| CHOCOLATE & CONFECTIONERY - September 1998, "Coaters Vs. Panning" Coating nuts, raisins and other products with chocolate has always been an integral part of the candy making business. Everyone loves chocolate and many people like their chocolate combined with another flavour or texture, such as macadamia nuts or pecan clusters. Thus, treats comprising of centres smothered in chocolate have always been a profitable product for the producer and a most delicious and desirable product for the consumer. Over the years, two processes have emerged as the principal tools for chocolate-coating items. The first is enrobing, requiring an enrobing line, in which the center is placed on a conveyer which takes the product through a "waterfall" of chocolate. The other alternative is to pan coat, which requires rotating pans, similar to those used for sugar-coating candy. In this process, chocolate is hand ladled into a revolving bowl onto the tumbling centers. The revolving pan has been around since the early 1600's, making attractive products which have tempted many a consumer. The popularity of this confection is evidenced by the multitudes of brands offered today. EFFICIENT PRODUCTION Recently, companies that produce chocolate coated products have found a more efficient method of production. The innovation behind this new way of coating is the employment of a belted system. Instead of using a revolving conventional pan, the product is loaded into a horizontally mounted cylindrical belt with an open front, which allows easier access to the product, as well as easy loading and unloading of the coated product. The chocolate is applied through an internal spray system. These belt coaters can be supplied with load cells so that the weight of the centres before, during and after the coating process can be constantly monitored by the operator on the digital readout screen. This assures proper coating ratios, thus producing a consistent finished product. Using the belt system, it now costs less for confectioners to enter the chocolate coating business. For example, a conventional 38" four revolving pan system with a four pan spray system would cost US$69,355. A 60" belt coater, however, costs US$40,415. Under normal operating conditions, the four pan system will produce 230kg (500 pounds) of 2:1 chocolate coated peanuts per hour. Conversely, the 60" belt coater will yield up to 340kg (750 pounds) per hour of the same product. In addition, belt coaters take up a relatively smaller floor space area in relation to output. The four pan system requires 16.56m2 (square meters), whereas a 60" Belt Coater requires only 3.9m2 (square meters) of floor space. The most important advantage, however, is the ease with which the chocolate coating process can be fully automated. The load cell foundation, coupled with the loader's optional programmable controller (P.C.) provides the potential to save significant labour costs. SUGAR-COATING CANDY The belt coater is not only applicable to the chocolate coating industry but also the sugar coating process. Recent production trials have successfully been completed, using the 60" belt in sugar coating jelly beans. Production trails under commercial conditions have yielded jelly beans of the highest quality. One manufacturer was quoted as saying, "We think the LMC International Belt Coater is more gentle on the shells that conventional pans." LMC International, a Chicago based candy equipment manufacturer, manufactures three such coaters: 24, 48 and 60 inch models. |
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