High flexibility is what makes the Idaho Steel Potato Flake Lines stand out. Together with our partner Kiremko, we design, produce, and install complete potato flake lines all over the world. Combining the latest technologies, constant innovation and experience within this partnership, we provide a tailor made solution, able to process all different varieties, sizes, and of varying qualities.
This highly flexible line makes potato flakes in the most cost efficient way. We are the authority when it comes to Potato Flake Lines, stand alone or combined with your French fry line.
Potato flakes are processed into a food ingredient of massive importance with countless applications and are now an extremely cost efficient part of recipes for end products such as stackable chips, extruded snacks, baby food, bread and pancake mixes, formed meat products, and even non-food applications such as plastics. Idaho Steel Potato Flake Lines offer maximum efficiency, cleanliness and durability.
Potato Flake Lines are usually set up in one of two ways; the first is a stand-alone line, the second being a line that uses reject potatoes from another primary process line such as a French fry line.
Flake Line Process
The Process
The first set up is designed to convert usually lower quality potatoes that have been specifically sourced for manufacturing flakes.
In this case, potatoes are washed and stones are automatically removed before the product is peeled, by steam or abrasive peeling, using the most suitable technique depending on capacity.
The product is then size reduced using custom built cutters before it goes on to the thermal part of the potato flake process.
The second set up is usually installed alongside a French fry line. The rejects from the French fry line, typically off-grade potatoes, slivers, nubbins and strips with color defects, are used as a raw material to convert the product into a specific quality of flakes.
This method is a very good way of improving the overall yield of the processing facility in terms of potato usage. Previously what would have been discarded as waste, is now converted into a product.
The cut product or rejects from another process line is either blanched, cooled and cooked or simply just cooked depending on the type of flake required. The cooked potato is converted to a mash which is transported to and evenly distributed over the flake drum.
Flake Application
The Application
Applicator rollers on the drum allow the mash to be spread evenly over the hot surface of the drum where the moisture from the potato is quickly and efficiently driven off leaving an almost dry sheet of flake.
The moisture is carried away as vapor by extraction fans while the flake is pre-broken into transportable pieces and conveyed to the packing area. The flake is milled down to the correct size for your needs before it is packed in a number of different ways, once again depending on the end user’s requirements. Idaho Steel supplies individual components to enhance existing lines or complete state of the art new lines to meet the challenges of the marketplace.
The Drum Dryers, which are at the heart of this process, are a well proven design manufactured by Idaho Steel Products in the USA for more than 40 years. As a unique feature they are equipped with a stainless steel surface which has brought an essential improvement to industry standards. These 'Super Drums' have been installed in many flake plants across the globe.
Idaho Steel and Kiremko work closely together, creating one of the only partnerships in the world capable of designing, manufacturing and installation of complete potato flake processing lines.
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Flake Line System
