Frozen meal facts for kids
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A frozen meal is a complete meal that is packaged and frozen. It's made for one person and is super easy to heat up at home. People call them by different names, like TV dinners (especially in the US and Canada), ready meals (in the UK), or microwave meals.
In places like the United States and Canada, a frozen meal often has a main dish, like meat or pasta, along with sides like vegetables or potatoes. Sometimes, there's even a dessert! In Europe, you might find popular frozen meals inspired by Indian or Chinese dishes. There are also "chilled ready meals" that are kept in the fridge, not frozen. They heat up faster but don't last as long.
The name "TV dinner" became popular because of a brand created in 1953 by a company called Swanson. Their first "TV Dinner" came in an aluminum tray that you heated in an oven. Today, most frozen meals come in plastic or cardboard trays that are safe for the microwave.
The Story of TV Dinners
Even though some smaller companies had ideas for frozen dinners earlier, Swanson was the first to make them really popular. The very first Swanson TV Dinner came out in the United States. It was a Thanksgiving meal with turkey, cornbread dressing, frozen peas, and sweet potatoes.
These meals were packed in special trays, similar to those used for airline meals. Each food item had its own section. These trays were super handy! You could take the whole dinner out of its box, heat the tray directly in the oven, and even eat right from the tray. The first TV Dinner cooked in 25 minutes at 425°F (218°C) and cost 98 cents. Swanson thought they would sell about 5,000 dinners in the first year.
The name "TV dinner" was thought up by Gerry Thomas, who helped create the product. Back then, televisions were new and exciting. Thomas believed "TV Dinner" sounded convenient, and the Swanson leaders agreed.
Many things have changed since those first TV Dinners:
- In 1960, Swanson added desserts like apple cobbler to their meals.
- By 1969, you could buy frozen TV breakfasts, with pancakes and sausage being very popular.
- In 1973, Swanson launched "Hungry-Man" dinners, which had bigger portions.
- In 1986, the first trays safe for microwave ovens were introduced.
Today, most frozen dinners come in microwave-safe containers. They are super easy to make: just remove or vent the plastic cover and heat them in a microwave for a few minutes. Sometimes, you might need to stir something, like mashed potatoes, halfway through heating to make sure everything cooks evenly.
In the United Kingdom, frozen ready meals became widely available in the late 1970s. They grew popular as more homes got freezers and microwaves. Also, more people living alone meant these easy meals were a great choice. In 2003, the UK spent a huge amount on ready meals, becoming the biggest consumer in Europe!
Besides frozen meals, chilled (unfrozen) ready meals are also very popular. These are kept in the fridge and need less time to reheat. They are meant to be eaten soon after buying. You can find many different kinds of ready meals now, including "gourmet" options, organic dishes, vegetarian meals, and even smaller meals for kids.
Who Invented the TV Dinner?
The true inventor of the TV Dinner is a bit of a mystery! One story, which became known in 1996, says that a retired Swanson executive named Gerry Thomas came up with the idea. He said he thought of it when the company had too many frozen turkeys left over after Thanksgiving.
However, others have challenged this story. The Los Angeles Times, members of the Swanson family, and former Swanson employees say the Swanson brothers themselves should get the credit.
Betty Cronin, a scientist who worked at Swanson, also played a big part. She helped figure out how to design the meals so they could be frozen and then heated up successfully.
Swanson's idea wasn't completely new. As early as 1944, frozen dinners were served on airplanes. Other companies also sold prepackaged meals before Swanson's TV Dinner. For example, in 1948, "dinner plates" with a main course, potato, and vegetable were sold. In 1952, Quaker States Foods introduced frozen dinners in oven-ready aluminum trays.
Swanson, a large company that made canned and frozen poultry, was able to make frozen dinners a huge success. They used their well-known brand name and a clever advertising campaign called "Operation Smash." The name "TV Dinner" really connected with people's excitement about the new television sets.
How Frozen Meals Are Made
Making frozen meals is a very automated process with three main steps: preparing the food, loading it into trays, and freezing it.
First, the food preparation begins. Vegetables and fruits are usually washed on a moving belt. Then, they are steamed or boiled for a short time (1-3 minutes). This process is called blanching. It helps stop natural changes in the food that could affect its flavor and color. For meats, they are trimmed, cut into the right sizes, seasoned, and cooked in an oven. Fish is cleaned and cut into fillets, and poultry is washed and prepared.
Next, the food goes to the filling lines. The cooked food is placed into its separate sections in the trays as they move along. Machines make sure that every meal gets the correct amount of each food item.
Finally, the meals go through freezing. They are flash-frozen using liquid nitrogen, which is a very cold liquid. As the food moves on a conveyor belt, it's sprayed with liquid nitrogen. This method freezes the food very quickly, which helps keep its natural quality. When food is frozen this way, tiny ice crystals form, which can preserve the food for a very long time if stored properly. This quick freezing method is great because it causes less damage to the food and keeps oxygen out, which helps prevent spoilage.
After freezing, the dinners are covered with aluminum foil or paper. They are packed tightly, sometimes with a partial vacuum, to prevent the food from drying out. Then, the packaged dinners are stored in a refrigerated facility, transported by refrigerated trucks, and kept in the freezer section of grocery stores. If frozen and packaged correctly, TV dinners can stay in great condition for a long time, as long as they are kept at -18°C (0°F) during shipping and storage.
