7 replies to this topic

[foodmcc]

Hello!

 

Does anyone have experience or practical knowledge regarding cutting frozen blocks of material?  Such as frozen solid blocks of soup base or soup?

 

If so, wondering the best tool such as hand saw, metal ice pick & mallet, or some kind of electric saw? - considering both food safety and employee safety.

I would appreciate any recommendations on products and such.

[GMO]

Not an expert but I believe this is quite common in the meat industry, e.g. frozen lamb.  Maybe someone from that industry can help?

 

Daft question though, why?

[Scampi]

Meat packers use a band saw 

 

No reason you cannot use a sawsall or jigsaw for this purpose, in both instances, the blades are removable for easily cleaning, and you can bag the actual hand tool before use 

[foodmcc]

Thanks @Scampi, going to look into both!

[jfrey123]

First thing I thought of is a sawzall too, but now I'm imagining a few problems.  How do you clean it effectively?  Lots of them use rubberized/textured grips that I could see being difficult to properly clean, plus the vents to let the motor cool don't love water being introduced.  How do you keep food residue from bunching up inside the tool?  The one in my garage always has leftover sawdust along the mechanism where the blade goes into the tool.  How does the employee use it while also handling food?  Do they touch the frozen food and then pickup the tool, hopefully leaving the tool in a safe tray of some sort between handling?  Is it efficient enough for the number of cuts the employee needs to make during a shift?  So on, so forth...

 

I think I'd opt for a bandsaw.  Take a look at the butchering setups, check some yt videos for examples, but that seems the cleanest and safest method (for food and employee safety).

[foodmcc]

Thanks for your input jfrey123.  I see that tabletop band saws are a possibility, not too expensive and does look easier to use.

[GMO]

Is there any chance you could redesign your process so it's not needed?

[TylerJones]

We use a "rotoclaw" from Reiser. We feed a frozen 60 pound block of pork through it and claws it into smaller chunks to further process on our line. 

 

Meat - Cooked Meat & Deli - Size Reduction Archives - Reiser

 

might be a safe idea for you.