Baking & Snack - September 2015 - 114

REFRIGERATION/FREEZING

Spiral freezers come with
variable frequency drives
that allow for a greater
range of dwell times and
product throughput.
G&F Systems

when you do maintenance because those opportunities come less frequently," Mr. Hobbs said. "Certainly,
it's better for the baker to produce for longer periods
at a time. All of the benefits of that are fantastic, but
they should anticipate the need to do more thorough
inspections rather than a couple hours of maintenance
every day."
Belt design should also be considered with continuous sanitation systems, noted Kenneth King,
Ashworth's commercial support manager. Durability
and sanitary design is something the company incorporates into its belt lines. "We're trying to facilitate how
CIP units flush debris out of the belt by minimizing
cracks and crevices in key areas of the belt assembly
where pathogens and other contaminants can actually
form," he said.
Although many types of plastic belts are used in most
spiral freezers, other systems may require a polyethylene
(PE) variety, observed Sebastian Miles, industry segment manager, food, Habasit America, Suwanee, GA.
"In an extremely low-temperature room (about -95°F)
with non-spiral belts, you will probably see a lot more
PE belts," he said. "PE gets stronger as the temperature
drops, but it also turns more brittle."

genic and mechanical freezers," Mr. DiMaggio said.
Bakers also should query how a spiral blast freezer
will interact with other parts of the facility. "What are
the hidden food safety, environmental and structural
considerations for the bakery?" Mr. Salsone asked.
They should also determine the current - and future
- range of products. "Do they want this line to be dedicated to one particular product, or do they want the flexibility to run rolls, raw croissants, proofed croissants and
bread, for example?" Mr. Somerfield wondered. "Each
product type affects spiral feature selections, so knowing what type of design flexibilities the line requires
upfront will allow any OEM to deliver an ideal piece of
equipment."
Before purchasing a system, bakers should conduct
thorough tests on potential products. "Each bakery
product is unique and has specific freezing characteristics," Mr. Somerfield suggested. "It's important
to know process details such as what happens when a
product gets too cold, how long it takes to achieve the
desired end texture and temperature, or if the product can handle the collapsed portion of a spiral belt
without deformation." Various companies such as JBT
have technical centers that can simulate most fullscale processes.

Begging a question or two
Bakers should also calculate energy costs before purchasing a spiral blast freezer. Central systems by companies such as AMT can supply multiple freezer or refrigeration systems and provide the flexibility to reduce
overall peak tonnage. Additionally, the systems can provide waste heat recovery that can be used elsewhere in
a bakery.
Available floor space may also be a deciding factor
in what type of freezer a baker selects. "State-of-the-art
cryogenic freezers provide considerably higher production rates per unit of floor space than older cryo-

114 Baking & Snack September 2015 / www.bakingandsnack.com

Overall cost of ownership
When selecting belts - or any freezer component -
long-term maintenance should be considered because
repairing them - especially during production - is difficult in the harsh environments of most freezers. Bakers
should conduct extensive risk analysis to determine the
cost of a freezer over time. "Sometimes people can be
blinded by a price tag," Mr. Hobbs said. "They need to
consider the total cost of ownership."
Or, as Mr. Salsone urged, "Ask bakers to ask: 'Is the
equipment engineered for optimal food safety, sanita-

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