New breading technology from GEA

GEA – a German corporation, mostly active in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sector – has launched a new generation of its CrumbMaster, the versatile, dedicated crumb breader for applying coating to convenience foods. The new GEA CrumbMaster Gen 2 (generation 2) is a fully enclosed, dedicated machine that provides food producers with consistently high-quality output, fast product changeover, a much cleaner working environment with up to 90% less dust, less waste, and minimal crumb breakdown.

High variety of different coatings

In designing the CrumbMaster Gen 2, GEA worked closely with leading coating suppliers and drew upon its own 60 years of food processing experience. The result is a breader/coater that is suitable for the widest variety of coatings. Different types of crumbs such as standard, premium, fragile crumbs, or specialty breaders with different challenges can be produced in a high-quality level. The new GEA CrumbMaster Gen 2 is created for a wide range of applications such as red meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables and meat-replacement product including vegan and vegetarian foods. By this the machine meets growing industry trends and today’s production needs.

Consistency and quality

James Powell, Technical Services manager at Newly Weds Foods, an established coating supplier who performed a coating stress-test on the new machine, said: “The GEA CrumbMaster Gen 2 works very well, so that the original composition of the crumb is maintained. There is no or minimal crumb breakdown, which is a very well-known challenge for premium crumbs and specialty breaders.” Across the full width of the belt the machine achieves an even coating across the top, bottom and sides of all types of breaded and coated products. The completely new blower design ensures full control over the crumb flow homogeneity, which builds a high consistency in the output quality.

Hygienic design

The hygienic design complies with the most stringent global hygiene regulations. Features such as fold-away panels, self-draining surfaces, stainless steel drives and motors, sealed bearings and food-safe plastics ensure easy access, minimal downtime, simple operation, minimal cross-contamination, and low water consumption.

Built-in practicality

GEA has built practicality into the new CrumbMaster. Products can be switched quickly with tool-less exterior adjustment, the top and bottom crumb can be adjusted separately, and the machine height can be adjusted easily for simple line integration. The system is available with a belt width of 400mm, 600mm and 1000mm, and can operate at speeds of up to 30m/minute – 20 percent faster than previous three models. 

Dust-critical application

The fully enclosed design reduces dust by up to 90% for a much cleaner working environment and less down-stream contamination. The GEA CrumbMaster Gen 2 is also compatible with GEA OptiAir that extracts flour dust from the atmosphere during the breading process making it suitable for \use in all relevant dust-critical applications.

Try before buy

During the validation process GEA tested the CrumbMaster Gen 2 with eight different customers working with multiple products and crumb types. GEA offers customers the opportunity to test the machine before they buy it either at the GEA Technology Center in Bakel, The Netherlands, or by booking an in-house demonstration.