In the fish processing industry, there has been considerable growth in the interest in convenience foods and fast-food products. Stork’s response to the demand for further-processed fish products is to provide systems, which meet the most stringent requirements set within the food-processing industry. Form, colour, taste, hygiene and quality are major basic principles, along with capacity, efficiency, reliability and production costs.
As a full-line supplier, Stork supplies machines for all the functions in the line: forming, coating, heat treatment, cooling and freezing and internal transport. The company says that its showpiece with its product range is the revolutionary lowpressure forming machine: the RevoPortioner.
Focus on quality
The RevoPortioner combines high capacity with high product quality and low cost of ownership. The new forming technology offers an alternative to the traditional method of forming that has been used up until now.
When developing the new technology, Stork’s key focus was on form quality.
Quality translates to the extent to which the product keeps its shape and weight accuracy. With the high pressure forming machines currently in use, formed products display non-conformities in relation to the intended shape immediately after release and/or heat treatment. With the RevoPortioner, products retain their typical shape and weight and, consequently, there is very little non-conformity.
High output
The next most important aspect besides quality is output. Combining the two is often difficult or even impossible. The rotating mechanism of the RevoPortioner allows outputs that are three times those achieved using high pressure forming, with the same product quality.
Product release
Up until now water has been used to assist the release of products from the mould. The RevoPortioner uses air instead. This offers benefits in terms of bacteriological quality, which is particularly important in the case of fresh products.
The use of air also benefits product quality in terms of processes further down the line, such as battering and packing. It also reduces the amount of dirt and soiling in and around the machine.
Three-dimensional products
To date, the further processing industry has not been able to realise high outputs of three-dimensional formed products. The RevoPortioner allows processors to introduce new product variants. In addition to processing meat mixtures either in dough form or as completely texturised meat, the RevoPortioner is particularly suitable for producing extra thin end products.
Coating
As Stork takes processing further there is more on offer than the RevoPortioner. The range of coating machines is extensive too. The coatings used determine the product presentation and the taste of further-processed products.
A large proportion of further-processed fish products are ‘natural’ fish pieces covered with a savoury coating. The characteristic coatings for the fish industry set specific standards for the equipment.
Heat treatment
Stork supplies a range of machines for frying, baking or cooking fish products. The GoldFryer, for example, is suited to achieving uniform colouring and cooking with minimum weight loss and controlled absorption of oil or fat.
