By Dan Orehov
Many different styles and sizes populate the market including crinkle, wedge, slab, frites, and traditional flat in various lengths. Other potato products include dices, shreds, slices, waffle (lattice) cuts, and mince cuts that make-up hash brown patties and tator tots.
Providing Equipment Diversity
The DiversaCut 2110A Dicer (DCA), by Urschel, is primarily the go-to machine for dices and crinkle french fries. The machine provides exacting cuts at high capacity. The DCA is manufactured for rugged production environments. Customers appreciate the long runtimes the machine delivers. Ease of use is another feature, noted by many processors. The DCA may be outfitted with either a 5 or 10 HP (3.7 or 7.5 kW) motor up to 90 hertz with supported heavy-duty components/gearing to obtain unsurpassed capacities.
Most potato processors will not need to run at such high speeds/capacities because the rest of the line may not be able to keep up with the product coming off of the Urschel machine, but this option is available for some of our leading, ‘super processors.’ For efficiency in terms of price point, small-to-medium processors may benefit from the DiversaCut Sprint® or Sprint 2® Dicers. Both offer smart, compact cutting zones for optimal dices and strips as lower cost alternatives for processors with one-, two-, or three-dimensional cutting options, along with many of the same added benefit built-ins as the larger volume DiversaCut 2110A. For slicing, shreds, strips, or lattice needs, processors rely on the Model CC and the Model CCL. Different cutting heads are available to produce different styles of products. Consistent, precision slices offer less waste. Any Model CC may be converted to a CCL lattice slicer by procuring a set of proper parts. After a slicer has been converted to a lattice slicer, it may be reconverted to a standard Model CC slicer. For mince and smaller cuts, Urschel delivers the Comitrol® Processor line. A multitude of heads are available to reduce potatoes. This line specializes in particle size reduction through the process of comminution, incorporating a gradual shearing process at high speeds.
Moreover, The DiversaCut line provides one-, two-, or three-dimensional cutting to produce slices, strips, or dices. The close proximity of one cutting station to the next provides precise cutting. Potatoes delivered to a feed hopper enter a rotating impeller. Centrifugal force holds the product against the inside of the case. Impeller paddles carry the product past the slicing knife. An adjustable slice gate at the top of the case determines the slice thickness. Slices pass between the slicing knife and stripper plate, then enter the circular knives where they are cut into strips. The strips pass directly into the crosscut knives where the final cut is made. Strip cuts are produced by removing either the circular or the crosscut knife spindle. Slices are produced by removing both of these spindles. Shreds are produced with shredding discs in place of the crosscut knives.
The Model CC Slicer provides a variety of slices, shreds, and strips. Potatoes are delivered to the feed hopper assembly and enter the rotating impeller. Centrifugal force holds the product against the inner surfaces of the cutting head comprised of cutting stations. Product passes through cutting stations producing slices, shreds, or strips. The Model CCL produces unique lattice cuts with a striking and interesting appearance and mouth feel. Potatoes to be sliced are fed into a revolving impeller assembly. This assembly is made up of four potato holding tubes. As the impeller assembly rotates, the tubes are also caused to rotate. Potatoes in these tubes rotate on a vertical axis and at the same time on a radial axis. Centrifugal force causes the potatoes to be held tightly against the inside surface of the slicing head which is spherical in shape. This slicing head contains four crinkle knives. As the potato slides around inside the slicing head, it turns approximately one quarter turn between each crinkle knife. This causes the crinkles on each side of the slice to be at right angles with each other.
“Urschel remained strong through 2020. Of course, the foodservice industry, as a whole, did see a downturn. Overcoming obstacles during a rough COVID-19 time, Urschel was still successful with the introduction of five new machines. We feel that 2021 will show gradual growth as the foodservice industry continues to recover,” says Mike Jacko, VP of Applications & New Product Innovation at Urschel.
A Broad Range of Food Processing Systems
The cutting stage is a critical step and a major differentiator for every potato processor. Whether they are a low-capacity, specialty-line processor, or have a high-capacity 24/7 potato processing operation, good cutting equipment makes a big difference, when it comes to producing high-quality potato products. A nearly endless range of different cut shapes and sizes will help your potato products to stand out and get consumer attention. On top of that, good cutting equipment will allow optimized line efficiency and overall yield maximization.
“At FAM Stumabo, we have only one goal in mind: to help potato processors cut potatoes to perfection. Our combined knowledge and in-house design and manufacturing of mechanical cutters, hydrocutter heads and precision blades allows us to offer industry-leading innovation when it comes to potato cutting in any cut shape and at any capacity. We offer an industry-leading range of precision blades and we take pride in meticulously designing durable blades dedicated for peeling and cutting potatoes. We think along with our customers and help them stand out with always the newest and most appealing cut shapes and quality,” FAM Stumabo experts explain.
The company’s mechanical cutting equipment range features FAM’s Dorphy and Tridis machines. Dorphy is an entry-level dicer and chip / fry cutter (with capacities up to 2Mt/hr). The Tridis 180-240 family are cutting-edge chip / fry cutters and dicers for medium- to high-capacity processing lines (up to 15Mt/hr). For specialty potato products, our Volantis and Centris slicing and shredding machines offer the highest cut quality for potato slices and shreds. Stumabo’s industry-leading expertise in precision blade design and manufacturing is also used to integrate only the best blades in FAM’s mechanical cutters. Stumabo’s solutions can help customers turn potatoes into (crinkle) wedges, crinkle steak fries, scoops, or other shapes.
“Thanks to the innovations we have introduced in recent years, our customers need much less water to achieve the same quality for their product. This serves both our economic and environmental interests. Our products themselves are also sustainable. Due to the high quality of the materials, our machines have a longer life span. In addition, the machines have a very modular design, making it very easy to replace parts, which also contributes to a longer life. For potato processors, our high-quality precision blades and highly efficient cutting machines allow significant process optimizations related to energy and water consumption thanks to less starch loss and a more precise and constant cut quality,” FAM experts say.
The company’s investment into virtual tools has allowed FAM to stay close and connect with customers for demonstrations, commissioning, training and remote service interventions. But even before COVID-19, at FAM Stumabo a strong knowledge-driven organization was built, with a unique set of online platforms to share their knowledge broadly with partners and customers. Industry 4.0 and related elements such as connectivity, remote control & service, big data etc. have been around and trending for quite a while. What COVID-19 did mostly is accelerate the acceptance and implementation across the food industry. So ‘Food Cutting 4.0’ is definitely here to stay as well.
“For 2021 we continue to be positive. We believe that the food processing sector as a whole, and also the potato segment, will continue to be very resilient and eventually continue its pace of growth as soon as the COVID-19 situation improves. A growing population combined with changing diets in emerging countries and the increasing availability of money will continue to drive the potato processing industry into delivering high-quality food products, produced in the most efficient and sustainable way. At FAM Stumabo we plan to keep focusing on serving the potato industry with the most innovative cutting technology combined with our unique, in-depth application knowledge. More than ever, our goal is to help our customers maximize their process efficiency and overall yield,” conclude the company specialists.
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