A quick-freeze spiral freezer, which is ideal for the continuous cooling and freezing of a wide range of products, including poultry meat, has been launched in the UK and Ireland by Interfood Technology.
Spiral freezers currently used in the food processing industry conventionally employ a friction drive between the drum and belt, with the result that products are often displaced or rotated within the spiral system.
But Interfood said the Alco ASK spiral freezer specifically addressed this problem, adopting a patented direct-drive system that connected the belt edge directly with the drum to prevent overdrive and belt slip.
The technology ensures that product displacement is reduced to almost zero, minimising the risk of product jams. Downtime required for maintenance is also significantly reduced, with an improved belt tension and lower labour and cleaning costs, Interfood said.
Available in a range of belt widths, ranging from 400mm to 1,000mm, and working lengths of between 100 and 500 metres, the modular format allows the freezer’s manufacturer to work directly with customers to ensure that the specifications meet the requirements of a given application.
The spiral freezers are ‘hygienically’ designed, which means that they are easy to handle and clean.