Baking&Snack - December 2016 - 75

EQUIPMENT
Fryers

Flexibility and food safety
matter the most when
selecting frying equipment.
by Laurie Gorton
Influencing yet another category of bakery and snack
equipment, the health-and-wellness trend reshapes how
frying systems are engineered and operated. Healthier
snacking and more snacking overall put new demands
on the ability of fryers to output quality products at ever
higher production rates.
"A lot of the current trends in the development of frying equipment are driven by the consumer," said Arnaud
Jansse, applications engineer, Florigo Industry, a TNA company. He cited demand for healthier snacks and the need to
reduce potentially harmful chemicals, such as acrylamide,
as prompting major advances in the technology.
But there's also a drive for higher volume and flexibility. "Bakers want to be able to make a wide variety
of products on their lines," said David Moline, sales and
marketing manager, Moline Machinery, LLC. "They
want flexibility in sizes and styles from mini donuts to
large fritters or submerged products. Second, they want
the ability to run 24/7 for weeks at a time with minimal
operator involvement. This is especially true for dedicated lines. The baker wants to get operating costs and
product costs as low as possible."
Flexibility also reigns in the snack chip world, and
that includes the foods being fried, according to Mr.
Jansse. "As more and more consumers expect a greater
variety on the supermarket shelf, snack manufacturers have also started looking for frying equipment that
is able to handle different volumes and a variety of raw
materials like sweet potatoes and fruits, and a range of
shapes," he said.
He noted as well that ease of operation and maintenance make a big difference when running chips at peak
speeds. And there's the cost of production to consider,
too. The technology must use less energy, water and oil

than older systems to reduce overall production costs Fryers must maintain
temperature control and
and ensure a more profitable and sustainable process.
remove particulates to
achieve appealing and
Expanding dimensions, automation
Your eyes are not deceiving you: Fryer lines are getting healthy fried goods.
iStock

bigger ... much bigger.
That's how bakers and snack manufacturers want them.
"We're usually asked how large the capacity of the line is,"
Mr. Moline added. "The larger producers have a need for
very high-volume, low-production-cost systems."
High-volume industrial donut fryers, for example, now
extend 18 to 40 ft long, with the capacity to make 10,000
to 20,000 donuts per hour, "with even greater capacities for
mini donuts," Belshaw Adamatic noted in a recent company statement. It described the industrial donut line that
it manufacturers in partnership with JBT FoodTech as the
largest in the market today. The TTF-IV electrically heated fryer operates with very low shortening volume plus a
continuous shortening filtration and a sediment removal
system as options. It uses JBT FoodTech's THERMoFIN
heat exchanger technology. It is specifically designed to use
trans-fat-free donut frying shortenings.
The company's own Belshaw High Volume is no slouch
either. Fryer lengths range from 18 to 32 ft and 42-in. wide.
They can produce 2,000+ dozen donuts per hour. The system features a turbo premix gas heating system, PLC control and sediment extraction.
At Moline, the company's Libra fryers offer capacities
ranging from 400 to 4,500 dozen donuts per hour for
standard lengths of 13 to more than 40 ft. These large
fryers feature electric, gas or dual-fuel heating options.
"Natural gas is an economical heating option with fast
recovery, while electric heating elements provide precise
control and stable temperature differentials, eliminating

www.bakingandsnack.com / December 2016 Baking & Snack 75

http://www.bakingandsnack.com

Baking&Snack - December 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking&Snack - December 2016