Ovens continued to evolve in the s with the discovery of microwave cooking. The Raytheon Corporation produced the first commercial microwave oven in the s. When you factor in the other local and family-owned foodservice supply companies thriving in the United States, the industry picture is even more impressive! Robots are starting to make their way into the foodservice sector. Several Chinese restaurants are experimenting with incorporating robots into food preparation and delivery.
The Green Restaurant Association reports that as of , many cities are requiring restaurants to use environmentally-friendly packaging and processes, ranging from bans on plastic straws to implementing on-site composting of all food scraps. Let us know! Blog posts Infographics. This article focuses on food processing equipment, exploring the types available, and providing examples of each. Additionally, it outlines some of the considerations for designing and choosing equipment for a food processing application.
While the wide range of food processing equipment available can be classified and categorized in several different ways—e. The food processing production cycle can be broken into several stages, characterized by a specific function and during which individual unit operations are performed.
For example, within the preparation stage, the primary function is to prepare the food material for further processing, and some of the unit operations performed include washing and separating. Other secondary functions provide support to the primary functions of the production cycle, such as material handling and system control operations which convey food materials between process stations or maintain the required processing conditions and standards, respectively.
As indicated previously, within the food processing production cycle, initial preparatory operations focus on preparing the raw food material for subsequent processes—typically mechanical or chemical processing—by separating the desirable material from the low quality, substandard, or undesirable material. In doing so, manufacturers are better able to ensure the production of uniform and high-quality food and food products, as well as remove foreign matter and contaminants which may degrade or damage the food material or equipment.
Some of the unit operations which manufacturers employ during the raw material preparation stage include cleaning, sorting, grading, or peeling or skinning. Table 1 below describes some of the preparatory unit operations and outlines the equipment used to execute them. Mechanical processing operations are employed without the application of heat or chemicals to reduce, enlarge, homogenize, or otherwise change the physical form of solid, semi-solid, and liquid food matter.
By altering the form and size of the food matter, manufacturers can facilitate and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of subsequent processes, improve the overall quality and edibility, and allow for a greater range of food products to be produced. Within the general mechanical processing classifications—i.
Table 2 below describes the overarching classifications and outlines some of their more specific unit operations and the equipment used to execute them. Image Credit: DenisProduction. Depending on whether the application and the specific unit operation is aimed towards heating or cooling the food material, heat transfer equipment can be used to direct heat towards or away from the material, respectively.
This section of the article will focus primarily on the applications and equipment aimed towards heating food products, while the following section— Preservation Equipment —will touch on the applications and equipment aimed towards cooling food products, as well as those intended to preserve and extend the shelf life of food products.
Heat processing equipment—i. These changes can transform and affect the overall quality of the resulting food products—such as by altering the chemical structure or enhancing the flavor—and serve as a preservation method by inhibiting or destroying the microorganisms or enzymes which cause spoilage.
There are many unit operations employed during the heat processing stage, including blanching, baking, roasting, and frying, and Table 3 below describes some of them and outlines the equipment used to execute them.
Baking ovens. Heat exchangers. As indicated above, many of the heat processing operations used in the food processing industry demonstrate preservative qualities. Although there is significant overlap between heat processing equipment and preservation equipment, the previous section already covers the former category—i. Therefore, this section will focus on other preservation methods, processes, and equipment. The preservation stage of the food processing production cycle ultimately aims to prevent or inhibit the spoilage and increase the shelf life of food products.
There is a wide range of preservation methods available ranging from refrigeration to irradiation, each of which acts to destroy microorganisms and enzymes within the food material or, at the very least, limit and depress their activity.
Table 4 below describes some of the methods used for preservation, as well as the equipment used to execute them. Following the preparation and processing stages, food material generally undergoes one or more post-processing operations, which help to produce the final food product and complete the food processing production cycle. While there are several post-processing operations involved with the production cycle, this section will focus on packaging operations and equipment.
Food packaging can serve several functions, including:. Additionally, food packaging is available in several forms—e. Depending on the packaging form used to package the food material, packaging operations, and the equipment employed to execute them, can significantly vary.
Some of the other factors which may influence the type of packaging equipment employed include the type and form of food product and the storage, handling, distribution, and marketing requirements. Table 5 below outlines some of the more commonly used types of food packaging equipment and their functions. Printers e. Volumetric Fillers. An important aspect of food processing and food preparation is the topic of food quality control. Food quality in a production setting can be degraded and compromised by any number of contributing factors, the most common of which include the presence of :.
In addition to these factors, food quality needs to be validated in terms of nutritional content and consistency, be assessed for the presence of allergens, verified with respect to adulteration and certification for GMO, and tested for shelf life. There are a number of instruments used in food laboratories that can be applied to assure food quality which applies to solids as well as beverages.
Some of the most common examples of these instruments and their use are described below. Beyond the aforementioned equipment, there are other types of auxiliary equipment that may not directly contribute to the various food processing stages but are still critical to the food and processing industries and their operations.
This equipment can serve or support several functions throughout the overall production cycle, including:. As outlined above, there is a wide range of food processing equipment available to satisfy the various functions which are integral to the food and food processing industries. While individual pieces of equipment may have some distinctive considerations—typically based on the specific functions and unit operations which they perform—to keep in mind when designing and selecting equipment for a particular food processing application, there are also a few factors an industry professional or procurement agent can consider across the board to ensure that their food processing equipment fulfills their needs.
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