Heat and Control dryer/roaster technology

Company: Heat and Control

Equipment Snapshot: Heat and Control recently released their Rotary Dryer Roaster (RDR) multizone convection dryer/roaster system. The RDR provides optimal drying or roasting in a continuous, gentle, and sanitary manner with complete control to produce quality, uniform results. Utilizing the food industry's recent technological advances, RDR was developed to capitalize on the new opportunities for high volume continuous processing of snack foods, such as nuts, seeds, and protein/meat-based snacks and advances Heat and Control's snack line capability, enabling them to offer an end-to-end solution for seasoned and coated nut snacks.

"The RDR provides high volume convective airflow combined with gentle rotary motion that ensures that all product is uniformly treated with heated air. Operators have full control over the roasting or drying process variables, enhancing the finished products' color, flavor, and texture," reports Doug Kozenski, Heat and Control sales manager North America – processing systems.

"While this is new equipment for the industry, processors see the potential," explains Kozenski, "they recognize the benefits of the continuous process, the consistency and repeatability of the process, and the savings resulting from reduced labor and floor space requirements." Food processors confidently can expand their portfolio to capitalize on new opportunities because the RDR gives operators complete control to dry or to roast product in a continuous, gentle, and sanitary manner with optimal quality and uniform results.

Unlike static rack ovens, a product is gently tumbled in the RDR, heated air circulates through the product bed to facilitate unprecedented uniform drying/moisture removal or roasting. The design handles the raw product in a continuous, high-density manner through a unique flighted drum that ensures positive motion.

Features include a unique drum design that facilitates continuous first-in-first-out product flow and independent fans and burners in multiple convection zones which provides complete process control which can be tailored to various products. An externally mounted drum drive design provides access for internal Clean-In-Place piping and nozzles which provides for automated thorough cleaning.

Heat and Control manufactures and supplies complete line solutions for nuts and other snack products for the snack industry. Along with their partners Ishida and CEIA, Heat and Control helps their customers by providing solutions of one machine or a complete line. From processing, seasoning and coating application and conveying, to weighing, bagmaking, case packing, metal detection, X-ray inspection, and checkweighing.