Armfield Industrial Food Technology

INDUSTRIAL FOOD TECHNOLOGY

FT20 Cheese Vat - issue 2

FT20/FT20A Cheese Vat & Cheese Making Accessories

The Armfield Cheese Vat makes an ideal research facility. When making Cheddar type cheese, approximately 1kg of cheese is produced from a 10 litre batch of milk.

Features Benefits |
Description |
Capabilities |
Cheese Making Accessories |
Unit Specification

Optional Accessories |
Requirements |
Shipping Specification and Dimensions

FEATURES

> 10 litre capacity stainless steel jacketed vat
> Bench mounting with small footprint
> Separate console controls vat temperature and paddle speed
> Water heater fitted in console
> Temperature and pH can be monitored by microcomputer using an appropriate interface
> Range of cheese making accessories
> Simple controls

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Benefits

> Makes all well known types of cheese
> Economical with raw materials
> 1kg batch provides adequate material for sampling
> Ease of use

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Description

Manufactured wholly in stainless steel and bench-mounted, the vat is hygienic in use. It has a removable paddle agitator of stainless steel, driven through a guarded linkage system by a variable speed drive motor. Water is circulated through the vat jacket at a preselected temperature by the pump contained in the separate control console which stands adjacent to the vat.

The control console incorporates:

> chart recorder for continuous printout of pH of vat contents
> digital display of pH of vat contents
> digital display of temperature of vat contents
> two analog output ports for computer monitoring of vat temperature and pH
> agitator stop/start and variable speed control

The pH and temperature probes are suspended in the vat contents from a bracket on the rim of the vat.

A specially designed perforated strainer fits into the vat outlet to facilitate efficient draining.

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Capabilities

> heating and agitating milk, and holding at an exact temperature for addition of starter culture and rennet
> holding at temperature during coagulation
> cutting and healing the curd
> heating and agitating gradually and accurately to ‘scald’ the curd
> maintaining the higher temperatures and agitating for a further period
> settling the curd or ‘pitching’
> drawing the whey
> milling
> salt addition

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FT20A Cheese Making Accessories

Designed to be used with the 10 litre Armfield FT20 Cheese Vat to produce approximately 1kg of finished cheese. Using the accessories, it is possible to carry out the following operations: curd cutting, cheddaring, pH determination (chemical) and pressing.

> Stainless steel horizontal blade curd knife with nylon handle
> Stainless steel vertical blade curd knife with nylon handle
> Stainless steel cheddaring box plus weights up to 10kg (2kg x 5) for initiating the traditional cheddaring process
> Cheese press with 2 moulds
> Acid testing kit comprising, including apparatus and chemicals

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Unit Specifications

Vat:

Working capacity: 10 litres
Agitator paddle: Stainless steel
Agitator drive motor: 50W, 0-30rpm

The agitator drive linkage is designed to allow the paddle to traverse the vat at rates between 0 and 60 times per min.

Perforated strainer: Stainless steel
Hygienic outlet valve: ‘Pinch type’

Control Console:

Control console
ITEM	DETAILS
As well as containing the necessary electrical circuitry, the console houses:-
Heating water circulator:	0.85kW, temperature range ambient to 80°C set by analog dial, (Control accuracy: ±1°C, Safety: over-temperature cutout), max. flow 10lpm
Agitator paddle variable speed drive control:	Thyristor, DC
Analog output ports:	voltage output O-1Vdc proportional to temperature and pH (2 channels). Suitable for microcomputer connection via any appropriate interface, e.g. FT20-90IFD-USB
Chart recorder for pH:	Choice of 25, 300, or 600mm/hr speed. Direct ‘dotting’ on pressure sensitive paper. Scale: 0 - 14pH
pH/temperature indication:	3½ digit display
Thermocouple probe:	Type K
pH probe:	Food spear type, 0 -14pH