Method for determining the temperature of products transported on the conveyor belt of a cryogenic tunnel, comprising the following steps: —continuously measuring the surface temperature of products travelling on the conveyor belt; —measuring the thickness of a product at the point where the temperature measurement is taken; —performing the following evaluation: a. when the thickness of the product is within a certain range, then the temperature measured for said product is considered to be a reliable value; b. when the thickness of the product is outside the range, then the last temperature value of the measured product is considered to be a reliable value according to paragraph a) above; c. after a determined period of time during which the measured thickness is outside the range, it is concluded that there are no products on the conveyor belt and the temperature measurements are no longer taken into account.

A process and system in which solid droplets of a lipid product are prepared. The liquid lipid product is introduced into a freeze tunnel by one or more nozzles so as to form droplets of the liquid product. The droplets are introduced onto a conveyor belt at a first end of the freeze tunnel. The freeze tunnel is at a temperature sufficient that the droplets assume a semisolid state on or before contacting the conveyor belt and then become solid droplets as they pass through to a second end of the freeze tunnel.

A method for producing an avocado food product with a reduced instance of pathogens, the method comprising: (a) removing the pip and peel from an avocado leaving the flesh of the avocado; (b) macerating the avocado flesh; (c) exposing the avocado flesh to an atmosphere comprising steam for a predetermined time; wherein the steam is generated at or greater than about atmospheric pressure.

A food process line and method are provided for processing food in a food process line. The food process line includes at least two of the following process line stations: a food preparation station, cold store, pump station or forming station for a pumpable food mass, or a dry coater, wet coating device, fryer, heater or freezer for the discrete food products. In each process line station at least one process step is carried out, the process line station having one or more actuators and/or one or more sensors. The food process line comprises an interstation control system configured to control an actuator of a first process line station on the basis of data from a sensor of a second process line station.

A method and device for freezing food items in a controlled and homogeneous manner. The method and device use plate freezers to bring the food items in a regulated manner through the whole freezing process.

Supercooled water or solutions can be destabilized by the nucleation of ice, which can be triggered by a wide range of different mechanisms. Constraining water in a constant-volume (isochoric) container minimizes the effects of many of these mechanisms through thermodynamic, kinetic, and fluid dynamic means, significantly enhancing supercooling stability. This invention describes methods and devices for high-stability and optionally transportable supercooling of aqueous solutions or suspensions, and the stable and long-term preservation of biological matter that may be stored therein.

A sterilizer according to the present invention comprises: a temperature-raising module for heating a carriage introduced thereinto; a sterilization module for sterilizing the carriage transferred from the temperature-raising module; a cooling module for cooling the carriage transferred from the sterilization module; and an opening-closing module connected to the temperature-raising module, the sterilization module, or the cooling module, to selectively open or close at least one module, and the sterilizer independently heat-treats a space separated by the opening-closing module.

A rocker chiller includes a chilling tank and a baffle assembly. The baffle assembly includes a drive shaft, a baffle blade extending along a bottom of the tank and a plurality of spaced-apart and elongate baffle members extending in a radial direction from the drive shaft towards the bottom of the tank. The elongate baffle members contact the drive shaft at spaced-apart locations along the drive shaft and define a plurality of openings therebetween. The elongate baffle members are sized and shaped to push at least a majority of the carcasses laterally through the heat exchanging liquid in a direction generally orthogonal to a lengthwise forward movement of the carcasses from the first end of the tank to the second end of the tank.

A method for the heat recovery from a tunnel cooling apparatus, having one or several cooling cells for cooling products in containers by means of a cooling agent circulating in a coolant circuit, and a heat exchanger; including: controlling the circulating quantity of the coolant, and controlling the temperature of the coolant, wherein both the circulating quantity and the temperature of the coolant are measured and controlled on the basis of comparisons with predefined parameters, so that the thermal yield of the heat exchanger is optimized.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a ready-to heat, preservative free meal, comprising selecting at least one food product; preparing each food product; placing the prepared food products within a container; thermalizing; cooling down; and conditioning. The ready-to heat, preservative free meal comprises at least one of a protein portion, a portion of slow carbohydrates and a portion of vegetables.