AboutJ. Peter Clark Expertise How various processed foods are made; ways to improve manufacturing; how to make a new food product.
Experience Employment history: Research Engineer, U.S.Agricultural Research Service, Associate Professor Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Director of Research, Continental Baking Company, President, Epstein Process Engineering, Inc., Vice Presdent Technology, Fluor Daniel, Inc., Consultant to the Process Industries
Organizations: American Institute of Chemical Engineers (Fellow) Institute of Food Technologists, American Association of Cereal Chemists, American Association of Candy Technologists, American Society of Agricultural Engineers,
Publications: Several Encyclopedias (Kirk and Othmer, Chemical Technology; Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition; Wiley Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology; Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems); five books, two book chapters; numerous journals.
Education: BSChE Notre Dame PhD University of California, Berkeley
Awards: AIChE Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award 1998
Clients: Major food processing and pharamaceutical companies.
Question I'am a zambian trying to venture into peanut butter manufacturing.Can you help me with the following information.
1.Peanut butter manufacturing process.
2.Equipment and machinery used.
3.Equipment and shipment cost.
5.Power requirements.
6.Number of kilograms required to produce 500kg of butter per day.
7.Land requirements.
8.Uses of peanut butter.
9.Type of emulsfiers used.
.
Answer 1. Peanuts are shelled, roasted, blanched (skins removed), ground, mixed with salt, sugar, additional oil and emulsifier, and filled into jars. The jars are capped, labeled and put into cases.
2. Each of these operations is performed by a piece of equipment: sheller, roaster, blancher, mill or grinder, mixer, filler, capper, labeler, and case packer. In between each operation is some form of transfer - chute, conveyor belt, vibratory conveyor, etc. - each of which is another piece of equipment.
3. Equipment for 500 kg/day might cost about $ 100,000 US more or less. Shipment would depend on origin - Europe, India and maybe South Africa are possible sources. APV is an international equipment company, but there are others.
5. Counting the transfer equipment, there might be 15 - 20 motors, most about 1 hp, but the grinder and mixer are probably larger.
6. Peanut butter is about 90 % peanuts, by US standards, with the rest oil, salt, sugar and emulsifiers. The only losses of peanuts should be the shells and skins with maybe some moisture in roasting. Shells are 20 - 30 % of the weight of harvested peanuts, moisture is 5 - 10 % after drying. After roasting, moisture is about 2%. Skins are about 4 %. Roughly, yield of peanut butter might be about 65 %, so about 700 kg of dried peanuts in shell would make 500 kg of peanut butter.
7. The land requirements for a factory are relatively small, depending on what else you do - store raw peanuts, store finished product, store empty containers, provide housing or feeding for workers, etc. if you are asking how much land is needed to grow the peanuts, the yield in Zambia a few years ago was about 700 kg/acre. It might be different today. By coincidence you need about an acre of growing land per day of operation.
8. Peanut butter is used, in the US, in sandwiches, in confections (covered with chocolate - unlikely in tropical areas), and in sauces. It is nutritious and tasty. In most countries, peanuts are crushed for oil and the meal fed to animals.
9. Emulsifiers are mono- and d-glycerides.
