IMPROVING BATCH TIMES IN THE PRODUCTION OF SAUCES AND GRAVIES

Prepared sauces and gravies are manufactured from a number of ingredients including water, meat stock, meat flavors (artificial and natural) , preservatives such as sodium benzoate, colorants such as beta carotene, seasonings such as salt, sugar and spices as well as thickeners such as modified food starch, flour, xanthan/guar gums. Traditional agitators and liquifiers have trouble incorporating thickeners, leading to the production of “fisheyes” (lumps of unhydrated thickener surrounded by a gel casing) and very long batch times. A major manufacturer of prepared sauces and gravies approached Quadro to help them resolve the issues created by their current equipment, a liquifier. The product was thick (about 400 cps), but pourable.

Quadro recommended the use of the Quadro Ytron® In-line ZC Powder Disperser. The Quadro Ytron® In-line Powder Disperser is specifically designed to disperse extremely difficult-to-wet powders such as thickeners, into a liquid stream in a single-pass, r esulting in a homogeneous dispersion of hydrophilic powders without “fish-eyes”. By eliminating “fish-eyes”, the Quadro Ytron® In-line ZC Powder Disperser reduced the overall batch time from 6 hrs to 1 - 3 hrs depending on the ingredient being added.