MIXING, WEIGHING & CONVEYING
SMALL BATCH PRODUCERS SCALE UP THEIR FOOD APPLICATIONS WITH SILVERSON’S VERSATILE MIXERS
In a new case study, to be published on the Silverson website, visitors can learn how a communal, custom blending plant is being utilised by local food producers
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itchen Connect, an initiative of a food charity, currently hosts over 20 local producers who use their communal kitchen space to manufacture their products, from food trucks to catering companies, to bakers and tea blenders to ice cream and hot sauce producers.
The business incubation and processing facility opened its doors in 2023; as part of a vision making high-volume processing equipment in the kitchen available to the local community. These pieces of equipment would allow small producers and farmers to create large batches of their products, which may otherwise have been out of reach for them financially and in terms of factory/production space.
Kitchen Connect got in touch with Silverson Machines and invested in a custom blending plant to fulfil part of this vision. The blending plant comprises a custom Ultra Hygienic Bottom Entry Mixer and an Ultra Hygienic High Viscosity In-Line Mixer/Homogeniser. The use of the two mixers gives the blending plant the flexibility for food producers to determine the consistency they want for their product. It also allows this one piece of equipment the versatility to create high-quality batches of different food products, depending on which small producer is utilising it. This makes it ideal for the communal kitchen. The Ultra Hygienic specification of the mixers makes them perfect for hygienic food preparation and processing and allows for easy cleaning between batches.
The blending plant is often used in conjunction with a precision dispensing machine that Kitchen Connect offers its users. This equipment dispenses the exact amount of product needed into whichever container is being used by a particular producer. As such, the blending plant and dispensing machine are often rented together, allowing producers to quickly and efficiently create large, production-scale batches of their artisan products, while saving them time and money. One producer making use of the Blending Plant has been reducing locally grown tomatoes into a puree. The Bottom Entry mixer does the initial disintegration of the tomatoes down into a pulp. Then, the High Viscosity In- Line mixer/homogeniser is started. The product is circulated to reduce the tomatoes
6 MARCH 2025 | PROCESS & CONTROL
down further until the desired consistency and texture has been achieved. The High Shear mixer is ideal for this application as it can handle higher viscosity products, such as purees or sauces like mayonnaise, without the need for additional feed pumps to move the product along. Interchangeable workheads also allow for greater versatility; these are available with all Silverson high shear mixers and give manufacturers greater control over the consistency of their mixes and can be changed depending on the desired results. Once the blending plant has discharged the producer’s tomato puree, the product is pasteurised and canned for shelf stability using other equipment in the communal kitchen.
Another local producer uses the blending plant to manufacture hot sauce. In conjunction with the dispensing machine, the producer can make a very large batch of hot sauce and then discharge it into 600 bottles in only an hour!
The Silverson blending plant has helped to
fulfill the kitchen's vision of supporting local food producers as they scale up their products. Since installing the blending plant Kitchen Connect has been able to offer the community:
• Versatility – a mixing plant capable of producing a variety of products • Flexibility - allowing users of the blending plant to determine the consistency and texture they desire for their products • Batch-to-batch consistency on a larger
scale
• Scale up - production-scale manufacture without having to invest precious small business funds
Above: One producer making use of the Blending Plant has been reducing locally grown tomatoes into a puree
Below: The Pilot Disintegrator Plant has a standard capacity of 250l, but can be customised
• Time savings - producing large batches of food products in one go, rather than several preparation and manufacturing processes for smaller batches
There are also many other advantages stemming from all the versatile equipment which makes up the complete kitchen. You can find out more about Kitchen Connect by visiting:
www.kitchenconnectvictoria.com. Silverson Machines have helped thousands of customers all over the world to improve their mixing processes and product quality with the use of High Shear Mixing. You can find a library of Case Studies on the Silverson website. In these case studies you can read about real instances where Silverson mixers have helped our customers to reduce mixing and process times, increase yield of raw materials, save money and improve the manufacturing process across a range of industries. To find out more, visit the Silverson website.
Silverson Machines E:
sales@silverson.co.uk www.silverson.co.uk
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