P
rotein bars are already well established in the North American market and are becoming more popular in Europe, where sales are expected to top $1 billion in the near future, they
are making inroads in South America and Asia too. The market continues to attract new players offering innovative ingredient combinations designed to appeal to varied audiences. For example, bar makers now offer vegan and plant-based products, gluten-free and allergen-free products, and keto and low-carb products, with taste options ranging from sweetened to unsweetened, coffee to chocolate, fruit-filled or frosted. Protein bars are on trend with consumer demands, offering = quick, nutritious alternatives for people on the go looking for a high-protein, high-fibre and lower-carb alternative to sweets or traditional snack foods. They also tick the right box for consumers looking for more healthy options. Protein bars can contain whole grains, nuts, dried fruits and other natural ingredients. However, mass-producing protein bars can pose some production challenges. Given the sticky, chewy, soft or crisp nature of the varied ingredients, ensuring consistent and accurate portion control from extruded lengths or sheets of baked or cold-extruded product can be difficult. Traditional mechanical technology that cuts or slices product can encounter problems in portioning bar products due to a variety of factors:
• Variability in bar thickness. • Variability in ingredients being cut (hard, soft, chewy, sticky).
• Multilayered bar compositions, some of which may be more vulnerable to crushing than others.
• Hard or crisp ingredients, which are prone to cracking or crumbling instead of cutting cleanly.
For example, frictional forces involved in traditional horizontal or vertical cutting can cause crushing, cracking or breaking of product, resulting in uneven portioning and product waste. Traditional cutting blades or edges may also accumulate sticky product residues that add to frictional cutting forces, capture crumbs, and/or necessitate the use of release agents or costly regular line stoppages to allow operators to clean the knife.
KennedysConfection.com
Driven by high-frequency ultrasonic energy, the cutting horn creates an almost frictionless cutting surface, enabling neater cuts, faster processing and reduced cleaning requirements, even when processing soft or sticky product ingredients.
Typical knife or wire cuts generate
friction and pressure that can deform or crush product while creating waste, crumbs or clogs that necessitate downtime for cleaning”
Overcoming limitations
For these reasons bar manufacturers should consider adopting ultrasonic cutting solutions. This food-cutting technology is able to overcome the typical limitations of conventional food-cutting methods to provide virtually frictionless cutting and portioning of nearly any confectionery item — from firm, soft or frozen items, to cakes and bakery products, to fudge, candies and protein bars.
Ultrasonic food cutting systems from Branson consist of a ‘stack’ with four main parts:
• A power supply, or generator, converts 50 Hz or 60 Hz AC electric voltage into high- frequency energy – 20 kHz, 30 kHz or 40 kHz – depending on application requirements. • An electromechanical converter receives electrical energy from the power supply and converts it into mechanical vibrations for the cutting process. For example, if the power supply delivers energy at 20 kHz, the converter causes the attached booster and cutting horn to vibrate at 20,000 times per second. • The booster is positioned between the
converter and the cutting horn and is used to control the amplitude, or range of motion, of the cutting horn. • Finally, the cutting horn does the actual cutting work. This vibrating knife/blade is engineered for maximum cutting performance in the application.
During operation, the high-frequency vibrations transmitted through the stack of the ultrasonic cutting system allow the cutting horn to gently displace product on either side, enabling clean and precise cuts through sticky foods like caramel or licorice, delicate foods like bread or angel food cake, crusty or nutty foods like bagels or protein bars, and even frozen pizzas or prepared foods.
Typical knife or wire cuts generate friction and pressure that can deform or crush product while creating waste, crumbs or clogs that necessitate downtime for cleaning. The high- frequency vibrations used to drive ultrasonic cutting make displacement cuts that precisely separate portions without wasting product and creating crumbs or residue. Because the ultrasonic portioning process minimises surface friction, it can sustain high cutting rates and long blade life. At the same time, this vibrating action prevents the accumulation of crumbs or sticky residues on the cutting horn surface, so release agents are not needed. The net result is that ultrasonic cutting systems typically reduce cleaning requirements – and associated downtime – by 90% when compared to conventional knife-cutting systems. Ultrasonic cutting systems are available in a wide range of sizes, widths and configurations, and can be custom designed, with single or multiple cutting horns, to meet any food cutting or portioning requirements. These compact, affordable systems are easy to automate and install or retrofit in existing production systems or can be custom-engineered to meet specific customer specifications or industry requirements.
Kennedy’s Confection July 2024 37
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