Heat and Control looks at the latest cutting technologies from Urschel that are meeting industry demand for higher capacities, larger throughputs, and new shapes for the mighty spud.
Potato processing is a constantly changing market, and as it evolves so must the equipment that creates the latest products.
The industry standard
The Urschel Model CC Potato Chip Slicer is the industry standard slicer for potato chips. This equipment’s innovative design uses centrifugal force to hold product against cutting stations located inside the machine. As the product passes each cutting station, it can produce slices, shreds, or strips. It can be equipped with a 2, 5, or 10 HP (1.5, 3.7, or 7.5 kW) motor, which caters to a variety of applications.
Urschel vice president of Applications & New Product Innovation Mike Jacko says the
CC Slicer is well known for its interchangeable cutting heads, which can produce a huge variety of cuts.
“This allows potato processors to easily create a range of different product styles, with a single machine. The CC slicer can be used to produce flat slices, full, flat-V, reduced flat-V, oval, reduced oval (crescent), strips, julienne, and even grating options,” Jacko says
The updated Model CC reflects Urschel’s reputation for actively listening to customer feedback and investing in the infrastructure needed to support the food industry’s demands.
The model now produces an even broader spectrum of slice shapes, including Crinkle, V, Flat-V, and Z. SH-14 (Shredding) and SL-14 (Slicing) MicroAdjustable Heads have also significantly increased the machine’s capacity.
“Cutting stations are increased to 14, surpassing the standard fully-adjustable 8-station cutting head and processors are reporting longer run times between knife changes and operator interaction is reduced,” says Jacko.
Urschel continues to expand the 14-station line of cutting heads, with new additions designed to be more user friendly.
“The SlideLocc .212V slice head offers three simple steps of slide, lock in place, and tighten,” Jacko explains
For the fancier chip
The Model CCL Lattice Potato Chip Slicer is another member of the CC series of slicers, with this processor used to create specialty potato products. A popular application for this slicer is to produce lattice style potato chips and thicker potato waffle fries.
“The CCL Slicer produces a unique lattice appearance in the potato which results in both sides of the slice having interlaced crinkles which run 90° to each other. Our customers have shown a strong interest in expanding the capabilities of this machine,” says Jacko.
For customers already using Urschel’s Model CC Slicers, this equipment can be converted into a CCL Lattice Slicer.
Getting dicey
Urschel’s DiversaCut series is a range of high-capacity dicers that can provide limitless versatility for potato processors. This equipment is being widely used by manufacturers of salty snack products and trending cuts are the deep crinkle cut, strip cuts, and granulation.
The sheer versatility of these machines makes them perfect for a potato processor looking to take advantage of the expanding snacks market. Slices, strips, granulations, shreds, or dices in flat/straight or a variety of crinkle and V shapes can all be easily produced.
“While it’s true potato processors love this equipment, it’s also used widely to reduce fruit and vegetables, bakery ingredients, dairy inclusions, meat, poultry and seafood, and alternative plant-based products.
“In addition to these applications, growing use of sweet potatoes in pet food products has now put DiversaCut on the radar of the pet food industry.
“Customers appreciate the versatility of being able to switch from one cut to another, as they add SKUs to their product lines. Urschel equipment is easy to use and maintain, and limited operator involvement is a key feature of the range,” says Jacko.
DiversaCut can be used to produce one, two, or three-dimensional cuts. Impeller paddles carry the product past the slicing knife and an adjustable slice gate at the top of the equipment determines the slice thickness. Strip cuts are produced by removing either the circular or the crosscut knife spindle. Slices are produced by removing both spindles. Shreds are produced with shredding discs in place of the crosscut knives. The DiversaCut 2110A Dicer (DCA) and Sprint 2 Dicer (SPR2) are popular with potato processors.
“The DCA is one of our larger dicers and accepts input products up to 10” (254 mm) in any dimension, whereas the SPR2 possesses a smaller footprint and accepts products up to 6.5 inches (165 mm).
“The DCA can be outfitted with either a 5 or 10 HP (3.7 or 7.5 kW) and is able to run up to 90 hertz with supported heavy-duty components/gearing to obtain unsurpassed capacities. The SPR may be equipped with a 1.5 or 3 HP (1.1 or 2.2 kW) to offer flexibility to small to moderate size processors,” says Jacko.
New to the DCA and SPR is a built-in conveyor discharge. This feature enables full discharge of cut product and is preferred among batch processors dispensing into tote bins. The conveyor discharge is designed to be at the most optimum height specifically for totes bins.
Cost-saving, Value Add
Savvy food processors are using Urschel’s equipment to create new products from previously unused or discarded parts of their products. French fry lines are a good example with some processors choosing to re-purpose discarded product by using a range of other Urschel equipment to produce hash brown patties.
This has a direct effect on their operation’s bottom line by removing costs previously associated with disposal or third-party processing service fees, and further savings are gained by reduced water and power usage.
“Some customers combine a number of Urschel machines, to further reduce their products and this allows them to achieve further value-added opportunities.
“An existing Urschel customer may choose to examine additional capabilities for a machine they already have on-site. For example, a potato customer who is already running a CC Potato Slicer with a shredding head, may opt to purchase one or more grating heads to develop a further reduction,” says Jacko.
Urschel is represented exclusively by Heat and Control in Australia. Heat and Control will be at AUSPACK 2022 on Stand D150.
“Savvy food processors are using Urschel’s equipment to create new products from previously unused or discarded parts of their products.”
