Equipment for semi-finished products

The domestic meat industry offers consumers a wide range of semi-finished meat products. Although the most popular semi-finished meat products continue to be products of the dumplings group (dumplings, dumplings, ravioli, etc.), over the past few years their share in the total volume of semi-finished products produced by meat industry enterprises has decreased. If earlier dumplings group products accounted for 60 to 80% of the produced semi-finished meat products, now, as marketers state, products of this group occupy only 50 to 70% of the market. At the same time, the production of chopped semi-finished products is growing fast, so the annual growth in their production is 10-15%, which is two times higher than the growth in production of dumpling products (5-7% per year). The reason for such a significant increase in demand for minced semi-finished products is, first of all, the increasingly widespread development of fast food chains in our country, many of which include hamburgers and other minced meat dishes on their menu.
The basic unit of the set of equipment for the semi-finished cutlet group product preparation is a molding machine. We will describe the design and operating features of these machines below. After molding, several operations are carried out, which are performed by equipment like a liason application machine, a breading machine, a conveyor deep fryer, etc.
Molded cutlet products can be pre-breaded, or fine crumbs or flour applied to the surface to improve contact between the product and breading mixtures. In wet breading devices, minced meat pieces pass through a thin layer of liquid breading mixture, the excess of which is recirculated using a pump. After completion of wet breading, the workpieces are sent for dry breading, which also requires special equipment for semi-finished product production. First, the cutlets are immersed in a container with a dry breading mixture, which is applied to the bottom of the product, after which it is sprinkled with the mixture on top. The workpieces are pressed with a special roller to compact the applied coating. The breading mixture that didn`t attach to the cutlet is blown off using a fan and sent for recirculation. If an enterprise produces fully cooked cutlet products, it must be equipped with appropriate frying equipment, like a conveyor fryer.
Forming machines of various designs have one purpose – to form portions of a product crushed on a grinder or another type of grinder. After the mold is filled it is moved to the place where the formed portion of the product is unloaded. These are nuggets or cutlets of various shapes. The supply of raw materials sometimes is carried out from a tray, but usually, a feed hopper is provided for this purpose. Raw materials are loaded manually or using technical means such as a mast lift-tipper for minced meat carts or an electric forklift equipped with a special gripper. The hopper can be equipped with blades or scrapers to mix and ensure an uninterrupted supply of raw materials to the molding. From the hopper, the processed material enters the forming unit. The feed mechanism can be equipped with a screw, a spiral, a plunger, or several plungers. The product is pressed in the hole of the forming plate, after which it is removed with a special pusher. Depending on the nature of the movement of the forming plate, cutlet machines are divided into devices with reciprocating and rotary molding. In reciprocating forming machines, a forming plate (made of plastic, a smooth plate with cylindrical holes) is inserted into the forming unit. Then, it moves back to the action zone of the ejector plunger, which dumps the formed portion of minced meat from the cell of the forming plate onto the unloading conveyor. Rotary molding devices use a round forming plate with cylindrical holes or forming pockets. As the plate rotates, the plunger pushes out the formed workpieces, which are removed from the work area using an unloading conveyor or a manual or mechanical puller. Both reciprocating and rotary forming devices can be equipped with a device for transferring the formed portions with sheets of paper.

Semi-finished products production line: what risks in production should you be aware of?

Personnel operating and maintaining cutlet machines should be aware of the risk factors that can be included in the components and mechanisms of these machines:

• contact with the raw material supply unit (both in plunger and rotor type devices), as well as with scrapers and blades with which the hopper may be equipped;
• the danger of pinching when contacting the blades and guides of the forming units, access to which is possible through a hopper or an outlet opening, depending on the design of the machine;
• the danger of tissue rupture as a result of pinching between the plunger pusher and the forming plate;
• the danger of tissue rupture as a result of pinching between the forming plate, which performs a reciprocating or rotational movement, and the elements of the supporting frame of the machine;
• the risk of pinching when contacting the moving elements of the unit for transferring formed portions with paper if the machine is equipped with such a unit;
• danger of pinching in counting devices, sometimes installed in places where formed portions are unloaded;
• contact with mechanical feed devices and/or containers with raw materials when they are lifted or lowered.

According to the hazard factors stated above, the following measures must be taken to reduce the risk of injury among enterprise personnel:

• during the operation of the machine, it must be ensured that access to its raw material hopper, scrapers, or blades of the raw material supply device is impossible. The hopper must be adequately fenced. This guard must be installed in such a way that the machine can’t operate when the guard is open; when the guard is opened, the machine operation must stop. Typically, this barrier consists of a grid of bars spaced close enough together to prevent access to the interior of the hopper;
• if raw materials are supplied to the machine from a tray, a bar must be attached to the loading opening of the machine, limiting access to it
• such devices are installed on the loading holes of the tops;
• fences should prevent access to places of possible pinching in the forming unit (usually, the role of such fences is performed by certain machine structures). Rigidly fixed or quick-detachable fences can also be used, the latter if there is a lock;
• appropriate guards must be provided at the point of unloading of formed portions to prevent access to the forming device and to places of possible pinching in the area of operation of the ejectors and the mechanism for transferring cutlets with paper, if the machine is equipped with such a mechanism.

Where is it better to choose equipment for a semi-finished products workshop?

Speaking about devices for the molded semi-finished meat products production presented on the Ukrainian market, let us mention firstly the equipment of the “Rozfood” company, which is in good demand. You can find out the price of equipment for semi-finished products in consultation with our specialist.