CMT designs dynamic brining and hardening vats for pasta filata cheeses, meeting different customer’s production requirements in terms of shapes and output.
Among the equipment for the milk and dairy sector, CMT designs and produces an extensive range of dynamic brining and hardening vats, on one or two levels, for salting and cooling all kind of pasta filata cheeses. The vats are customised according to the required cheese size and to the hourly rate of the machine, taking into account also the space available for machine installation. The company’s range includes linear, orthogonal or U-shaped models for adapting the vat to an existing equipment. If space is a problem, vats on two or three levels are available, equipped with product lifting devices.
Modular space-saving structure
Dynamic hardening/brining vats are made in stainless steel Aisi 316 or 314, with 2.5-mm thick panels. The modules consist of several 4-m long sections connected by flanges and bolts, to ensure flexibility in case of future extensions or reduction. Product advancement inside the vat is obtained by means of special oscillating beds in the case of water-cooled vats. In the brining vats, product is handled by suitably adjusted water jets. Both types of vats allow the automatic management of the product advancement and stop time thanks to precise timing of the belts’ movement in the hardening vats, or thanks to special mills that speed up or slow down the product advancement in the case of brines.
Hygiene and effective cooling
To ensure an effective cooling, the water or salty solution are continuously sucked off by a centrifugal pump, sent to a plate heat exchanger/cooler, and recirculated into the vat by dedicated pipes. At the end of the cooling/salting process, product extraction is automatically performed by an extraction belt in modular plastic elements suitable for food contact. All vats are equipped with fixed or mobile panels, inspection manhole, pipes, and rotary turbine systems for automatic washing. Among CMT’s most recent achievements there are closed round models, without inner edges, for easy and accurate cleaning of all surfaces, preventing bacterial accumulation.
In single and small vats, all movements (including timing, speed, advancement, washing) are electro-mechanically operated. In vats with two or more levels, sometimes integrated in more complex installations, they are controlled via touch-screen control panels and PLC.
