22
LMS Issue 3 | 2014
Food & Beverage
Afrox’s New Freezing Techology
S
tate-of-the-art Cryoline® CW
multi-purpose cryogenic freezing
technology, available in SA through
Afrox, combines flexibility and versatility to freeze a large variety of meat and
seafood products in individually quick
frozen (IQF) or non-IQF format in a
single freezer unit.
“This freezer is the newest and most
advanced tool worldwide for boosting
productivity and yield in freezing lines,”
says Afrox’s Hendrik Pretorius. “Cryogenic freezing technology represents a
hi-tech departure from the traditional
approach of mechanically freezing
food products on a conveyor belt, or
immersing them directly into a pool of
liquid nitrogen. Instead, this technology freezes free-flowing IQF products
by completely surrounding them with
a stream of high-velocity cold vapour.”
During mechanical freezing, food
products tend to freeze slowly as a result
of operating temperature limitations.
Slow freezing can damage food products, as the process could destroy cells
in the food portion. By comparison,
cryogenic freezing is up to four times
faster than mechanical freezing and
results in smaller ice crystallisation. As
the water inside and outside the cells
freezes at the same rate, the cells remain
intact and the food keeps its freshness,
flavour and texture.
Two South African companies, the
leading pasta manufacturer FG La
Pasta in Gauteng and frozen fruit and
vegetable processor Dynamic Commodities in the Eastern Cape, have
already commissioned Cryoline CW
freezers in their production plants
and are producing export quality IQF
products.
The Cryoline CW Cryowave dual
mode IQF freezer is the best performing most hygienically designed freezing
platform on the market today, effectively addressing the traditional food
freezing issues of
product clumping,
lower yields, fines
generation and high
costs. This freezer
uses product vibration in the refrigerat ion med ium
to produce rapid
and uniform heat
transfer, improved
product yields,
enhanced pro
duc t qua l it y
and shor ter
freezing times,
w ith sma l ler
f loor space
requirements.
The Cryoline freezer’s
patented
vibratory wave
action produces high qua lit y IQF products
regardless of whether the product is
wet, small, sticky, or tends to clump
when loaded into the freezer.
Even when products are piled onto
the belt, the vibratory wave action
gently tosses them, distributing them
uniformly on the belt and preventing
them from sticking to other products
or to the belt.
The Cryoline CW also delivers
a superior crust freeze to the outer
portion of IQF products, locking in
moisture, reducing dehydration losses,
minimising evaporation losses and
maximising yield.
Th H