Potatoes processing line

Once the potatoes have been harvested, they must be taken to the packing or storage warehouses. At this stage, it is essential to have “delicate” machinery, which allows these transfers to be carried out safely, without damaging the product. Once loaded on the trailers, the potatoes will have to be transferred, either directly into boxes or, more easily, into hoppers complete with de-soiler (and, often, also pre-calibrator). Since this step is really crucial, Sgorbati group uses the best machinery on the market, including:

• sanitizable conveyors
• bin tippers
• receiving hoppers
• bag fillers
• bin/box fillers
• wooden crates

Whatever the final goal of our work, fresh or for processed, potatoes need to be calibrated for several reasons: to optimize production processes, to reduce waste, and to provide the consumer with more homogeneous final products.

For grading, the most used machine is the potatoes net grader which, thanks to successive sieves, with different sizes of the net, obtains a dimensional separation of the same.
Less used, because it is fundamentally linked to the world of carrots, is the roller sizer.

The novelty is represented by the electronic calibration which allows, through a camera, the analysis of qualitative, as well as dimensional parameters, and the classification of the potatoes according to the overlapping of these same parameters.
Analyzing their needs together with its customers, Sgorbati Group identifies the most suitable potato grader to carry out the job in the most efficient and effective way.

It is good to remember that food safety regulations are being tightened more every day and consumers are becoming more and more demanding. The presence of extraneous materials or low quality products is not just a matter of food safety: in times of increasing competition, quality problems can be downright damaging to your reputation.
You want to be able to get as much as possible out of 100 tons of potatoes, but at the same time you also want to satisfy your customers and the customers of your customers, the consumers.

In short, it is important to optimize the selection process; detect as many extraneous materials and defects as possible and without unnecessarily removing good products.

The solution to do all this is the potatoes optical sorter.

The potato washing process can be carried out in various stages and with different effectiveness. Once the potatoes have been introduced into the warehouse, and before packing them (except for those who work the crude), the washing phase takes place: there can be the passage through a pre-soaking tank, useful for softening any soil attached to the potatoes, therefore through a classic drum washer, with the aim of washing the potatoes more thoroughly without polishing them, following the potato brusher, that allows to present the product in its best possible guise.

Another type of washing is carried out in the peeling lines, for which the potatoes after being peeled and cut must undergo baths, to remove starch and to reduce their temperature, extending the shelf life.

To meet every need in this regard, Sgorbati collaborates only with the world leaders in the field of washing machinery; based on the different specific needs, we will be able to recommend the suitable machinery, choosing between:

• washing tanks
• water hoppers
• debris removal devices
• auger destoners
• drum washers
• washing machines with
• destoner
• brushing machines

or by combining several machines in a perfectly integrated system.

There are several machines for potatoes processing, used to prepare potatoes for immediate consumption by the consumer. First of all, the potato peeler, that can be abrasive or knife; moreover, depending if it works continuosly or in batches, the peeler can be continuous or basket.

Once peeled, the potatoes can be cut into various formats, ranging from cubes to slices, wedges, spaghetti, and contless other formats, using a potato cutter.

This is why our range of potato cutters includes:

• spiral cutters
• stick cutters
• three-dimensional cutters (or dicers)
• slicers
• multifunctional cutters

Chips (or crisps, as they are called in England) deserve a separate discussion. To favor local solutions and to offer to the consumer the highest quality product, we have specialized in lines for so called “artisanal chips”.
Through our automatic, but discontinuous, frying and salting systems, we are able to support our customers in creating the most suitable line for their objectives, having clear in mind the goal of a product with specifications higher than those commonly found on the market.

Potatoes, either fresh, peeled or cut, are then weighed and packaged. We offer a wide range of weighers/baggers for weighing and bagging in plastic and canvas nets, sacks and bags. All our scales can be integrated with a bag stitching and closing system.

We also have a wide range of multi-head weighers, to meet the most diverse production needs.