Meat+Poultry - March 2021 - bacon - 18

TOOL S OF THE TR AD E

distribute the grease to the servo motors during
cleaning mode.
Precipak's smaller injectors are direct drive,
which makes the machines very simplistic for
smaller processors without dedicated maintenance teams to provide frequent service.
" All injectors have a simple needle replacement process if any needles become clogged or
break during the process, " Brown said. " This
decreases downtime to change. Our injectors are
also designed to protect electrical components
by utilizing a separate cabinet that is above the
brine working level of the machine in case leaks
develop. "
Other maintenance needs include single
grease fittings on swing arm connectors between
motor and needle block head, greased weekly;
proper maintaining of brine filters to reduce needle plugging during production; and using cold
water for initial rinsing of the machine.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
said. " They want easier equipment to run, clean
and to maintain. The servo motors have helped
improved the process and minimize inconsistencies with more adjustments to improve speed
and to be more precise with yields. The HMI controls have helped dial in all the settings and functions to make changes easily and to be saved
based on changing conditions in the process. "
Brown noted that higher viscosity brines are
used to inject meat particles into many injected
products, but that's not legal for use in bacon.
However, the knowledge gained helps with the
" all natural " products because the brines tend
to have a higher viscosity due to the increased
ingredient percentages versus water in brine.
" These all-natural brines are also considered
cleaner ingredients by consumers, " he said. " The
logic is to replace the ingredients containing 'ites'
and 'ates' with a cleaner sounding ingredient.
An example would be instead of saying sodium
nitrite in the ingredient statement, one can
replace it with a natural cure ingredient and say,
'natural flavors' or 'celery juice powder.' "

MAINTENANCE MATTERS

Fusion Tech

Another area of improvement in recent years has
been in maintenance on the equipment.
For example, maintenance requirements
have been reduced on the Fomaco M3 series
due to servo motors, thanks to a central lubrication system in the cabinet that will automatically

Processors using
injection systems need
to consider maintenance
requirements including
needle replacement
and keeping fittings
well greased.

There are some plants that have injection lines
with automated brine mixing systems, automatic
injection, automatic combing and handling lines
for bellies in a continuous cooking oven. This
is done to achieve continuous production, less
human contact for food safety as well as labor
reduction in the process.
" Robots will become more and more integrated into processes, " Steinman said. " The current pandemic has sped up this process to a
degree and will become more and more necessary in the future. Plants have been running with
less available staffing and now will be considering more automation to keep lines running. "
Thrysoe believes the future is in automation,
with detecting of belly size and count per minute
transferred to a big board to monitor real-time
performance.
Looking ahead, Brown expects an increase
of smaller processors getting into the category
because of demand from COVID-19 and the perception of high quality from the artisan boutiques.
" COVID-19 is a bad thing globally, but it did
force consumers to experience products from
local or smaller processors due to nationally distributed products from larger processors being
sold out or unavailable at stores, " he said. " We'll
also see more creative flavor profiles. We'll always
have the staples like smoked or maple bacon,
but with bacon becoming less of a center of the
plate item and more of a condiment or snacking
item, then unique flavors will likely arise. "

2021 BACON TRENDS + TECHNOLOGY MEAT+ POULTRY

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Meat+Poultry - March 2021

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