Salad processing machine

Lettuce or various others of leafy vegetables: with a Sormac salad processing machine you get the most out of your vegetable processing activities. Sormac is a leading manufacturer of vegetable processing equipment and offers you the best in what a salad processing machine, onion peeler, potato processing equipment and carrot processing equipment has to offer.

Sormac salad processing machine

The Sormac engineers are experts in producing and maintaining salad processing machines used in countries all over the world. Once the salad has been cleaned and de-cored in a Sormac salad processing machine, it will be sliced and washed fully automatically. Choose between centrifugal or tunnel drying. Mixing and packing of the final product can also be carried out quickly and efficiently using a Sormac salad processing machine.

A salad processing machine or a complete salad processing line; either way, Sormac offers you a dedicated solution that meets the highest standards of food processing.

In the range of salad processing machines, for sure must also be listed the Sormac vegetable dryers.

Sormac drying techniques

Many years of experience have made Sormac the specialist in washing and drying leafy vegetables. Drying delicate leafy vegetables requires specific expertise and is divided into two main groups: mechanical drying and thermal drying. The Sormac centrifuges fall into the category of mechanical drying and the Sormac drying tunnels into the category of thermal drying.

In the past years, Sormac has marketed dozens of these highly innovative and extremely reliable salad processing machines, the centrifuges SC all over the world. Particularly due to their patented drive and infeed system compared to horizontal and vertical centrifuges, the machines are suitable for mechanically drying delicate leafy vegetables.

In addition to the increasing demand for a continuous mechanical de-watering system, Sormac has observed that, particularly in Europe, an increasing demand for thermal drying tunnels has arisen. The Sormac drying tunnel LDT thermally dries the vegetable product to practically 0% adhering moisture. The less moisture remains on the product, the lower the water activity or aw value.

The aw value is one of the most underestimated factors in the shelf life and quality of foodstuffs. The aw value or water activity indicates the volume and the degree of free water in foodstuffs and is therefore not to be confused with the water content. The water content consists of “bound water” and “free water”. This “free water” is the water activity. This is the water that is available to microorganisms.

The LDT is also characterized by the high capacity the machine can process while having a small footprint. Sormac uses a floating bed, where the product floats, as it were, above the lower belt. The drying is uniform because the distribution of the drying air is independent of the layer thickness. The internal air circulation prevents the production area from being loaded with moisture and heat.

Sormac is your specialist in drying techniques. The great variety of drying processes enables Sormac to always give good and honest customized advice and help you decide which machine best matches your requirements.

Salad preparation, washing & drying

 Salad preparation-

In this phase, the operators prepare the salad heads to enter the processing line, removing the core, where present, and external leaves that are not suitable for processing and packaging. Whatever the production required, we are able to adapt the workstations of the preparation and sorting tables to the number of operators, automating repetitive tasks as much as possible.

Salad washing and drying-

When it comes to ready-to-eat fresh products (such as the fresh-cut range), washing is absolutely crucial. Any weeds or impurities present in the salad leaves must be absolutely eliminated before arriving at the packaging. The legislation on the subject is increasingly stringent and, in addition to requiring 2 subsequent washes, it now introduces severe limitations on the use of chemical agents.

Our solutions, which meet the most different needs, both in terms of product to wash and hourly capacity, include:

• washing tanks
• washing machines for leafy vegetables
• Equally important, to ensure an adequate shelf-life of the product, is the drying phase.

Whether it is a continuous industrial line or a small processing line, we can offer various solutions:

• basket centrifuge (suitable for small productions)
• automatic centrifuge
• drying tunnel.

Salad optical selection-

The optical sorter finds defects in salad leaves, such as discoloration and rot spots. It also allows the identification of foreign objects, such as insects, worms, snails, rather than pieces of wood, plastic, metal. The accuracy of the sorting process guarantees hygiene, quality and freshness of the product, particularly important for fresh-cut products.

Salad processing-

When we talk about fresh-cut we talk about processed and ready-to-eat products. The transformation takes place thanks to the cutters that reduce salad, (and the other mixed products to put in the bags), to the desired format. Whether it is a quadrotto, julienne or other, able to recommend the most suitable solution, among which:

• belt cutters
• 3D cutters (dicers)
• multi-purpose cutters

If your production needs do not require industrial type of machinery, we are able to offer you smaller solutions suitable for catering.

Salad packaging-

When the need is not to transform the product but to pack it whole as it appears in the field, provides the right solution with the packaging systems that, through an innovative sealing method, allow to reduce packaging times and costs and to extend the shelf life of the product, thanks to the use of a specific patented and customizable film.

Due to the greater attention paid to environmental issues, salad heads packaged with paper trays tied with a paper band are increasingly widespread.

For this solution, banderoling machine that can be working as stand-alone or as part of an automated line.