Waste-eliminating cheese block former
The versatile Vemag cheese block former from Reiser is a superior solution for producing a wide variety of cheese block shapes and sizes. This solution eliminates waste and increases yields and profits by repurposing cheese trim, ends, scraps and other off-cuts to produce exact-weight cheese blocks. The USDA Dairy Accepted Vemag features a powerful positive-displacement double-screw pump that provides the highest levels of portioning accuracy. The double-screw transports product gently and without smearing. It extrudes a shaped product with consistent thickness and width. It is equipped with a cutoff device to control the length of the product and ensure exact-weight portions with clean, even edges. The block former is designed for easy changeover from one shape to another and is available in a variety of models to meet any production requirement.
781-821-1290; www.reiser.com
Semi-automatic wheel cutters for a variety of cheese sizes
Hart Design & Manufacturing has two semi-automatic wheel cutter options: a rotary portion cutter and a rotary cutter. Both of Hart’s semi-automatic wheel cutters are robust solutions for producing wedges of natural cheese in a variety of sizes from a round wheel. The rotary portion cutter is a versatile exact-weight wedge cutter. It quickly cuts most types of cheese with speed and accuracy. After placing the wheel on the scale, the operator enters the weight of the wheel and selects the exact weight by entering the desired wedge weight or the number of slices to get equal wedges. The rotary portion cutter accepts wheels with a maximum 12 ½-inch diameter and 5-inch height. The rotary cutter is designed for larger wheels of cheese that need to be cored prior to cutting and can cut wheels as large as 17 ¾ inches in diameter and up to 7 inches in height.
920-468-5927; www.HartDesign.com
Cheese cutter designed for improved speed, efficiency
The GEA DualSlicer is fitted with a new interleaver designed to meet improved speed, operating safety and handling requirements. The interleaver has two completely separate film drives, which allow it to adjust to products of different lengths in each track. There is also an option to select a fixed overall paper length per portion for variable slice numbers and excess length for each track. This allows the customer to set a fixed tare weight on the calibrated checkweigher at the end of the line for the weight of the interleaver film. There is also no need to stop the machine to change the paper roll or deal with jams.
+49 211 9136-1492; www.gea.com
Energy-efficient homogenizer
Admix’s Boston Shearmill (BSM) is being used to replace high-pressure homogenizers in cheese starter make-up and cottage cheese dressing single-pass particle reduction, according to the company. Compared to high-pressure homogenizers, the BSM reduces energy consumption by 70%, water consumption by 50%, and maintenance expense and downtime by 90%. The BSM delivers up to 165 gallons per minute, has a 64-inch by 25-inch by 27-foot (height) footprint, and operates at up to 50 horsepower.
800-466-2369; www.admix.com
Cheese cutting machine for cheese bars, half loaves
ALPMA’s CombiCUT is a two-in-one machine that is used for a wide variety of cheeses, from round Gouda half loaves to cheddar bars, in under 5 minutes. It provides flexible separation through single cut. It offers a wide range of consistencies through ultrasound cutting technology, and it’s suitable for production lines up to an output of 100/minute.
+1 414 559 5961; www.alpma.com
Flexible production lines for processed and cream cheese
Karl Schnell flexible production lines offer a variety of product flows that can be implemented to produce spreadable or sliceable products on the same system. This is due to the comprehensive machine range, which covers all production steps from raw material preparation to filling.
920-982-9974; www.karlschnell.com
Positive displacement pump for curd transfer
According to Pentair, when cheese plants transfer curd using a positive displacement pump, it is important to provide protection from unexpected pump pressure due to a process disturbance. Pentair Südmo’s EAF+ pressure-relief valve provides safety and full cleaning of the pump and process line. The adjustable spring tension allows the valve to be installed so that in the event of a process disturbance, the valve will relieve excess pressure, allowing the pump to recirculate. The pressure-relief valve can also be used to prevent backflow in piping or relieve pressure on piping systems or anywhere sanitary pressure relief protection is required.
800-218-3915; www.foodandbeverage.pentair.com
3A-stamped high performance cheese vats
Sanitary Design Industries redesigned its lineup of high-performance cheese vats — the horizontal open vat and the artisan triple vat. These are currently the only vats of their type available on the market that are designed to meet the most rigid sanitary standards required to carry the important 3A stamp, said the company. The new cheese vats are efficient and advanced.
314-517-4397; www.sanitarydesigns.com
Analyzers for predicting, calculating protein-to-fat ratio
ProSpect Analytical Technology’s In-Line NIR analyzers are valuable tools used to predict and calculate the protein-to-fat ratio when filling a cheese vat. The exact protein-to-fat ratio ensures maximum yield per cheese vat and prevents unwanted loss of protein. ProSpect in-line NIR analyzers are fully automatic with two predictions completed every minute and ratios calculated after each scan. Data are sent directly to the factory PLC to facilitate real time automated formula adjustments for optimized process control. The analyzers are easy to calibrate and specifically designed to operate on the factory floor in NEMA 4X enclosures with 3A-approved fully CIPable sanitary flow cells installed directly in the process lines. ProSpect offers a Model TS-30 single analyzer capable of monitoring one process line and a Model TD-30 dual analyzer that can monitor two process lines simultaneously.
888-980-1216; www.prospectanalytical.com
Crane-operated brine systems
Tetra Pak expanded its brine system offerings. The latest design builds on the proven deep-tank brine concept to make it more suitable for long-hold cheeses that require brine times in excess of 12 hours. Individually sized for low- to high-capacity operations, the brine system design features flexibility in an all-stainless steel tank that may be installed partially in ground or fully above ground, and with brine cages that may be expanded to hold up to 12,500 pounds of cheese per cage.
608-846-4499; www.tetrapakusa.com
Compact cheese dicer for difficult-to-cut applications
The Affinity Integra Dicer manufactured by Urschel is a smaller version of the original Affinity Dicer. Like the original, the Affinity Integra excels at processing challenging, difficult-to-cut applications such as cheese, cold-temperature products and more. The clean-cutting action achieves high yields of precise, targeted cut sizes well within customer parameters. This dicer incorporates design elements from the longstanding Model RA series, the Affinity and the Sprint, with the ability to replace existing in-line Model RA series machines.
844-877-2435; www.urschel.com
