Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 19 2018 | Page 20

Four Lindor mixers for Balaji Wafers

Balaji is the second largest producer of potato crisps in India . The Balaji Group uses Lindor gentle touch mixers for savoury snacks . “ We are always looking for new technologies to improve our production ”, says Balaji Group director , Keyur Virani . “ Lindor has managed to transform our mixing into a more hygienic and efficient process ."
Balaji Lindor mixer
Due to increasing market demand , the Balaji plant in Rajkot ( Gujarat ) required modernisation and expansion of its production capacity . Lindor ’ s Indian partner Food Processing Technologies ( FPT ) has maintained close ties with the Balaji Group for many years , and together they explored how best to improve the factory ’ s production process .
Director Virani soon became convinced that Lindor ’ s Gentle Touch Mixer was the best solution , giving the greatest reliability for taste consistency and quality .
The importance of mixing for extrusion
It is essential for extrusion that water is added uniformly to a homogeneous mixture of raw materials .
Lindor mixers are ideal , because in addition to mixing the dry raw materials , they also allow for optimal water distribution over the moving product bed without causing any dust .
Dust , which causes loss of quality for several reasons in extrusion , must be prevented at all costs .
The mixer is fitted with injection lances that have process-specific nozzles , to distribute the water very delicately over a moving product bed , resulting in a homogeneous mixture of a high and consistent quality .
The return on investment of a Lindor mixer is very quick , because of its quality advantages and significantly higher productivity .
At least six batches per hour , with a batch weight of 400 to 500 kilos .
Hygiene and low costs
The machine surfaces are hygienically treated both internally and externally using the Viwateq ® water jet finish . Because of this , the surface is beautifully smooth and easy to clean . This minimizes the risk of microbial retention . This is important because the mixture of flour and water is an excellent breeding ground for microbes . The mixer has a retractable inlet and outlet . This makes the mixer , and in particular its seals , even easier to clean .
20 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk