With recent advancements in the refresh market, producers are increasingly able to realize the benefits of frozen product while offering an end product closer in quality to fresh.
Standard refresh methods were often perceived to have a significant negative impact on the texture and quality of fish. Recent innovations have, however, shown that new, more carefully controlled thawing techniques play a large role in maintaining the quality of frozen product for the refresh market.
Located in Scotland, Denholm Seafoods Ltd. is a leading processor of pelagic fish. They operate from a quayside facility in Peterhead and sell a variety of products worldwide.
Previously, Denholm thawed their products using water spray. This process was time-consuming and allowed little to no control over thawing time. What they needed was a system that would keep up with increasing demand and maintain quality.
Last year, Denholm Seafoods received the state-of-the-art thawing solution from Skaginn 3X: the RoteX Supreme Thawing system with a FilterX water filtering system.
With RoteX Thawing the fish is thawed by immersing it in cold water and keeping it cold while it equalizes. This process offers better material yield and maintains high product quality. The system is ideal for thawing frozen blocks or individual frozen fish and offers full control over thawing time, water temperature, throughput per hour and energy consumption.
The patented side-injection of water and air provides gentle and consistent handling of the fish throughout the process.
Installation at Denholm was completed quickly and the system was up and running within a week. It did not take long for them to see positive results.
“We are very happy with the system.” Says Robert Duthie, Managing Director of Denholm Seafood Ltd. “The installation process ran smoothly and we are running the system daily. Now we have full control of the thawing time and temperature, and we have seen at least a 2% increase in yield.”
RoteX also uses a fraction of the energy required by other defrosting methods such as heat, steam or microwaves.
The solution also offers a number of options to further save on operational costs, including the FilterX system. “Denholm opted to add FilterX to their thawing system, which I recommend for companies seeking to reduce their environmental impact and looking to save on water costs,” says Ragnar Gudmundsson, one of the Skaginn 3X specialists working with Denholm. “This significantly reduces water usage, as water can be used more than once while still complying with strict hygiene standards.”
Skaginn 3X continues to develop their RoteX Thawing system. The most recent advancements include a two-stage thawing process and the option of adding a SUB-CHILLING™ unit.
Continued research shows that the optimal production outcomes are achieved when fish is processed at a temperature of -1°C. Thawing and equalization in separate stages ensures high production yield and is shown to improve shelf life.
And to take full advantage of the technology’s flexibility, the same RoteX™ tank can be set up for thawing or SUB-CHILLING™ to best meet seasonal demand. This provides the most favorable production possibilities for fresh and defrosted raw material as needed.
