* Energy Efficiency
* Reduced Effluent
* Product Quality
* Higher Profits
The key to ABCO's unique and patented Heat/Hold blanching process is the short time that fresh product needs to be exposed to steam. Blanching, or Heat Penetration to the center core of any product, is a function of temperature and time. The shorter the duration in the heat medium, the better retention of colour, solids and nutrients will be as the leeching action is reduced accordingly.
Traditional Steam Blanchers and Hot Water Blanchers retain product in the heat medium until such time as the desired center core temperature is achieved. This is not an efficient use of energy. Furthermore such inefficient steam usage wastes energy and overcooks the product.
The ABCO Heat/Hold System transfers, in the Heat Section, only sufficient energy to the surface of the product to allow the ABCO HEAT/HOLD blancher to do its job. This surface heat is then allowed to equilibrate throughout the product in the Hold Section, thus raising the center core temperature to the desired blanch level without the addition of more steam.
The effectiveness of the HEAT/HOLD process is best shown by a Heat Penetration graph using COB CORN as an example. In each case, the equipment, steam pressures, cob size and temperatures were identical to ensure accurate comparison.
The above graphs clearly demonstrate the advantages of the ABCO Heat/Hold process over all other steam blanchers. In each case the center core temperatures, when fully blanched, are identical. In conventional blanchers the kernels have been exposed to steam for the full 12 minutes. In the ABCO Heat/Hold process product exposure to steam is only 4.5 minutes.
This very short exposure to heat in the ABCO system leads to noticeable improvement in colour, flavour, solids and nutrient retention, when compared with other blanching methods. The improvement in product quality will reflect positively in increased consumer demand.
The same principal applies to most commercial processed fruit and vegetables. Reduced steam usage also leads to substantial steam savings and a large reduction in effluent volume with lower solids content. The result - significant advantages at every stage of the ABCO process.
