Here is all about food processing equipment. As we know the demand for packaged food items has increased over the past few decades. The food processing industry is very diverse and complex. In a complete production cycle in this industry, a wide range of food processing equipment is being used. 

This equipment is beneficial in processing the raw material of bakery goods to beverages and dairy and various other industries. The food processing equipment is specifically designed to perform a particular task in food processing applications.

What do we understand by Food Processing Equipment?

Food processing equipment is referred to processing machines and systems that are used to prepare, process, store, and package food products. The raw food materials are processed to make them consumable by humans. This method includes a variety of steps requiring various equipment. The overall method is called food processing. A variety of machinery and equipment, instruments, and devices are used by the food processing industry.

Where does food processing equipment find its application?

The use of food processing equipment is throughout the food and food processing industries for manufacturing the final food products. The manufacturing industries are nowadays choosing advanced food processing equipment to improve the quality of their product.

Meat, Poultry, & Seafood

Bowl chopper, bone crusher machine, vacuum meat tumbler, frozen meat slicer, meat smoking machines are used in the meat, poultry, & seafood industry.

Beverage

Kettles, tanks, vacuum pans, agitators, cooker coolers, mixers, fluid transfer, and blenders are used in the beverage industry.

Bakery & Confectionaries

Flour sifter, mixer, oven, dough divider, bread cooler, etc are the equipment used in bakery and Confectionaries.

Dairy

Evaporators and dryers are used to process skim milk and making condensed milk. The commonly used Food Processing Equipment includes cream separators, boiler, tank storage, homogenizer, packing machine, etc.

Types of food processing equipment on the basis of mode of operation

Semi-automatic equipment:

This equipment requires human intervention at some point in order to complete the process. the semi-automated equipment cost low as compared to fully automated equipment. That is why manufacturers due to availability of labor and depending on a financial budget opt for semi-automatic equipment.

Automatic equipment:

This equipment doesn’t require any human intervention. Fully automatic equipment starts the process on its own and finishes it with minimal or no operator assistance. The cost of this equipment is high. The production rate is also higher and thus increased productivity.

What are the types of food processing equipment?

The production process in the food processing industry is divided mainly into two parts. One is pre-processing, following this post-processing step is performed. For each step different types of food processing equipment are used.

Pre-processing Equipment:

In pre-processing involves washing, cutting, and sorting of raw material. To match the production method, specific equipment is required

Cleaning:

 In this step of processing, contaminants and foreign matter from the surface of raw material. It can be done either by wet process or dry process. Spray Washers, Ultrasonic cleaners, air classifiers, magnetic separators, floatation tanks are some of the common cleaning equipment.

Peeling:

This step helps in removing the undesirable material from the raw material. It improves the overall quality of the final product.

Grading:

 It is related to sorting or precluding. The characteristics of food matter are assessed to check the quality of the material. Image processors, laboratory equipment, tungsten lights are used in this step.

Sorting:

On the basis of physical characteristics, the contaminants and fresh material are separated. Sieves, sorting conveyors, machine vision sorting systems, etc are the equipment used in this process.

Post-processing Equipment:

This equipment needs to work with high precision and speed. Oven, fryer, freezers, dehydrators, wrapping, and palatizing systems are required in the processing and post-processing step.

Reasons for increasing demand for Food Processing Equipment

The increasing demand for processed food in developed and developing countries. The use of Food Processing Equipment improves the quality and hygiene of packaged food items. There's a continual need for process innovation and it is becoming more demanding and sophisticated. The consumer also prefers to have healthy food and beverages. They expect novelty, value for money, a product that is safely packaged. In past years, the problems of food contamination have increased and seriously damages the trust of the public. This leads to a higher demand for the safety and reliability of machines that must be easier to maintain.

Advantages of Food Processing Equipment

• Increases manufacturing capacities.
• Packaged and processed food are less susceptible to spoilage.
• Improves the quality of packaged food.
• Increases the production of food industries.

The bottom line

The Food Processing Equipment market has been witnessing rapid growth due to the increasing preference of the consumer for packaged food items. For a complete production cycle in the industry, a wide range of food processing equipment is being used. There are two types of food processing equipment depending on the mode of operation.

This equipment is used throughout the food industry. The food processing equipment is specifically designed to perform a particular task in food processing applications.