For Pete's Sake! Our New Meat And Poultry Blog Series - Blog - Admix

Welcome to the For Pete’s Sake! protein blog series

We hope this content is helpful and we look forward to helping you solve your protein processing dilemmas. Feel free to send us a question, suggest a future topic, or provide general feedback.

Process Improvement Tip—Injected Products: Yield Declining During a Shift?

We’re often called into a plant to perform an audit because customers tell us that as a shift progresses, the targeted pick-up is declining and they think it has something to do with the brine or marinade mixing. 

If we consider that an injector “pumps” by volume, but we judge our pick-up by added weight, then when the density of the brine/marinade changes because of entrained air or settled solids, so will the pick-up.

Huh? Think about it. If you make a good brine or marinade in the mix tank with minimal air entrainment you should be good, right? But consider what happens to that fluid by the time it goes from the mix tank to the injector needle and into the protein. Any amount of entrained air or foam in that brine or marinade will reduce the density (pounds per gallon) and give you reduced pick-up.

What are some things to look for?

• Loose or missing gaskets on the piping from tank to tank or from tank to injector
• Misaligned piping connections on suction side of pumps that suck in air and micronize it
• Vortex in the mix tank that’s too deep and mixes for too long a time period at higher speed 
• Splashing on recirculation loops and transfer or in the saddle tank causing foam
• Running a rotary filter whose speed is set too high

Want an easy check? 

Weigh a measured cup of marinade in the mix tank and with the same cup, measure samples at various points downstream especially in combos or injector saddle tanks. If the downstream sample is lighter, you have your culprit and can then use that same test between ‘narrower’ places in the process.

Mechanical Quick Tip—Why do high speed brine/marinade mixers fail?

For years, the industry has demanded 3450/3600 RPM mixers in mix tanks to eliminate lumps and get the ingredients fully functional to get maximized, consistent yields. 

We know that when you’re under the gun to get a failed mixer back up and running, taking time to straighten the shaft is not always a priority. But if a 3450 RPM mixer has shaft runout of even just 0.010” TIR, the bearings will fail again in a matter of weeks.

Rotosolver^® RXRS—combining high shear and simplified design

Ready to reduce your overall cost of ownership, improve your process results, and reduce downtime?

The Rotosolver RXRS high shear mixer is designed specifically for the toughest meat and poultry processing environments, so it easily handles higher viscosities, brines, and thicker marinades. The RXRS combines the proven high shear mixing technology of the Rotosolver with a low maintenance bearing frame design. With double the flow of conventional high shear mixers, you get:

• Simplified design and less maintenance
• Maximized yields without sacrificing quality or consistency
• Reduced energy consumption

Want to see if the Rotosolver RXRS can improve your process and operations? Get a free quote today.