Articles/White Papers

The preparation of dry beans, lentils and peas for subsequent processing into plant-based meat substitutes in the form of burgers, sausages and crumbles relies on highly-automated continuous-process systems that maintain precise control over time, temperature and moisture during hydration, de-flavoring, cooking, pasteurization and cooling. 

“Plant Based Proteins” have been around for decades but, this market is currently exploding. Plant-based proteins can offer less calcium, less saturated. There are many popular nutrition advantages including reduced saturated fat, calories and cholesterol.

The Sanitary Zero Maintenance Screen is the most automated machine in Lyco’s line of water recovery screens for poultry processors.

In food processing, the reliability of equipment is everything. For example, if a root crop peeler goes down for maintenance, the entire processing line is affected…and that’s lost revenue.

As municipalities and other agencies push for tighter limits on the disposal of wastewater, poultry and beef producers are looking for new ways to meet these wastewater mandates. The Sanitary Zero Maintenance Screen is a perfect solution as it filters wastewater and reclaims it for new uses back in the food processing systems.

Screening and recycling the water stream from Virginia Poultry’s bird washers is reducing its water usage by 170 GPM, an estimated 19 million gallons annually and savings of $160,000 each year in water purchases and treatment. The newly-installed Sanitary, Zero-Maintenance liquid/solids separation screen from Lyco Manufacturing has also provided the turkey processor with the most sanitary rotary-drum screen in North America.

Virginia Poultry recently installed several liquid/solids separation screens for its turkey feather and offal processing. The two new primary and one secondary state-of-the-art rotary-drum screens, provided by Lyco Manufacturing, are a showpiece for optimized throughput and operational efficiency, while reducing water consumption.

Food processors are seeing the benefits of changing from batch to continuous cooking and cooling of pasta. Mixum, AB, the leading producer of cooked pasta in Sweden, recently made the switch from batch to continuous processing with a significant improvement in the quality of its pasta and an 85 percent reduction in its cleanup changeover times.

The most comprehensive lab of its kind in the food processing industry, Lyco manufacturing’s testing and simulation lab is designed for analyzing blanching, cooking, pasteurizing and cooling processes for its clients’ rice, pasta, dry bean, vegetable and pouch products

Productivity is dramatically increased because cook times can be reduced from as long a 60 minutes down to 8 minutes. Pressure cooking can also provide a “kill step” for products other than those being canned.

​The Total-Meals and Redi-Quick brands of fresh, fully-cooked entrées, recently introduced by 21st Century Foods, maintains critical production levels utilizing state-of-the-art cooking and pouch cooling technology developed by Lyco Manufacturing.

​New rotary continuous cooking and cooling system at Roundy’s Supermarkets’ central food processing facility, designed by Lyco Manufacturing, processes more than 3,000 pounds of pasta and potatoes per hour, with 300% higher throughput, improved controls flexibility, near-zero downtime, and 300% faster clean-up for product changeovers compared to its prior chain-conveyor batch cooker/cooler system.

Recent developments with heat and water recovery in continuous-process cooking provide critical reductions in energy usage. Capable of being integrated into existing rotary drum systems, food processors are realizing significant cost savings.​

​More flexibility for short runs, and quick clean-up for rapid change-overs, Lyco Manufacturing jump-starts commercial cooking-cooling into high efficiency with their new Clean-Flow technology.

Brake Brothers (Brakes), the UK’s leading supplier of food to caterers, recently upgraded its pasta cooking and cooling line at its Creative Foods division, switching from batch to continuous processing, utilizing state-of-the-art Clean-Flow^® technology from Lyco Manufacturing. The upgrade increased throughput and flexibility, speeded clean-up for faster changeovers on short runs, improved pasta quality and automated manual functions which streamlined process continuity.

New technical applications in continuous bean hydration and blanching are providing significantly improved efficiencies over traditional continuous blanching systems and dry bean soak tanks, such as a 60%-plus full-bean hydration capability that supports flexible pouch applications, and a reduction in dry bean processing damage to less than one percent.

New generation of food processing coolers utilizes high-velocity, plenum-directed fluid motion capable of reducing cooling cycle times by 80% compared to the most efficient conventional systems. Most pasta, rice, dry beans and vegetables can now be chilled from 200 F to 40 F in 21 seconds with uniform cooling and less than one percent product damage.

With the steady increase in poultry processing rates, there has been a corresponding increase in wastewater pollutant concentrations. Despite mechanical improvements in wastewater treatment, many poultry processors continue to pay unnecessarily high fees for municipal water discharges. Michigan Turkey Producers, $100-million-annual processor, in conjunction with Lyco Manufacturing, has set up a state-of-the-art screening system that is an industry showpiece for poultry wastewater treatment.

Master pasta maker, Perfect Pasta, Inc., supplies airlines with pasta meals, blending traditional pasta making of old world Italy with the latest technology in continuous-flow pasta cooking and cooling from Lyco Manufacturing.

Pepe’s Mexican Restaurants in Chicago maintains critical cook-and-chill temperature levels at its central food production facility, utilizing state-of-the-art continuous pouch cooling technology developed by Lyco Manufacturing.

Lyco Manufacturing’s mobile equipment display provides a convenient, hands-on opportunity for food processors to see the company’s latest production-size cooking and cooling technology in operation, right at their front door.