Impingement freezer
For quick freezing of food products like burger patties, bacon strips, potatoes, and fish, a cryogenic freezing process may be a solution. However, it is expensive to operate as it uses liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze the product. An alternative and cost-effective solution is to use air jets to freeze products just as quickly as a cryogenic process would and with the same quality.
Freezing food products by directing air jets on the products’ surfaces
The Impingement Freezer from Orange Freezing is an air jet system for freezing food products. This system creates a freezing environment based on the speed of air blown into its pressure chamber. Multiple high-velocity air jets are used to direct the air at the top and bottom surfaces of the products, which creates an implosion and removes the layer of heat around them. The system is best suited for thin and fragile products, and for applications that require freezing of the outer layer of the product. This method results in freezing speeds and quality that are close to cryogenic freezing.
There is also less dehydration from the products compared to cold storage freezing. The system has flexible configurations that fit different production setups using 7 available conveyor belt widths up to 6 feet (1800mm). It can also be configured to accommodate up to 4 different products simultaneously using 4 separate conveyor belts of 1.5 feet (450mm) width. The freezer is ideal for crust freezing applications where the outer layer of the food product is frozen.
Benefits
- High-speed freezing, about the same as cryogenic freezing
- Less dehydration of products (0.6 to 1%)
- Flexible configuration (option to use one wide belt or up to 4 separate narrow belts)
- Cost-effective compared to cryogenic freezing
- CIP system design