An IQF tunnel freezer is more and more used in the quick freezing processing of various types of aquatic products and frozen foods to maintain the original nutritional value and color and flavor of the food to the maximum extent. IQF is short for individually quick-frozen. A blast tunnel freezer is used for continuous quick freezing of raw materials. It just needs to put the goods into the tunnel freezer machine, the refrigeration unit will keep running until the goods stop being delivered. The refrigeration unit of the tunnel instant freezer machine automatically stops according to the temperature inside the tunnel, which not only improves the utilization rate and production efficiency but also saves the power consumed due to frequent start-ups.
Wide application of tunnel instant freezer machine
The conveyor belt of the blast tunnel freezer has a short contact distance with the refrigeration equipment and relies on rapid cooling such as convection blowing air. Therefore, the IQF tunnel freezer is very suitable for small packages of aquatic products such as shrimp, fish fillets, squid, scallops, seaweed, etc., and frozen pasta products such as dumplings, soup dumplings, etc.
Specifically, the following are common categories.
- Frozen pasta, including dumplings, dumplings, buns, baked rice, etc.
- Frozen aquatic products and livestock products, including sea shrimp, chicken claws, pork, fish, etc.
- Frozen vegetables and fruits (after pretreatment), including frozen strawberries, frozen green beans, etc.
- frozen dishes: semi-finished and finished dishes ready for eating after heating.
Unique features of blast tunnel freezer
During the freezing process, various physical and chemical changes occur, such as volume reduction, dry consumption increase, protein denaturation, color change, biological and micro-life activity change, etc. The rapid freezing process allows the above changes to reach maximum reversibility. Through ultra-low temperature fast freezing, in a few minutes to ten minutes, the food center temperature reaches minus 18 degrees, the required degree for food freshness.
Industrial freezing tunnel, according to the different forms of conveyor belt used can be divided into mesh belt and plate belt types. The IQF tunnel freezer for food processing is done through the mesh belt or plate belt conveyor. In addition, like the commonly used all-aluminum alloy evaporator along the running direction of the steel plate belt of the tunnel freezer, the surface is not easy to frost after increasing the wind area, so it can realize a long time continuous quick-freezing processing. The lengths of the tunnel freezer reach from 7100mm to 26000mm to meet different customer demands.
How does the IQF tunnel freezer achieve a perfect food preservation effect?
The blast tunnel freezer is to freeze food in a very short time so that the central temperature of the food reaches -18 ℃. The short time of rapid freezing can avoid the generation of large ice crystals between cells and reduce the precipitation of water inside the cells so that the time for concentrated solutes, food tissues, colloids, and various components to come into contact with each other inside the cell tissues is significantly shortened, and the concentration is reduced to a minimum.
In this way, water molecules form small crystals evenly distributed in the tissue, which will not puncture the cell membrane and ensure the integrity of the food microstructure. The food loses very little cellular fluid after thawing so that the taste, flavor, and nutrition of the food remain as they were when fresh.
At the same time, the low-temperature environment during the operation of the industrial freezing tunnel is under the activity temperature of microorganisms and enzymes, whose growth and biochemical reactions are effectively inhibited, which also better ensures the freshness of the food and improves the subsequent cold chain circulation rate.
Related equipment
A Flash freezer machine is another kind of quick-freezing equipment, which is often used for small and medium frozen food processing units.
