Food industry entrepreneurs can commercialize at UMaine’s Food Pilot Plant
Transcript
The Pilot Plant is a research-based facility, in our case a food research-based facility. We have very specific pieces of equipment, food processing equipment, that people can use, either people in the food science department or on campus, as well as people in the outside industry.
We have a belt driven convection steam cooker, which is good for cooking seafood such as shrimp, lobster and crab, as well as blanching vegetables. The belt is set for a certain time, and the steam is set at a certain temperature so we get a perfect cook.
We have a commercial smokehouse, we also have some cheese making equipment. We have some potato processing equipment. We have a two bay vacuum sealer, which is good for vacuum packaging. It removes the air from the bag. You can package fruits and vegetables, seafood.
We have a blast freezer, which is capable of going to -30 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s really good for shelf stability. As soon as its cooked, we want to cool it as soon as possible, so we will move it to the blast freezer, and it will freeze probably within 10 to 20 minutes, then you are able to retain that freshness of the product.
The commercial kitchen is mainly a teaching type of lab, for the food science department, and nutrition as well. But it’s also a state licensed facility. So home businesses can come in package and produce certain things for sale such as jams, jellies, salsas, pickles.
We are targeting people who maybe at that really beginning stage of bridging the gap between a home operation and going towards commercial production.