The Mepaco team engineers equipment and systems specific to the processing application in each thermal processing project. In mixing and blending operations, application engineering is especially important because product quality and efficiencies are at stake. The food product, viscosity, texture, cycle times, and thermal processing technology including agitator designs are considered in the best cooking equipment solution. Here are a few examples of challenges that were solved by cooking solutions customized to the processing application.
Challenge: A mega prepared foods processor needed to accumulate flowable product after the cooking cycle, while waiting for downstream operations.
Solution: Mepaco engineered heated Buffering Mixers which kept the particulates in various densities in suspension until downstream operations signaled for more product. A single agitator with an inner/outer ribbon was utilized to meet the products’ homogeneous state required for quality targets for downstream filling operations.
Challenge: A chicken processor required a scaled tempering, tenderizing, cooking, and shredding solution to replace manual processes.
Solution: Mepaco provided a 75 gallon double agitated ThermaBlend Cooker with ribbon agitators that performed well in each processing stage. The
cooker was controlled to temper the meat, massage, tenderize, cook, shred, and finally blend with a thickening sauce. All five processes were completed in the ThermBlend Cooker solution, removing manual operations.
Challenge: A fruit pie filling manufacturer wanted to streamline pie filling cooking and blending operations while maintaining product integrity.
Solution: Mepaco engineered a ThermaBlend Cooker that cooked and blended the fruit, then continued cooking when the sauce compound was added, then cooled the filling within a short cycle to maintain product integrity and increase efficiency. The agitator design was a single shaft with dual paddles and a scraper system to prevent product burn-on during the cooking cycle, and blended ingredients with minimal shear.
CLICK HERE for a video
introduction to the ThermaBlend Cooker.
