired format. Finally, to refine the summaries obtained from visual and auditory content, Another GPT-based model is used which combines the output of the frame summary and audio summary modules and give the final enhanced summary. By minimizing the complications involved with traditional and sophisticated methodologies, this research helps with the development of a straightforward but efficient cooking video summarization system. The results achieved in the work are on par with the existing work in the respective field which demonstrates comparable performance and efficacy in converting cooking videos into detailed recipe texts.

Background In response to the growing need for effective programmes to promote healthy eating habits among children in real-world settings, we conducted a qualitative study. Our aim was to explore the content-related needs of early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff regarding the core components of an upcoming digital “healthy eating” resource. This resource, designed for real-world implementation through the Nutrition Now project, seeks to enhance children’s nutrition and health within ECEC settings. Methods Twelve individual semi-structured interviews with ECEC staff in a Norwegian municipality were conducted. Subsequently, we conducted two focus group discussions, involving five participants, to encourage reflection on the preliminary findings from the individual interviews. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted using Nvivo software. Data from the interviews and focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically to identify and summarise staff’s subjective experiences and reasoning. Results Six themes were identified for the development of the upcoming digital “healthy eating” resource: (1) A comprehensive recipe bank, and menu suggestions, (2) Tips for easy and quick cooking, simple hygiene and allergy management, (3) Age-appropriate food learning ideas, (4) Strategies for mealtime learning and engagement, (5) Alignment with the national ECEC curriculum, and (6) Parent-friendly access and content. Conclusions This research provides valuable guidance and informs the adaptation of an expert-led digital “healthy eating” intervention to better suit ECEC staff and the ECEC context, consequently enhancing its feasibility and effectiveness.

Fluidized bed drying associated with pulsed swirling compressed-air was proposed as an alternative production method for instant riceberry to overcome surface stickiness and problematic preparation steps. Effects of fluidizing air temperature (70–90 °C) and compressed-air pressure (2–4 bar) were investigated by kinetic analysis. The Page model described drying kinetics associated with quadratic correlations between all model parameters and operating factors. Among different models, the Weibull equation suitably described rehydration behavior, and shape parameters quadratically correlated with drying parameters. Thermal degradation of anthocyanins was assessed using the first-order kinetics equation. Drying conditions influenced all kinetic parameters and physical properties. Optimal operation was determined as fluidizing air temperature at 90 °C with compressed-air pressure of 3.88 bar.

Since enzymes cannot make otherwise unreactive substrates bind or cleave, I preface the cooking demonstration with a rather unlikely scenario: I ask the students to picture a kitchen where flour, oil, water, yeast, sugar, and salt are sitting on the counter, as I have them on the instructor's desk.