People want to eat the best quality seafood available, with many particularly favoring products that are rich in health-boosting omega-3 fatty acids. With Skaginn 3X’s RoteX Thawing® system, processors are fulfilling these and other consumer expectations at the same time as increasing yield and minimizing energy and water consumption.
Because of the highly perishable nature of fish, the freezing and thawing process can have a significant impact on end-product quality and texture. To ensure that fillets maintain all of their original nutrients, flavor and size, and also remain visually attractive, it is critical that the thawing process minimizes drip loss. From a business perspective, it’s also equally important to ensure that this is achieved in the most cost-effective manner possible.
By keeping drip loss to an absolute minimum, Skaginn 3X’s RoteX Thawing® system provides the platform to deliver premium-quality re-fresh fish products. It also offers a consistent 4% yield gain compared to thawing fish in air cabinets, and that’s alongside a yield gain of 1.5-2% compared to thawing in plastic totes.
RoteX Thawing® also uses a fraction of the energy required by these other procedures as well as saving on water use. It does this through its two-step process. First it immerses the fish – whether individually frozen or block-frozen – in water that’s filtered and recirculated. As well as preserving energy, this enables the same water to be used for multiple thawing cycles. Then, once thawing is complete, the fish are immediately chilled down to 0°C (32 °F), which is the optimal temperature to ensure the highest possible fish quality for further processing.
The system offers full control over the thawing time, water temperature, throughput per hour and energy consumption. Its patented sideways injection of water and air provides equal handling of the fish throughout the process, while the filtered recirculated water can contribute to reducing the plant’s operating costs and its carbon footprint.
