Increasing food product R&D with the acquisition of a VEMAG 500 vacuum filler

加拿大最聪明的厨房（CSK）是一个食品开发和烹饪创新研究中心，与加拿大烹饪学院（CIC）共同设在爱德华王子岛夏洛特镇的荷兰学院。作为NSERC技术访问中心（TAC），CSK为全国的中小企业提供服务。在其研发任务范围内，CSK的多学科团队支持教师和学生的学习，促进经济发展，并促进全球食品开发领域的创新。CSK正在为VEMAG 500真空灌装机寻求CCI计划下NSERC应用研究工具和仪器赠款的资金支持。这款移动的多功能设备可制作多种制备类别的食品。这包括但不限于甜味和咸味食品类别中的成型、分份、沉积和研磨产品。VEMAG 500真空灌装机是行业标准。事实上，它是全世界全规模食品生产设施中安装最多的真空灌装机。该设备的主要特点是其双螺杆技术，使用户能够生产出符合最高行业质量和一致性公差的食品。 高效真空系统是支持成型和挤压食品行业日常工作的完美工具。凭借易于使用的操作系统和强大的培训计划，用户体验了该设备的巨大成功。无论项目需要肉类产品的成型、面团的分份、海鲜的存放还是香肠的填充，该设备都配有支持多种食品类别的附件。在餐饮服务创新和烹饪研发方面，CSK团队与多个专注于各种产品类别的中小企业合作。因此，VEMAG 500对于支持尽可能多的客户非常重要。在使用该设备时所产生的制备仅受食品开发者的想象力的限制。作为食品开发领域的全球领导者，这是CSK最初成立并在过去十年中发展壮大的领域。通过现场使用VEMAG 500，我们的食品开发团队将在与客户合作时更好地推进创新流程。到目前为止，CSK要对这些类型的产品和工艺进行研究，团队必须在较小的实验室规模上进行高水平的测试。这可能导致产品不一致。例如，随着最近的一个肉棒产品的开发，我们的研究厨师不得不花费大量的时间来开发和制造一个专门的刀具和工艺，以尝试和模仿在大规模生产水平上会发生什么。由于这是一种非常具有技术挑战性的产品，需要几个其他加工步骤才能满足必要的CFIA和其他监管标准，因此任何生产不一致都会影响从烹饪时间到保质期的所有内容。在校园里使用VEMAG 500，研究厨师每次都能够准确地称量、挤出和切割产品，使其具有一致的尺寸和形状。认识到餐饮设备可能是一项昂贵的投资，确定合作和伙伴关系的机会始终是加拿大最智能厨房的一个关键目标。CSK不仅与供应商（雷泽）合作，以最大限度地利用这一采购机会，这两个组织正在共同努力，以概述一项协议，将支持贷款和试用计划，因为新的附件成为可供单位。此外，雷泽团队还承诺允许CSK团队借用最初购买时未包含的附件。这将使CSK能够向新客户（以及供应商设备的潜在买家）展示这些功能，并确定设备是否适合其产品的制造。

Canada's Smartest Kitchen (CSK) is a food product development and culinary innovation research center co-located with The Culinary Institute of Canada (CIC) at Holland College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. As a NSERC Technology Access Center (TAC), CSK serves SMEs nationwide. Within its research and development mandate, the multi-disciplinary team at CSK supports faculty and student learning, fosters economic development, and promotes innovation in the globally expanding food development sector. CSK is seeking funding support from NSERC's Applied Research Tools and Instruments grant under the CCI program for a VEMAG 500 vacuum filler. This mobile, multi-functional unit creates food products across numerous preparation categories. This includes, but is not limited to, formed, portioned, deposited, and ground products in both sweet and savory food categories. The VEMAG 500 vacuum filler is an industry standard. In fact, it is the most installed vacuum filler worldwide in full-scale food production facilities. The key feature of this unit is its double screw technology which enables users to produce food products which meet the highest industry tolerances for quality and consistency. The highly efficient vacuum system is the perfect tool for supporting daily tasks within the formed and extruded food product sector. With an easy to use operating system and strong training program, users experience a great deal of success with this equipment. Whether projects require the forming of meat products, portioning of doughs, depositing seafood portions, or stuffing sausages, this equipment is fitted with accessories which support multiple food categories. In relation to foodservice innovation and culinary research and development, the CSK team works with multiple SMEs specializing in various product categories. Due to this, the VEMAG 500 is very important to supporting as many clients as possible. The preparations created when using this equipment are limited only by the food product developer's imagination. As a global leader in food product development, this is the space in which CSK was originally established and has grown over the past decade. With onsite access to a VEMAG 500, our team of food product developers will be better positioned to advance the innovation process when working with clients. To date, for CSK to undertake research on these types of products and processes, the team has had to conduct high-level testing at a smaller, benchtop scale. This can result in inconsistent products. For example, with the development of a recent meat bar product, our research chef had to spend a considerable amount of time developing and manufacturing a specialized cutter and process to try and mimic what would be happening at the large-scale production level. As this was a very technically challenging product which required several other processing steps to meet necessary CFIA and other regulatory standards, any amount of production inconsistency affected everything from cook time to shelf life. With a VEMAG 500 on campus, the research chef would have been able to accurately weigh, extrude, and cut the product in a consistent size and shape every time. Acknowledging foodservice equipment can be a high-priced investment, identifying opportunities for collaboration and partnerships is always a key objective for Canada's Smartest Kitchen. Not only is CSK working with the vendor (Reiser) to maximize this purchasing opportunity, the two organizations are working together to outline an agreement which will support a lending and trial program as new attachments become available for the unit. In addition, the Reiser team has committed to allowing the CSK team to borrow attachments that are not be included in the initial purchase. This will allow CSK to demonstrate these features to new clients (and potential buyers of the equipment for the supplier) and determine whether the equipment is the right fit for the manufacturing of their prod