3 minute read
A new era in food processing technology
Reduce your carbon footprint with the Cook Quench Chill ‘Adapt’ series. This cooking and cooling system for rice, pasta and vegetables gives food manufacturers optimum performance, while using the minimum amount of energy and water.
DC Norris’ research and development team have been busy during the pandemic, using the time to develop fresh ideas and re-design existing equipment to streamline processes and improve efficiency for their customers. The company have paid particular attention to helping customers minimise their carbon footprint by reducing the amount of water and energy required to run their equipment.
The Cook Quench Chill ‘Adapt’ System is just one these new launches. This versatile, user-friendly machine is manufactured to suit the highest demands of the food industry. All areas of the process are designed with optimum performance in mind without compromising on product quality, hygiene and maintenance.
The Cook Quench Chill process uses a series of vessels arranged in-line, which can have a low-to high-risk divide. The product is contained in baskets that tip into each other and ultimately, into a suitable receptacle at the end of the line. The standard Cook Quench Chill is made up of three main parts, namely, cook, quench and chill. However, the versatility of the ‘Adapt' series means that modules can be added or removed according to throughput, which allows manufacturers greater flexibility for expansion. It is also streamlined in construction and is simple to install.
SPEED UP COOKING AND CLEANING TIMES
Products such as pasta, rice, potatoes, and vegetables are cooked or blanched continuously at faster speeds due to the addition of two Jet Cook direct heat systems. The use of DCN’s patented Jet Cook technology allows manufacturers to speed up cooking and cleaning times. It operates by collapsing steam into the product at high velocity through a specially designed nozzle. As the steam collapses it pulls the product (liquid) through, creating a recirculating effect (partial vacuum) in the recirculating pipe. 99.5% of the steam is utilised and then collapsed into the product ensuring huge energy savings. Jet Cook also replaces tube and tube type heat exchangers that are inefficient and take up valuable space.
Recent trials in DCN’s product development kitchen showed the ‘Adapt’ producing 195Kg of cooked and cooled basmati rice in 23min (65kg dry weight), 50kg of diced carrots in just 18.5min and 110kg of cooked and cooled spaghetti in just 15.5min.
SAVE MORE WATER
The ‘Adapt' is designed to achieve maximum water savings with smaller tank capacities and variable water levels to suit different batch sizes. A Weir starch removal system means the same water can be re-used for a new batch. Internal heat exchangers continuously chill and control the Quench and Chill water temperature, saving more water as it recirculates through the stainless-steel heat exchangers.
EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY
Product quality is assured with the variable wave agitation system, which ensures that the product is always kept in suspension producing a damage-free product and preventing product clumping.
The rapid heating and cooling of products such as rice, pasta, vegetables and pulses is critical to maintain nutritional values and both visual and taste quality. Rapid and even heat treatment reduces the loss of nutritional values of certain foods and reduces the damage in plant cell wall structure, which effects eating quality and shelf-life.
Cooling the product at speed is just as important so that bacteria can’t grow and cause illness. It is critical that products pass through the temperature danger zone quickly to reduce the growth of pathogens. MAKING LOADING/UNLOADING MORE EFFICIENT
A DCN designed hydraulic tipper makes loading of the product easier and quicker, tipping directly from the floor. A stainlesssteel trough vibrating conveyor drains water from the product before discharging into a standard tote bin or customer product trays.
A USER-FRIENDLY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SYSTEM
DCN’s process management software controls the entire system. The userfriendly system allows customers to create a step-by-step cooking and cooling process with individual basket agitation speed control and user-access security with all processes stored to a relational database. Each product has its own unique cooking and cooling parameters written in to give precise repeatable times and temperatures. These can then be recorded for full traceability using the virtual chart recorder.
DCN has a product development kitchen in South Africa at the Cape Town Peninsula University and can also assist African manufacturers remotely. •
DC Norris - www.dcnorris.com Courlanders - www.courlanders.co.za
