Different tools and equipment used in food processing

Within the general mechanical processing classifications—i. Table 2 below describes the overarching classifications and outlines some of their more specific unit operations and the equipment used to execute them. Image Credit: DenisProduction. Depending on whether the application and the specific unit operation is aimed towards heating or cooling the food material, heat transfer equipment can be used to direct heat towards or away from the material, respectively. This section of the article will focus primarily on the applications and equipment aimed towards heating food products, while the following section— Preservation Equipment —will touch on the applications and equipment aimed towards cooling food products, as well as those intended to preserve and extend the shelf life of food products.

Heat processing equipment—i. These changes can transform and affect the overall quality of the resulting food products—such as by altering the chemical structure or enhancing the flavor—and serve as a preservation method by inhibiting or destroying the microorganisms or enzymes which cause spoilage. There are many unit operations employed during the heat processing stage, including blanching, baking, roasting, and frying, and Table 3 below describes some of them and outlines the equipment used to execute them.

Baking ovens. Heat exchangers. As indicated above, many of the heat processing operations used in the food processing industry demonstrate preservative qualities. Although there is significant overlap between heat processing equipment and preservation equipment, the previous section already covers the former category—i. Therefore, this section will focus on other preservation methods, processes, and equipment.

The preservation stage of the food processing production cycle ultimately aims to prevent or inhibit the spoilage and increase the shelf life of food products. There is a wide range of preservation methods available ranging from refrigeration to irradiation, each of which acts to destroy microorganisms and enzymes within the food material or, at the very least, limit and depress their activity.

Table 4 below describes some of the methods used for preservation, as well as the equipment used to execute them. Following the preparation and processing stages, food material generally undergoes one or more post-processing operations, which help to produce the final food product and complete the food processing production cycle.

While there are several post-processing operations involved with the production cycle, this section will focus on packaging operations and equipment. Food packaging can serve several functions, including:. Additionally, food packaging is available in several forms—e. Depending on the packaging form used to package the food material, packaging operations, and the equipment employed to execute them, can significantly vary. Some of the other factors which may influence the type of packaging equipment employed include the type and form of food product and the storage, handling, distribution, and marketing requirements.

Table 5 below outlines some of the more commonly used types of food packaging equipment and their functions. Printers e. Volumetric Fillers. An important aspect of food processing and food preparation is the topic of food quality control. Food quality in a production setting can be degraded and compromised by any number of contributing factors, the most common of which include the presence of :.

In addition to these factors, food quality needs to be validated in terms of nutritional content and consistency, be assessed for the presence of allergens, verified with respect to adulteration and certification for GMO, and tested for shelf life.

There are a number of instruments used in food laboratories that can be applied to assure food quality which applies to solids as well as beverages. Some of the most common examples of these instruments and their use are described below. Beyond the aforementioned equipment, there are other types of auxiliary equipment that may not directly contribute to the various food processing stages but are still critical to the food and processing industries and their operations.

This equipment can serve or support several functions throughout the overall production cycle, including:. As outlined above, there is a wide range of food processing equipment available to satisfy the various functions which are integral to the food and food processing industries.

While individual pieces of equipment may have some distinctive considerations—typically based on the specific functions and unit operations which they perform—to keep in mind when designing and selecting equipment for a particular food processing application, there are also a few factors an industry professional or procurement agent can consider across the board to ensure that their food processing equipment fulfills their needs.

These factors include:. In contrast to electric grinders, the hand-operated model attaches to a countertop with a screw and clamp, whereas the electric meat grinder is freestanding. The electric meat grinder has roller bearings, a motor housing, a meat pan, a heavy-duty handle for easy moving, a motor, a meat stomper the rotating blade that cuts through the meat , stuffing, fine and coarse plates perforated cutting disks allowing you to choose the level of crushing and stuffing tubes.

You can find ovens in most homes, and they are essential components in the food-processing industry as well. Oven systems uniformly cook products at faster rates with higher yields and maximum safety. These industrial ovens provide repeatable and uniform cooking with their different components such as fans, nozzles, heating elements, conveyor supports and casings, all engineered to provide a consistent temperature across the entire width of the conveyor.

You can subdivide oven systems into different kinds, including twin-drum spiral ovens with cylindrical designs that circulate air in a degree pattern. Another type of oven system is the multipurpose oven, which increases cooking parameters for a variety of products such as poultry, beef, pork, seafood, vegetable and filled products. By: JacobL.

How to Use a Universal No. A KitchenAid stand mixer can be found in many a suburban kitchen. Maybe you got one for a wedding gift, like I did.

Or maybe it was a birthday gift from your spouse. The stand mixer sure is handy for mixing batter or whipping cream.

But did you know that if you add different attachments sold separately , your stand mixer can do a lot more? You see, KitchenAid sells a whole bunch of attachments for the stand mixer, from a food processor attachment to a pasta roller. But if you make and preserve large quantities of tomato sauce like I do every year, the most useful attachment is the fruit and vegetable strainer and food grinder combination set.

They also can be used to make other vegetable and fruit sauces, chutneys, or jams. On its own, the grinder attachment can be used to grind meat for making sausages. What you would do without it: If you are trying to make and can tomato sauce or juice without the strainer and grinder attachments or another food strainer tool , you will have a lot more work to do. Juicing tomatoes the old-fashioned way is a laborious process that requires you to peel and core the tomatoes, heat them, and then force them through a sieve to remove the seeds.

Who has time for all of that? Read more: Using surplus tomatoes: How to make and can tomato sauce in three easy steps. Buy it:. Zucchini and its sister the summer squash are two of the easiest vegetables to preserve. I always freeze what seems like a ton of zucchini during the months of July and August, in a process that first requires shredding zucchini.

The tool that makes my efforts possible is my Moulinex julienne grater. It allows me to shred pounds of squash in no time at all. My vintage grater is hard to come by these days, but a nearly identical version is available from Westmark of Germany. What it does: The hand held rotary grater with has three interchanging blades for fine and coarse grating or slicing. The operation is quite similar to dry cleaning process.

Based on a measurable physical characteristic, sorting classifies and separates contaminants and foreign matter from raw food material. Food processing equipment used during this process are -. Now that we have a brief idea with the preparation equipment, let's go to the next step of food processing i. The first unit operation done in the mechanical processing to reduce the average particle size of solid food matter through mechanical processes involving shear, impact or compression force.

The type of equipments involved are -. Mechanical processes such as agglomeration or forming, extrusion increase the average particle size of solid food matter. The equipments involved are -. The average particle size is reduced and consistency of semi-solid and liquid food matter is increased. Types of food processing equipment are -. To achieve and maintain a uniform mixture, mixing combines and disperses two or more components into one another.