Baking & Snack - December 2022 - 69

PRODUCERS ARE TURNING TO THE LATEST EXTRUDERS
THAT CAN PROCESS EVEN THE TRICKIEST INGREDIENTS,
TEXTURES AND SHAPES OF TODAY'S SNACKS.
truder are built in small interchangeable parts. Each
section is roughly 5 inches long and can be added or
removed depending on the product.
" For alternative ingredients like pulses, operators
can arrange a screw design to add friction and reduce
slip back, " Mr. Roesler said. " For corn, they can use a
screw arrangement that allows more slip back, and they
can add heating elements if required. "
Clextral's Evolum twin-screw extruders offer
Advanced Thermal Control, a self-learning system that
ensures a precise temperature in each barrel of the extruder,
improving energy efficiency and stability when
extruding heathy snack ingredients, Mr. Barber noted.
Certain ingredients may require adjustments to the
conveying system transferring them to the extruder as
well, including alterations to air flow or reduced conveying
velocity, Mr. Nichols noted.
" This way, very sensitive ingredients can be protected
during the vacuum transfer and more durable
ingredients can be allowed to flow faster, " he said. " The
Volkmann conveying system is fitted to the hopper of
the extruder, and when the extruder is ready for more
material, it signals the Volkmann controller to automatically
transfer more material from storage to the
extruder hopper for feeding. This minimizes the need
to adjust the extruder when feeding these ingredients. "
Manufacturers will also turn to co-extrusion when
making the latest BFY filled products like snack bites
and bars. John Giacoio, vice president of sales, Rheon
USA, noted that the company's co-extruders are built
to handle a wide variety of new and more delicate ingredients
and can be easily adjusted, capable of extruding
up to four different materials.
" The basic shape that our co-extruders make are ball
and stick shape, but we have many options and attachments
to make these filled products into almost any
shape, " he said. " We have heat stampers to make an impression,
half-moon stampers and many more forming
and shaping options. We also offer automated panning
systems that easily connect to these machines. "
Snack makers are also implementing twin-screw extrusion
lines to improve product quality, flexibility and
throughput.
" Twin-screw extrusion technology versus single
screw allows you to manage the expansion for an array
of ingredients, especially more fatty, oily, wet and
sticky type ingredients, " Mr. Barber said. " This is much
more difficult if not impossible on single-screw extrusion
technology. "
www.bakingbusiness.com / December 2022 Baking & Snack 69
Making innovative products with these extruders
thankfully does not typically require new technology,
he added.
" New products can be made on the twin-screw extruder
by making adjustments in process parameters,
dies, screw profile, barrel length, specialty shape production
kits and more, " he said. " In other cases, we can
make new products by changing upstream or downstream
equipment. "
For example, Clextral offers a variety of " clip-on auxiliaries "
that can be added and removed for downstream
operations as needed, including die face cutting for curl
or ring shapes and co-extrusion die for filled snacks.
Handtmann's vane cell pump systems also promote
flexibility as vanes can be added or removed, providing
a variety of chamber sizes when extruding.
And the modular design of Coperion K-Tron's extrusion
barrel and screws means the process can be
adapted to the special needs of emerging ingredients.
The Coperion ZSK food extruder's outer to inner working
screw diameter ratio of 1.8 and screw speed of 1,800
RPM enable it to process a wide range of raw materials
and ingredients at high capacities.
Fast and clean
Quick changeovers and quality sanitation have always
been important for snack producers, but they became
especially critical in recent years due to challenges like
increased demand, the COVID-19 pandemic and new
food safety guidelines, including sesame being added
as the ninth major allergen last year.
For snack makers producing the latest BFY snacks,
having an extruder that excels in these areas is essential.
" The overall design of food extruders and snack food
Vane cell pump
systems gently
process large
inclusions that tend
to break or smear.
Handtmann
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Baking & Snack - December 2022

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