Thurne-Middleby adds new meat portioner
Thurne-Middleby Ltd has added a new meat portioner to its range of class-leading slicers and portioners.
The PortionX meat portioner was developed with high volume case ready beef and pork processing in mind, and utilises a combination of new, innovative technologies to provide significant performance improvements.
The portioner uses new product conditioning and scanning technology to ensure consistent handling of variable product and to optimise portioning performance for superb weight control and maximum yield.
Multi-dimensional active forming technology – patent pending – enhances the portioner’s ability to gently form primals of variable size. This eliminates the need for dedicated forming moulds for each primal. Only a small number of change parts is needed to handle a variety of primals within a size range, with fewer changeovers required.
Dynamic primal positioning and active product support ensure optimum product control for maximum yield and excellent laydown. The gentle blade action of the orbiting head produces high-quality, evenly cut portions – from individual and layout steaks to clearly defined shingled groups of thinner cuts such as minute steaks.
The PortionX meat portioner can be integrated into existing lines, where processors benefit from a reduction in downstream manual handling. The steaks and shingled groups produced are ready for packing with high on-weight rates, eliminating the need for manual collation and styling, and minimising rework required to achieve target pack weights.
“PortionX was designed to increase production capacity with the same number or fewer operatives,” explains project manager Adrian Neave. “Additional benefits of the reduced requirement in manual handling could be a more compact overall line footprint and improved shelf life.“
The portioner will make its debut at the Middleby Food Processing and Packing Brands booth at IFFA 2022, Hall 8, booth E06.
