Steve,
Some thoughts...
On a production line, (and I'm not sure that this is practical), if you
are intent on controlling the pickups on individual items of widely
varying shapes and even sizes, then you probably have no choice, but to
do a simple visual grading before hand into eg short chunky pieces,
versus long slender pieces, and run them separately on production line
with different viscosities and/or blower strengths. The number of visual
grades will determine the uniformity of pickup on individual basis.
(There is the other issue of perceived thickness of coating by
consumer).
If you are looking for a simple test which you can employ for empirical
data, a solution I would propose would rely on comparative pickups of
some sort of solution, or dry material such as monolayer of extruded
crumb, or even water (glaze). The principle obviously is that the
surface area determines the pickup, and when coating thickness is fixed,
the weight of coating will be directly related to surface area.
It is essential to have a reference sample of a regular shape and
measurable surface area, eg cut from a fillet block or moulded into a
shape and frozen. Knowing this surface area, the surface area of the
test sample is determined by the comparative pickup (weight or volume)
of solution or batter or dry powder.
Having the reference sample on hand, dip the reference sample and other
samples in the solution or dry mix. Weigh (or measure volume) accurately
the container of solution before and after dipping each item.
Obviously, the thicker the mix, the greater the pickup, and easier it is
to get a significant weight difference before and after each item.
Note: for accuracy, factors which affect pickup will have to be
monitored and carefully controlled for each test period - eg viscosity
of mix, drain time, temperature of mix and product surface, dryness of
surface for dry ingredient pickup, etc.
Providing you have the reference sample on hand for each trial, the
viscosity, etc, do not have to be the same on each occasion, since
looking at comparative pickups.
Infact, easiest and simplest approach if have crumbing production line
handy, run samples single file down line during break. Weight individual
samples before and after coating to determine pickup. Conditions, except
for surface area, should be relatively constant. P/U will then reflect
surface area, but will also give comparative pickups of different shaped
portions, which is the ultimate concern anyway.
I hope this is of some help.
Regards
David Graham
Graham Food Consulting
Australia (+ 61 405 102 531)
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve.Saunders@highlinerfoods.com [
<mailto:Steve.Saunders@highlinerfoods.com>
mailto:Steve.Saunders@highlinerfoods.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 2 July 2002 11:19 PM
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:// <http://www.highlinerfoods.com/>
www.highlinerfoods.com
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