Summer is on our doorstep, and that means consumers are looking for fresh, bold flavors to complement the season. In addition, US consumers are increasingly interested in premium food options: restaurant-quality food which can be easily prepared at home for socially-distanced entertaining during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous cooking equipment makes these premium Summer eats possible and satisfies consumer demand for fresh, bold flavors.
Flame Grilled Summer Favorites
Impress consumers this summer with various flame grilled proteins and vegetables. For instance, flame-grilled chicken breasts and grilled romaine hearts can be combined to create a Caesar salad with Caesar dressing and shaved parmesan after cooking! Use the Marlen Afoheat™ Flame Grill to start the cooking process and provide authentic grill marks and flame-developed surface color of the chicken and romaine hearts. This method also works well for toasting the bread for a Panzanella salad, as well as grilling ribeye steaks and hamburger or veggie patties.
For those consumers looking for light and healthy dishes, there are many easy recipes to suggest which include fish and seafood this summer. A Grilled Seafood Platter with Poblano Crema and Romesco sauce can feature flame-grilled oysters, cherrystone clams, grilled bay scallops, and more. In each case, the Afoheat™ Flame Grill is a perfect for developing surface texture and color on these summer favorites. This is because the Flame Grill is engineered with multiple ribbon burners and an adjustable grill marker to give products an authentic “flame-grilled” appearance and taste. In addition, the floating ring design of the adjustable grill marker allows the rings to adjust to the specific contour of each product surface to ensure consistent marks and avoid puncturing the product surface.
Continuous Cooking Equipment Meets Consumer Demand
The unique footprint of the Afoheat™ Flame Grill works well as a stand-alone unit, but works equally well when coupled with a Marlen Spiral Oven to complete the cooking process. The Spiral Oven cooks food in a continuous conveyor belt in either Roast or Steam Mode. Adding steam to the cooking environment of the Spiral Oven creates super-heated vapor, which increases the energy of the oven; this results in the benefit of added color and yield as compared to running the Spiral Oven in just the roasting condition.
Whether in Roast mode or Steam mode, the Marlen Spiral Oven maximizes the yield of various proteins that consumers want to enjoy this summer. For example, after flame grilling and grill marking chicken breasts or veggie patties, they can finish cooking in minutes in the Spiral Oven. As the product ascends to higher belt tiers, the product on lower tiers bastes in the juices released from the product on higher tiers. This results in as much as a 3 percent higher yield as compared to a linear system where basting occurs, but also falls into a drain. This means that your customers are pleased to find juicier, tastier grilled steaks, seared chicken breasts, grilled salmon, and more!
Spiral Chilling Prepares Products for Packaging
Once your products have developed color and texture with the Flame Grill, and then finished cooking in the Spiral Oven, transfer them into a continuous chilling system to be prepared for packaging or long-term storage. To keep the product from increasing its core temperature post-process, the Marlen Spiral Chiller rapidly cools the outer boundary of the product to prevent more energy from travelling to the product’s core. The Marlen system uses multiple high velocity variable speed fans to force airflow through the cabinet in a continuous horizontal pattern. This air circulation pattern tends to eliminate “hot spots,” which allows the product temperature to be reduced more evenly. The Spiral Chiller allows for increased production output, higher product yields, faster residence times, and uniform chilling or freezing across the belt, because the airflow design keeps temperatures consistent across the full width of the belt at each belt tier. This allows processors to have their product reach the perfect temperature for packaging and for long-term storage.
Continuous thermal processing solutions make these Summer eats possible. Develop surface texture and color with one of Marlen’s Afoheat™ Surface Treatment solutions. Then finish the cooking process in the Marlen Spiral Oven, and rapidly cool that product with the Marlen Spiral Chiller. This Summer, consumers will love the consistent, high-quality results from Marlen’s continuous cooking equipment.
