In cheese conversion, the process of making shredded cheese from blocks of cheese, the correct proportion of anti-clumping agents to shredded cheese plays a crucial role in the quality of the finished product and the consumer’s perception of the final product. Insufficient application of anti-clumping agents leads to product agglomeration in its packaging. Over application of anti-clumping agents produces housekeeping issues in process areas. More importantly, it leads to negative consumer perception of the finished product, as excess anti-clumping agent is perceived as mold growth. Getting the desired ratio application of an anti-clumping agent to shredded cheese is difficult.
Thayer Scale Equipment for Cheese Conversion
Thayer Scale’s Hygienic Weigh Feeders (HWF) accurately measures the rate of flow of shredded and grated cheese based on the direct measurement of mass and velocity variables. Cheese measurement takes place over a fixed length of the weigh feeder conveyor using a moving window average of measurements taken multiple times each second.
A specialized Thayer Scale control algorithm, Scale Location Compensation (SLC), synchronizes the delivery of the anti-clumping agent with the varying cheese flow, ensuring that the anti-cake agent is delivered both in the correct proportion, as well as in the proper phase of the sometimes intermittent, but constantly fluctuating cheese profile. Thayer Scale offers additional programmable compensation factors that adjust product deliveries to the unique characteristics of a given discharge mechanism.
Thayer Scale’s proprietary, easy to clean Loss-in-Weight feeder technology controls aeration and defeats poor flow properties of anti-clumping agents to assure precise, reliable delivery to a single-point or uniformly across a wide band.
Thayer Scale instrumentation seamlessly integrates with the sites’ modern process software facilitating automatic, real-time analysis of base cheese measurement and the delivery of the anti-clumping agent.
Programmable alarm points immediately signal issues with any of these critical measurements and comprehensive manually supervised and/or fully automated calibration processes provide quick validation of measurement accuracy.
Benefits of Thayer Scale’s solution for cheese conversion:
- Reduced product quality instances
- Improved housekeeping with a low, long-term cost of ownership
HWF feeder is designed and built in accordance with the applicable provisions of 3-A, USDA, and NSF design standards for:
- Provide accurate and repeatable in-process bulk material flow rate measurement for mass balance calculations and process control.
- Reduce sanitation time – the HWF disassembles quickly without hand tools to optimize sanitation effectiveness.
- Tolerate high-pressure, high-temperature sanitation evolutions without calibration drift or compromising measurement sensitivity.
- Provide a long-term, low-cost of ownership with rugged, “Built-to-Survive” construction.
- Assist with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), and HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls) program compliance.
Markets
Weighing equipment for the manufacture of cheese
Weigh belts
- Designed to calculate and load light-density materials
- Easily modified for open- or closed-construction
- Adaptable to new or existing process streams
Sanitary
- Loss-in-weight feeders
- Single- or twin-screw
- Vibratory pan or rotary feeder
- Feed rates from grams/minute to tons/hour
Hopper and silo discharge solutions
- Created to ensure precise, uninterrupted flow of material