GEM BlancheRs

GEM Equipment of Oregon, Inc. has been a manufacturer of custom food processing equipment since 1968. With its first industrial blancher completed in 1969, GEM has designed, built, and installed over 200 blanchers for the global food processing market.

GEM delivers custom designed hump belt blanchers and rotary blanchers in different sizes. Specifically, 2-Zone and Multi-Zone belt blanchers are offered based on the required output. GEM blanchers—the most consistent in the industry—combine both hot and cold water options along with the possibility of using steam and thermal flow. They are adaptable to a wide range of food products, such as pasta, beans, corn, peas, potatoes, and other vegetables.

Every GEM blancher is developed with a focus on high-quality processing, plus low water and energy consumption, from small to large throughput capacities. With engineering ingenuity in mind, GEM constructs robust blanchers using durable materials to ensure superior performance and maximum service life.

GEM offers full service, from procurement to setup, to deliver blanching equipment as stand-alone machines or complete systems to meet your needs.

HUMP BELT BLANCHERS

GEM Hump Belt Blanchers are designed to ensure gentle product handling, consistent heat distribution, and uniform blanching performance. The unique hump belt panels are made of perforated stainless steel and manufactured by GEM inhouse.

With each supporting up to a 250-pound concentrated load, the panels form a circular shape at discharge, functioning as flights to convey products up a steeper slope. The narrow, unperforated area at the edge of each panel allows more steam and air distribution. As a result, products leave the blancher in an even flow, avoiding surge problems normally associated with conventional flat belts.

GEM Hump Belt Blanchers offer a combination of immersion and deluge blanching options in product-dependent sequences. Maintaining products in place throughout processing, the blancher keeps product sticking and breakage as low as possible. This also provides superior control over product colour and texture, especially for fragile products like French Fries.

GEM can build the hump belt up to 12 feet wide, which is the widest in the industry. The use of durable Stellite pins and bushings along with heavy-duty, corrosion-resistant side chains extends the belt panels’ service life. To achieve installation and setup efficiency, every GEM belt panel is installed on a test machine and run prior to shipment.

ROTARY BLANCHERS

GEM Rotary Blanchers process food products using a heat transfer medium that can be comprised of liquid, such as water, or gas, vapor, or a combination thereof. The basic rotary blancher consists of an elongated, cylindrical perforated drum in a tank filled with heated water. It enables higher efficiency, processing more pounds of products per hour while taking up a smaller footprint. During operation, products are continuously introduced through an inlet at one end of the drum, and the flights of a helical auger in the drum rotate and move them toward the outlet.

Common Features

Engineering Ingenuity in Blancher Design

Demonstrating engineering ingenuity with a focus on longevity and maintenance, GEM has been dedicated to research and development, continuously evolving and streamlining its equipment design. From blanchers to pumps to strainers to heaters, GEM’s blanching system is internationally recognized for its unique features and optimized performance.

With detailed attention to craftsmanship, GEM welds everything it can to ensure the blancher’s efficient operation for high yield and consistent product quality.

Custom Design for Efficient Solutions

When designing blanchers, GEM considers seasonal factors, geography, and product characteristics. For example, various types of potatoes that are grown in different regions at different times of the year have different compositions regarding nutrients, starches, and so forth. GEM blanchers can be tailored accordingly to retain the potatoes’ freshness and natural colour, allowing for consistency in the final product’s taste and flavour.

No matter if it is for potatoes or other foods that require blanching, GEM incorporates customer input for a complete custom design, providing an economic solution to meet and exceed requirements.

Lowest Cost of Ownership

Every GEM blancher is built with robustness and longevity in mind to realize the lowest cost of ownership. For minimal maintenance, GEM utilizes durable materials in its blancher construction. Stellite bushings and pins of the blancher belts are custom manufactured to support increased weight as well as large product loads. Today, 50-year-old GEM blanchers are still in operation and capable of running at high capacity.

GEM blanchers also provide accessibility and cleanability. A Clean-In-Place system and a custom hood lift system gives easy access to clean residuals and flush out debris before the next production run.

With GEM’s experienced service and retrofit specialists, we can help to maintain or extend the blanchers’ service life. To serve valued customers, our goal is to be part of the solution.