Cheese making is a growing industry worldwide and Sycamore is delivering the expertise, technologies, and know-how to support this growth.
We have been manufacturing cheese processing equipment for our customers for more than 35 years. As our business and knowledge evolves with the industry, we continue to deliver equipment for family-run cheesemakers through to commercially driven, high-yield cheese processors.
Our team of expert design engineers will be able to work with you to specify the most suitable cheese processing equipment for your needs.
We have developed a diverse product range to support you with your process upgrades or total line solutions. These include cheese milk pasteurisation, curd handling and distribution, to cheese block formers.
We have developed a cheese processing equipment product range to support you with your process upgrades or total line solutions. These include cheese milk pasteurisation, curd handling and distribution, to cheese block formers.
Open Curd Tables:
Our Open Curd Table (OCT) has been designed to effectively perform curd conditioning, whey drainage, curd salting and mellowing for milled cheddar and stirred curd-type cheese.
The working principle of our OCT follows from the curd and whey mixture being pumped or delivered by gravity into the OCT. The whey is then allowed to drain through the central drainage channel, where you can have either our perforated drainage screens or a wedge wire design. Once the whey has drained, the curd can then be matted and cut in a traditional style whilst it’s continuously stirred before salting. After sufficient curd conditioning, salting and mellowing time, the curd plough will push the curd towards the bottom of the table where it continues its processing journey.
Key benefits of our OCT:
Durability
OCT made from 4mm stainless steel, providing extra durability
Easy cleaning
Removable drainage screens enable easy cleaning
Recipe driven
Overhead carriage controlled by PLC, enabling recipe driven applications
Hygienic design
Overhead carriage design ensures all parts above the product area are fully
contained and hygienic
Safety
HMI touchscreen mounted on rotary panel and overhead emergency pull cord
Curd Unloader:
We can supply a variety of curd unloaders to best suit your processing requirements with a choice of rotary valve, block former port and incline auger with mill options.
Our design includes a safety interlock feature which communicates with the Sycamore Open Curd Tables when docked to ensure curd unloading is performed in a safe manner.
Easy to dock to each table with casters or a rail system so that operators can locate the unloader to each table to perform curd unloading.
Once curd unloading is complete, it can be removed (manually) and located in its dedicated docking station for cleaning.
Curd Distribution Vessel:
We have been able to design, manufacture and install Curd Distribution Vessels (CDV) to effectively distribute curd evenly for our customers.
The working principle is simple: with the milled curds entering the vessel from the top, the internal agitator arms have bi-directional functionality to continuously stir the curd inside the CDV, ensuring even curd distribution between all outlets. The curd leaves the CDV under suction via the block former outlets. After the production run has finished, our CDV can be cleaned via CIP due to the internal spray ball fitted in the vessel.
This robust and modern design ensures a prolonged running time with reduced maintenance downtime. However, the design has not neglected the need for servicing, with a double manway access for improved serviceability and fully accessible bottom-mounted motor gear.
The key benefits and improvements that our CDV will provide to you include improved cheese block quality and consistency from the first cheese block. With consistent and even distribution of curd to the block formers this can increase hourly production capacity.
Key benefits of our CDV:
Improved Product Quality
Reduced block fill time has provided increased consolidation time, resulting in improved quality and consistency
Even Curd Distribution
Even distribution to block formers can reduce number of block formers required, therefore increasing capacity
Improved Safety
Trap key system on manways ensuring safe entry to the CDV
Improved Hygiene
Fully CIP’able with rotary spray heads using minimal water with double lip seal design
