REA has carried out extensive research in the sector of pasteurising cooked meats such as ham, salami, hotdogs and sausages in general. The result has led to the creation of a new tunnel system for pasteurising food using saturated steam.
The system, which uses very hot steam for the pasteurising process, maintains a constant temperature and exposure time of food thanks to an automated control system.
Depending on the product passing through, the tunnel may be made up of two consecutive chambers in which a first pasteurising operation takes place, followed by the cooling or drying of the food, eg when making hot dogs it is possible to eliminate the cooling chamber because the product is packed hot as soon as it leaves the tunnel.
These chambers are separated by lamellar flow barriers (patented) which allow neither leakage of the saturated steam from the tunnel nor the invasion of the cooling or drying chambers. This type of system enables the products to move along the belt with guaranteed 24hour operation.
In addition to these advantages, the pasteurising tunnel has the following features: as well as travelling along the belt without overlapping, the sausages are completely enveloped by high temperature. Together with the presence of the steam heating system, these features guarantee high quality standards in terms of decontaminating the product from pathogens.
The tunnels are also built to specific plans to suit customer needs. A fundamental parameter to consider when constructing the system is the daily production: the volume of steam in the pasteurising chamber and the calories of steam needed (Kg/h) are calculated according to this. For example, a tunnel containing a 5000mm long and 800mm wide conveyor belt is able to pasteurise a quantity of product ranging from 3600 to a maximum of 5000kgperhour.
REA Snc is based in Trofarello, Italy. www.reasaturno.it
