Learning The Types And Uses Of Various Dairy Equipment
The dairy industry is busy every day, churning out products to include butter, milk, cream, cheese and many others. Dairy equipment is built to boost production and decrease the amount of labor involved in the process. The equipment handles not only manufacturing but pasteurizing, processing, storage, packaging and even transport.
Common dairy equipment includes:
• Exchanger
• Evaporation systems
• Cream churners
• Storage tanks
• Mixers
• Heat exchangers and high-temperature equipment
Dairy plants are always in the market for these types of machines, as well as necessary parts for maintenance and repairs. The equipment is more than helpful to dairy farms worldwide. Here are the most common pieces of equipment and how they are used.
Dairy Homogenizer
Homogenization is the process of converting two non-soluble liquids into a stable emulsion. The process is commonly used by those working on a dairy farm. Homogenizers allow for better performance and greater flexibility.
What happens naturally is the milk solids are slowly separate, leaving the solids on the top to be easily skimmed off the surface. However, the need for things to look appetizing caused the homogenizer to be created and become a very popular piece of dairy equipment, which gives it more of an even, creamy look that is far more desired by consumers.
Dairy Separator
The separator is a centrifugal piece of dairy equipment that quickly separate milk and cream to create things like skim milk. They are very simple to use and more than effective for dairy farmers that are looking for a cost-efficient solution. It’s amazing to think that the separators of today can produce around 35,000 liters per hour of separated milk. That’s amazingly efficient!
Milk Tanks
Milk tanks are a very important piece of dairy equipment, and used for many purposes. They can be used for storage, cooling, isolation, processing and fermentation. They are more than helpful on dairy farms. They also come in one, two and triple-lay versions. Rapid and efficient, milk tanks improve the quality of the product by rapidly cooling it to a temperature where it can’t be affected by bacteria.
Tanks can be animal specific, what works for cow milk may not for goat, sheep and buffalo milk so it’s important to consider this before making a buy. Open, closed and silo style tanks are available to meet the needs of any size farm. They are easy to install as well; that is an important fact to many dairy farmers who don’t want to fuss with new equipment.
Pasteurizers
If one needs their milk and other dairy products to go through thermal treatment, then pasteurizers are the perfect dairy equipment to invest in. They also work for sodas and juices and the process can prolong the time it takes to spoil. This treatment increases safety by killing any harmful bacteria and eliminating harmful microorganisms that are often present in milk. The FDA demands that all milk and milk products that are shipped interstate be pasteurized.
To meet the demand for more low-fat products, pasteurizers and other equipment are necessary. Any business that wants to gain an edge should seriously check into this equipment for production.
Buying Equipment Used
One should never shy away from purchasing used dairy equipment. Often times, the equipment runs as good as new and is available for far less out-of-pocket cost. It’s even better when the vendor they are purchased from offers service, that way one can be assured that their equipment has been checked over thoroughly and runs properly for the best results possible.