Chilling tale of nitrogen tunnel replacement takes the bacon

Roach Foods, based in Bodmin, Cornwall and part of the Tulip Group, which supplies cooked bacon products to foodservice and retail outlets across the UK, has boosted throughput and made big cost savings by investing in four energy efficient in-line chillers from Starfrost to replace an ageing nitrogen tunnel system.

The new system comprises four in-line Starlite HT (hybrid tunnel) chillers. Each unit has an effective length of 8.5m, with a single 1m wide belt. Cooked bacon enters the HT chillers at a product temperature of around 90°C. Operating at -25°C, the HT chills the product to the required temperature of less than 5°C in under 60s.

Chris Hambly, engineering manager for Roach says: "Starfrost's HT chillers have proved far more cost efficient and effective than our previous system ... The new chillers have enabled us to increase production capacity and throughput by around 20%."

The HT is said to combine the looks of a fluidised bed tunnel with the controlled airflow and efficiency benefits of a spiral freezing system.

Contact: Starfrost (UK),

Tel: 01502 562206