Safe and Sound
No matter how it’s used, injection equipment needs to be cleaned and sanitized because of the nature of the process. Many times, clean water is filtered through the machine to remove any debris of fat, meat and other ingredients. Needles must be monitored too, to protect against accidental breakage.
To make cleaning of injectors easier for processors, those who manufacture injection equipment have focused on cleaning and sanitation. Reiser, with US offices in Canton, Massachusetts, offers a self-cleaning filter that doesn’t lose pressure when operating because of a clogged needle or filters. The filter cleans itself and automatically discharges residue, which also helps increase yield.
The IMAX Generation II injector from Wolf-Tec also has a sanitary design that allows it to be cleaned up to six times faster than other injectors.
Nu-Meat has also focused improvements on safety and sanitation. The company’s Metalquimia Movistick Plus Injectors, which inject brine into bone-in and boneless meat and poultry, has improved the tenderization head change for more effective inspection, cleaning and sanitation and designed its injector for easy needle change. Nu-Meat also offers an optional automatic self-cleaning filter that can run 24 hours with all types of brine.
The Townsend injection technology from Marel, meanwhile, includes a multiple stage filter system that runs an eight-hour shift without a full system cleaning, along with a removable conveyor bed and clean-in-place features.
“In the last decade, there have been important improvements in sanitation and safety, such as the way the injector drains and in the way positive displacement pumps are used. The system is built with safety in mind,” says Brett Saddoris, Townsend’s marketing specialist.
Finally, also reflecting trends in processing and in keeping with operator interest in greater efficiency, some equipment suppliers offer injection systems for small spaces. Wolf-Tec, for instance, offers a compact injector for bone-in or boneless products with a capacity of up to 6,000 lbs. an hour.
