Steam blancher

for fruits and vegetablesfor the food industryhorizontal

Our steam blancher has been designed for blanching/cooking and cooling of products, e.g. plums and potatoes, where washing out of flavour and starch must be reduced to a minimum. Product is fed to the cooking zone by means of a horizontal integrated screw conveyor and discharged onto a continuously moving belt. This solution reduces steam loss from the machine to a minimum thanks to a very limited product inlet opening. The product is cooked in steam which is circulated and distributed in the zone by means of a number of integrated fans. The cooking efficiency is equivalent to that of water spray cooking. The first cooling step is evaporative cooling with ambient air including a small quantity of water preventing drip loss. To prevent product from blocking the air flow, for instance by clogging up the holes in the belt, the cooling air passes through the belt and product layer from below thereby creating a fluid bed. In addition, adjustable product agitators will stir the product during the process. Product temperature is reduced to approx. 37 grader celsius. The last cooling step is cooling with mechanically chilled air. The air is recirculated by means of fans and passes the integrated heat exchanger, creating an air temperature of approx. 2 grader celsius. Product agitators are also included in this zone. The product discharge temperature is approx. 10 degrees celsius. Benefits • Optimum preservation of product characteristics • Evaporative cooling - minimizes cooling requirements • Automatic cleaning in cooker & cooler sections (CIP) • Minimum use of water • Improved aspect of processed product - for instance cauliflower