[Mass production possible! 】Price and benefits of tunnel freezer

rapid freezing allows us to provide safe and high-quality food, but as the amount of food you want to produce increases, you will need equipment commensurate with the scale.

The tunnel freezer is rapid freezer that was developed to efficiently freeze large quantities of food while maintaining safety.

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Structure for mass production

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As the name suggests, a tunnel freezer has a structure that covers a conveyor like a tunnel and allows food to be continuously cooled and frozen inside.

It is designed so that the cold air that circulates inside does not blow out from the entrance or exit, allowing food to be cooled efficiently without waste. There are machines that blow cold air through nozzles installed above and below the conveyor onto the food as it passes through the warehouse, and machines that spray cold air from above, below, left and right.

Since it is a conveyor type designed for mass production, it requires a large space. It is mainly used in food processing factories. Depending on the size of the machine and the food used, it has a production capacity of 200 to 1000 kg per hour. Some seafood processing plants produce 200 tons per day.

Basically, they are used to freeze the same food, so you need to wash them each time you use them to freeze different foods. Powdered foods and foods containing oil cannot be completely removed by hand washing, so using a machine with excellent cleaning performance that can perform foam cleaning and steam sterilization allows for sanitary use.

Advantages of achieving results that exceed the price

The machine itself is large and often requires construction work to install, so equipment costs are higher than regular rapid freezer. The cost can be tens of millions of yen or more, and in large-scale food processing plants it can cost hundreds of millions of yen. Because they are large, they have a large operating capacity and require extensive defrosting work, resulting in high running and maintenance costs.

Installing a tunnel freezer can be expensive, but you can get more out of it. By extending the shelf life of food, you can reduce waste and increase profits. It is possible to increase the operating rate of a factory's production line, make work more efficient, and reduce the power consumption of the entire line.

Additionally, since large quantities can be produced at once, the number of deliveries from the factory to the store can be reduced.

Large-scale batch-type rapid freezer can also be used for mass production, but what are the advantages of using a tunnel-type freezer?

Since machines can be automated, costs can be reduced and thorough hygiene management can be performed. There is no need to display food because you simply place food at the entrance of the conveyor and collect the frozen food at the exit. IQF (Individual rapid freezing) allows food to be frozen one by one without sticking to each other, reducing labor costs.

Additionally, the number of processes that involve human hands can be reduced as much as possible, preventing risks such as food poisoning and contamination with foreign substances.

In order to produce safe and secure food, strict hygiene management is required when handling food. Therefore, there is a growing movement to introduce an internationally recognized hygiene management system called HACCP.

HACCP is a process control system that continuously monitors and records points that require particularly important management in order to prevent risks such as bacterial contamination and contaminants throughout the entire process from raw material purchasing to shipping. When an abnormality is discovered, a quick solution can be taken and defective products can be prevented from being shipped.

Obtaining HACCP certification is difficult and cannot be obtained unless it is approved after undergoing various examinations. It is necessary to systemize not only facility equipment but also operational aspects, such as creating work manuals and managing recorded data. By introducing the tunnel method, the process can be automated and the work can be managed by machines, making it easier to receive certification.

Once certified, food accidents can be prevented by improving hygiene standards, and in the event a product problem occurs, it will be easier to investigate the cause and make improvements. In addition to the hygienic benefits, it is an objective evaluation from the outside, so you can gain social trust and appeal to consumers about your hygiene management efforts.

What is possible with the introduction of a tunnel freezer?

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Tunnel freezers are used in a variety of food processing plants because they can handle liquid and granular products, as well as bags and bare products. It is used to freeze a wide range of foods, including cooked foods such as shumai, dumplings, and hamburgers, meat and seafood, flour products such as fries and noodles, feed, and vegetables.

For example, it is used in seafood processing plants to freeze individual saury. Fish with internal organs and small bones removed are placed on a conveyor belt and cooled. It can be frozen in about 7 minutes by setting the temperature to -48℃.

Seafood has a specific harvest period, so it can only be caught for a limited period of several months. It is necessary to produce in large quantities in order to make up for the total annual sales volume in a short period of time.

At a chicken processing plant, cut chicken meat is transported to a conveyor belt, set to -35°C, and frozen in about 10 minutes, making it possible to create frozen meat products. It can preserve the flavor of food with little loss, and can produce an average of 300 kg per hour.

At our gyoza processing and sales factory, we have introduced tunnel freezers and automatic packaging machines to automate the line process. As a HACCP-compliant factory, we place great emphasis on food hygiene management, as it prevents the proliferation of bacteria and the contamination of foreign substances.

It can also be connected to other machines and incorporated into a factory line.
In this way, the tunnel type allows for sanitary and efficient work, as well as automating the process and increasing productivity.

Conclusion

The tunnel type allows efficient refrigeration and long-term operation, improving productivity.

In addition, it makes it possible to produce safe and secure food, maintain the freshness of the food, and extend the expiration date, leading to greater added value by expanding sales opportunities.

If you are thinking about mass production, why not consider the performance of the machine and consider introducing a tunnel method?

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