Many people remember the summer from the first ice cream. As the weather gets hotter, the ice cream market is starting to pick up. Nowadays, "net red ice cream" is emerging one after another, which is driving the growth of ice cream sales. So, what food processing equipment is needed in the production and processing of a box of ice cream?
Ice cream is a kind of frozen dairy product. In industrial production, it must be sterilized, homogenized, cooled, aged, frozen, filled and so on. The production process of ice cream is complicated, and there are many food processing machines to be used. Sterilization machines, homogenizers, freezers, quick-freezing tunnels, etc. are all machines that need to be equipped on the ice cream production line.
Although ice cream is stored under refrigerated conditions, the quality and processing of the raw materials may cause the ice cream microorganisms to exceed the standard. In order to ensure the safety of ice cream, the factory uses pasteurization equipment to sterilize the ice cream mix. Unlike ordinary pasteurization machines, the sterilization equipment for ice cream mixes is a high temperature short-time pasteurizer. It can heat the ice cream mixture through 72-75 ° C, 15 ~ 20s heat treatment, to kill harmful microorganisms and maximize the preservation of nutrients.
The sterilized ice cream mix is homogenized and a homogenizer is required. The homogenizer is a device for homogenizing and emulsifying liquid materials with a viscosity lower than 0.2 Pa.s and a temperature lower than 100 ° C. It can extrude the material and triple the strong impact and the pressure loss expansion. The material is refined under the action.
After the ice cream mixture is processed by the homogenizer, the fat inside will become finer, the tissue is more delicate, and the product quality is improved. The quality and function of the homogenizer will directly affect the quality of the ice cream products. Therefore, ice cream manufacturers should try to use homogeneous and stable equipment with stable performance.
After the homogenized ice cream mix, the next step – freezing. Freezing is one of the key steps in ice cream production. Many manufacturers use freezers when freezing ice cream. According to different production methods, ice cream freezing machine can be divided into two types: intermittent type and continuous type. Among them, continuous type freezing machine is a common equipment in ice cream production process.
The continuous chiller is capable of pumping and placing the mixture at a pressure of 0.15 to 0.2 MPa to freeze more moisture at a lower temperature. Continuous freezer can achieve continuous production, high production efficiency, and the ice cream after processing is uniform and delicate.
The frozen ice cream is about to enter the filling process, which requires the help of filling equipment. There are many varieties of ice cream on the market, such as round ice cream and ice cream cones. Different ice cream packaging methods are also different. It is understood that a multi-functional ice cream filling machine has appeared on the market to meet the filling requirements of different ice cream.
So, is the next step of filling the ice cream listed? No. In industrial production lines, the filled ice cream is also subjected to freeze hardening. It is understood that when the ice cream leaves the filling machine, the temperature is about -3 to -5 degrees Celsius, and the frozen water in the ice cream is about 30% to 40%. In order to ensure the stability of ice cream during storage, transportation and sales, ice cream is placed in a freezing tunnel for quick freeze hardening.
In recent years, China's ice cream industry has developed rapidly. China's ice cream production is increasing at a rate of 25% per year, and the number of ice cream producers is also growing. In order to stand out in this fierce market competition, it is necessary for the relevant production enterprises to use their sterilization machines, homogenizers, freezers and other equipment to improve their own ice cream production lines, improve production efficiency and improve product quality.
