Sprayer launched for chocolate enrobement

The AccuCoat sprayer, created by US company Spraying Systems, is likely to be welcomed by confectionery and bakery firms wishing to apply extra coatings to foods, as even minor temperature variations can ruin the product - leading to scrapped batches and a loss in profits.

"Coating methods such as enrobing and panning are imprecise, messy and difficult to adapt to different products," the company said.

In order to combat these problems, the AccuCoat sprayer is equipped with an inbuilt closed-loop temperature control, which operates through a system of multiples temperature sensors.

These sensors record any changes to the temperature of the enrobing liquid and automatically make any necessary adjustments, therefore "waste caused by coatings that are too warm or too cool are eliminated," the company said.

Similarly, no waste will come from the jet squirting out liquid at high speeds, as the machine operates at a low pressure, the company added.

According to Spraying Systems, the machine can be used to coat a variety of confectionery products, including bars and biscuits, as AccuCoat automatically adjusts for line speed changes.

The design allows multiple batch modes to be preset, eliminating the need for an individual worker to intervene, the group says.

Suggestions for uses of the AccuCoat include spraying chocolate on ice cream desserts and the inside ice cream cones, or coating bread, crackers and cakes with oil prior to browning.

Spraying Systems is a leader in spray technology for the food industry.

Although based in the US, the company has sales offices in over 85 countries in Europe, Asia and South America.