Blade Peeling in Industrial Potato Peeling Factories -

 Necessity or Luxury?

The large majority of industrial potato peeling factories, which supply peeled potatoes to the catering industry, get along with a modern carborundum peeling technology. 

The DORNOW roller peeling machines provided with the DORNOW micro fine-grain peeling technique have been working for years in many factories. The potatoes can leave these machines with a very smooth surface. They have a very good appearance and will be readily accepted even by critical cooks. 

The DORNOW "Step-by-Step" (SBS) - K - plants, too, can be provided, from plant II on, with a micro fine-grain tool. 

For many potato peeling factories blade peeling is no necessity. But is it, if applied, always a luxury investment? 

Before answering this question, one must know something about the ways of distribution and the marketing strategy of the potato peeling factory using the blade peeling technology! 

A peeling factory with short ways to the ultimate consumer will generally get along with carborundum-peeled potatoes (by means of micro fine-grain peeling).
Peeling on Friday, delivering (and consuming) on Monday is possible, provided that suitable potatoes are used. But, as a rule, one peels today and consumes tomorrow. 

But there are also good reasons that speak for an additional blade peeling. 

Our recommendation for this case: Pre-peel the potatoes with the above described appropriate carborundum peeling, i. e. some 85 to 90% of the peel waste is produced by carborundum. Re-peel with suitable blade peeling: Some 10 to 15% of the total peel waste of 100%. 

It does not make sense to apply pure blade peeling without having peeled before by means of carborundum. As for the reasons we won't go into detail here.

Arguments to be put forward in favour of an (additional) blade peeling: 

1.         The potatoes are vacuum-packed and are to be preserved, by cooling, one week, if possible, for a longer time. Here, a good blade peeling has proved itself, for the peeled potatoes have - seen under the microscope - a smoother surface. Thus, the keeping quality of the goods will be increased. A prerequisite to that is, however, that the blades are sharp and in perfect condition and the raw material used for peeling is suitable. 

2.         The peeled potatoes are packed by means of inert gas. Here, we make reference to what we said under item 1. 

3.         Blade peeling can also be used as a psychological sales argument: "We are supplying peeled potatoes - peeled by blade - like mum at home with her knife!" 

4.         The additional blade peeling can be helpful if you have to peel new and not yet ripened potatoes, because there is no mature material available. Thus, you can largely avoid unpleasant hardened spots on the potatoes after cooking... - In many a year, due to certain weather conditions, those factories which have no blade peeling facilities might have trouble for some time. 

5.         Blade peeling may also be taken into consideration by "newcomers" who want to "distinguish" themselves among their competitors in order to gain a foothold on the market (see item 3.). 

How should additional blade peeling look like ? 

DORNOW offers two systems:  

1.         The continuously working "multi-blade-disc peeling machine (MMS)".
Construction: arrangement of many small blade peeling discs on an horizontal surface with a conveying device moving over this area.

Available in three sizes. Especially suitable for a careful and gentle blade re-peeling of potatoes already pre-peeled by means of carborundum.

Advantages: continuous pass-through system which works gently and carefully! The very gentle way of peeling will result, as a rule, in a better keeping quality of the peeled product.

Not suitable for heavy potatoes.

The throughput capacities of the three machines available: from approx. 600 up to 1500 kg/h (of fed-in potatoes which have been neatly pre-peeled by means of carborundum). 

2.         The "SBS"-M - blade peeling line, working in steps and fully automatically.

Some assets of the plant:

The capacities of the SBS - M - blade peeling lines range, according to the number of connected peeling units, between 500 to 800 kg/hr (when feeding neatly pre-peeled potatoes). 

The DORNOW "SBS" - M - Blade Peeling Plants are ingenious systems made up of well-tried peeling units. Due to their plain and efficient construction they are economy-priced. 

Back to our initial question: Blade peeling - necessity or luxury? 

You see from the above reasons that an (additional) blade peeling can be useful. It offers more possibilities, helps open a larger sales area. Above all, it gives a fairly good security after the new crop, when ripened potatoes are not yet available on the market. 

You will have to consider thoroughly, according to circumstances, whether you should invest your money for an additional blade peeling or not. In case of doubt, you should make sure that such a system can easily be integrated in your peeling line.

This paper contains non-committal notes. We do not lay claim to completeness. Alterations reserved. 
Our order confirmation, accepted by our customers, is in effect upon delivery. The presentation of a new edition of this treatise will substitute for any previous versions. 
Copyright by DORNOW food technology GmbH, D-40549 Düsseldorf

DORNOW total on the Web:                www.dornow.de   /    www.dornow.com

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Dornow food technology GmbH, Willstätterstr. 12, D-40549 Düsseldorf - Germany, USt-Id.-Nr. DE119264470
Tel. ++49-211-527060, Mobile ++49-172-2614932, Fax ++49-211-596883, email office@dornow.de, Internet: www.dornow.de, 
Commerzbank AG, Konto-No. 1452333, BLZ 300 400 00, Managing Director Karl-Dietrich Dornow, Amtsgericht Düsseldorf, HRB 22597