Princes Foods at Chichester has commissioned three Lagarde four-basket rotary retorts through UK and Eire agent, Holmach.
The retorts installed at the factory are for pasteurising and sterilising a wide variety of Princes Foods' meat, soup and sauce products filled into pouches, cans, plastic bowls and glass jars.
The 1,800mm diameter retorts can use either steam and air or steam and water to obtain the best possible process, regardless of container type. As well as high speed rotation, processing in static mode is also possible.
Because of space restrictions, the Lagarde units feature a vertically opening door and to allow forklift operation, the units have a dropping station in front of them to avoid damage to the mouth of the autoclaves.
"We looked at a number of different retort manufacturers," says Jim McMonagle, engineering manager at the Chichester site. "We felt the Lagarde solution offered the best price/quality ratio and the engineering of the machines is first class, hence our decision."
Constructed in stainless steel and fully insulated for maximum energy conservation, the retorts use a novel internal cage to rotate the products to ensure an even heat treatment.
Cooling is achieved via an external plate heat exchanger. Digital temperature and pressure control works within tight limits, typically less than 0.5°C and 0.1bar across the whole retort.
Contact: Holmach,Tel: 01780 450044