Steve,
I worked for the guy (Doug VanDevanter) here at Seafreeze that invented a
machine that optically measured fish fillets based on density, profile and
contour, and then using a high pressure water jet cut them into desired
portion sizes.
Truly amazing and you should have seen the prototype. It was an old
modified x-ray machine.
This technology was purchased by a design firm and is now in use by the big
chicken, meat and fish processors for portion cutting and recovery
maximization. I have lost track of it directly because our little $99
machine turned into a quarter million dollar one and we could not afford it!
I believe that Frigo-Scandia is (or was, the manufacturer.) Flow
International (high pressure water jet (50,000psi) cutting company) was also
involved. The technology would apply in your case as you could direct
different shaped fillets in whichever way you desire. Since you wouldn't
need the cutting ability, maybe just the optical scanner-computer program
could be adapted. Probably still going to be outrageously expensive, but
worth a look.
Regards,
Jon McGraw
Seafreeze
Seattle, Wa
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve.Saunders@highlinerfoods.com
[mailto:Steve.Saunders@highlinerfoods.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 6:19 AM
To: seafood@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Estimating surface area of fillet portions
Perhaps no where in the food industry are raw materials so irregular in
size and shape as in IQF fillet portions. After all, we are dealing with
wild animals. On a practical basis, fillets may have the same count, but
they can differ greatly in surface area between lots and even within a lot.
Some fillet portions a long and thin, others short and thick, and the
portions are not necessarily consistently whole fillets.
This presents challenges when a processor is trying to coat the IQF
portions in a secondary processing plant. The amount of pick up relates to
the surface area, but the surface area varies between and within lots of
raw material.
We are trying to study this further, but estimating surface area
consistently and efficiently is also a challenge. Would anyone in the
Seafood at UCDavis listserv have a practical method of estimating surface
area of frozen IQF portions in a production environment?
Thanks in advance,
Steve Saunders
High Liner Foods Inc. Box 910, Lunenburg NS B0J 2C0 Canada
Telephone 902-634-8811 Fax 902-634-4577
http://www.highlinerfoods.com
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