Hello! My name is Rob and I live in a small town which is located about 50 miles outside of Sydney. Now and again, I like to visit my brother who works at an industrial plant in the city. When I visit him, my brother lets me into his office and gives me tours around the plant. They produce all kinds of cool things using the tools they have there. However, I recently learnt they didn't always own the things they needed to complete the job and would instead hire them. I learnt all kinds of cool things about hiring industrial equipment. Although I don't work in the industry, I wanted to share what I had learnt with the rest of the world.
Industrial food manufacturers use a wide range of equipment to produce their products. Read on to find out more about two pieces of equipment which can be found in almost all food manufacturing plants.
Commercial Ovens
Commercial ovens are found in many food manufacturing facilities. This equipment is used to cook ingredients such as raw meat and vegetables so that they become palatable and safe for the end user to consume.
It is extremely important for food manufacturers to use high quality, reliable commercial ovens. A poorly-made oven that routinely breaks down, allows heat to escape or whose temperatures fluctuate unexpectedly could reduce the speed with which a facility's products are made and affect the quality and palatability of the food that's being cooked inside it. These things could, in turn, negatively affect the business' profitability.
As such, most manufacturers who require ovens use the best they can afford. Many favour models such as the Unox XEVC-2011-EPR combi oven, as this offers a level of reliability, quality and robustness that cannot be found in most other commercial ovens.
Combi ovens of this kind are used by many industrial food manufacturers, because they allow them to use convection, steam or a combination of the two methods, without having to store and maintain more than one type of oven.
Washer Systems
Almost all food manufacturers who use fruit and vegetables in their products will have washing systems on their premises. These systems are essential, as they ensure that the ingredients food manufacturers use are free from any debris which could potentially affect the taste or safety of the end product they are used to create.
Washer systems vary, but most will involve a conveyor system, above which are a series of connected pressure washers, which hose down the fruits and vegetables with water as these items pass underneath them. These pressure washers help to remove all of the stone, sand and soil particles from these foods, as well as a substantial amount of the bacteria and viruses that may be present on their exterior leaves or skins.
The quantity and pressure of the water emerging from these pressure washers will vary, depending on the type of food that is being washed. Delicate green spinach or lettuce leaves, for example, that are likely to break apart and be destroyed by heavy pressure, are usually hosed down quite gently, whilst hardier vegetables, like potatoes, are rinsed more aggressively.