Behind every carton of milk, block of cheese and cup of yogurt lies meticulous processing enabled by stainless steel tanks. In dairy plants, these versatile stainless steel vessels facilitate mixing, heating, cooling, fermenting, aging, and temporarily storing dairy products as they transform from raw ingredients to finished goods.
Cooling down to prevent spoilage
First, stainless steel milk storage silos receive raw milk right from the farm. Here, the milk is cooled down to preserve freshness and prevent spoilage during further processing. Stainless construction resists corrosion and metal transfer while ensuring a smooth, non-porous surface that is easily cleaned.
Elimination of the pathogens
For pasteurization, the process of heating milk to eliminate pathogens, tubular heat exchangers and stainless steel vats bring the milk to the required temperature.
Precise thermal control in a pasteurizing cheese vat prevents the damaging of milk components. The heat-treated milk flows to insulated storage tanks to await next-step processing.
Coagulation and ripening of milk
To make cheese, a pasteurizing cheese vat is ideal for coagulating and ripening milk. Curd vats allow the separation of curds and whey using curd knives. After draining the whey, ripening vats provide temperature and humidity control for proper acid development during the cheese aging process.
Packaging of cheese
Soft cheeses go straight from the ripening vats to the packaging. Hard cheeses get shaped and pressed using stainless steel hoops and cheese presses to squeeze out moisture. Here, stainless steel's durability withstands the pressing action without distortion.
Stretching, cooling and forming mozzarella is also accomplished in stainless vats where the plasticized curd can be manually worked and shaped. Stainless steel basins also hold brine solutions for brine salting techniques used on some cheeses.
Butter churns for extracting butterfat
Butter making involves using butter churns to agitate cream into butter solids. Efficient temperature control prevents the butter from softening during churning while allowing the facile release of the buttermilk. The churns' heavy-duty stainless steel construction stands up to constant mechanical agitation.
Freezing and hardening vats
Ice cream production uses specialized freezing and hardening vats to cool and aerate dairy mixes while agitating them to achieve the desired texture. Stainless steel surfaces promote efficient heat transfer required in ice cream processing.
Fermentation of milk
Yogurt-making relies on stainless steel process tanks where starter cultures can ferment milk at an optimized temperature. The steel surfaces resist harboring foreign microbes. Stainless steel remains a stalwart for commercial yogurt cultures.
Summary
Stainless steel process tanks thus fulfil diverse roles across the dairy manufacturing chain, from raw intake to finished goods. The non-reactive, corrosion-resistant surface and durable construction make them perfect for pasteurization, fermentation, freezing and cooling, among others.
No comments yet