Solid Belt Brings Benefits For Seafood
The key to success for seafood processors is getting product to market in the right condition. Because it is so delicate, seafood needs to be handled very carefully to retain the best possible visual appearance to the consumer. It will also be damaged if it is frozen too slowly.
As a specialist in freezing technology, JBT FoodTech is constantly modifying its Frigoscandia range to improve processing capabilities, efficiency and throughput. The company’s latest development, the ADVANTEC™ Steel Belt Impingement Freezer, has been designed specifically with seafood processors in mind.
The key feature is the solid steel belt, particularly effective for seafood as it prevents product sticking to the belt, allowing it to be placed and moved around the belt easily by hand, as Barry Jackson, JBT FoodTech’s regional sales manager for the UK, explains: “The ADVANTEC™ Freezer uses patented impingement technology to blast high velocity air jets at products, dispersing the boundary layer of insulating air which holds heat around the product. This results in extremely fast freezing times. Normally the product would immediately stick to a frozen mesh belt or, if soft and delicate, could sink into the mesh leaving marks.”
He adds: “However, the infeed of the solid steel belt is ‘wet’, not frozen as it’s defrosted as it travels around from the outfeed. This means that it’s possible to move the product around once it’s been placed on the solid belt ensuring it retains its shape, and resulting in a much better-looking end product. The solid belt is particularly useful for large delicate products such as king scallops, which deform easily, and flat fish as it prevents any head-to-tail U shapes.”
The new solid belt machine will be offered alongside the traditional mesh belt of the conventional ADVANTEC™ Impingement Freezers and has many uses. For example, pureed peas or sauces can be frozen as droplets and used in small quantities by chefs or in the QSR sector. Extruded seafood, particularly scampi, can be re-formed and re-shaped into scampi-shaped nuggets before being coated and fried. The solid belt can also be used for marinated chicken breasts, or any soft, sticky products which would normally sink into, or drip through, a mesh belt.
The solid steel belt comes in a 1500mm width with a variable belt speed of 0.5 metre up to 24 metres per minute. The upper impingement fingers can be adjusted from 35mm to 185mm from the top of the belt. Cleaning systems are available for belt rinsing, belt foaming, evaporator cleaning or a combination of these.
“Many seafood processors will have to phase out their old, traditional steel belt freezers when the use of CFC refrigerants is outlawed at the end of 2014,” says Barry Jackson. “At JBT FoodTech we anticipated this need, and we consider the solid belt ADVANTEC ™ Steel Belt Freezer to be an excellent alternative providing superior rates of freezing and higher throughputs within the same footprint.”
The ADVANTEC™ Impingement Freezer forms part of the complete range of Frigoscandia freezing solutions available from JBT FoodTech. For further information contact info@jbtfoodtech.com or visit www.jbtfoodtech.com.
