How to Pick a Mixer to “Meat” Your Needs
As summertime quickly approaches, U.S. consumers are getting ready to fire up their grills, and hot dog and sausage processors are preparing for their busiest time of the year. The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council estimates that more than a third of all hot dogs are sold between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The increased demand highlights the importance of producing a high-quality product quickly and efficiently. What makes for a quality hot dog or sausage? The mix.
A proper ingredient mix is among the factors that can make or break a product, and an outdated or otherwise insufficient mixer can result in an undesirable mix. Additionally, older mixers might not match current product or process requirements. When it comes to the mix, processors should consider the following factors:
- Mixing time and temperature
- Sequence of ingredients
- Even distribution of meat and other ingredients
- Protein extraction
- Process under a vacuum or not
- Optimal particle definition and final product texture
These factors will contribute to equipment considerations. When selecting a mixer, it’s important to consider and ask your supplier about the following:
- Mixer capacity
- Vacuum capabilities
- Agitator type
- Mechanical action
- R&D and kitchen runs vs. actual production scale results
These are properly mixed and produced sausages.
These sausages are the result of improperly mixed and produced sausages.
To help processors produce their best product, BAK Food Equipment offers a range of mixers to handle any mixing application. Our mixing and blending equipment from N&N Nadratowski provides greater control and increased speed and protein extraction for effective mixing of meat, poultry, and more.
N&N Nadratowski engineers and designers have uncompromisingly high standards regarding mixer materials, technology, design, and development. The company’s main focus is on quality and an individualized approach to customers’ process requirements. These factors combine to result in hundreds of satisfied customers, making N&N Nadratowski one of the world’s largest manufacturers of mixers for the food processing industry.
As the exclusive North American distributor of N&N Nadratowski, BAK Food Equipment has decades of experience matching customers with the right mixer for their application. Don’t let the summer demand catch you with outdated or ineffective equipment. Contact us today to request a consultation.