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Use of Direct Steam Injection in Food Processing¹

Western Regional Research Laboratory, Albany, California

ABSTRACT

The use of steam-injection heating is at least 50 yr. old. Our purpose in considering it now is to increase its usefulness. Our work at the Western Regional Research Laboratory has been done to improve basic understanding of steam injection, so that better designs and better conditions of operation can be adopted.

The advantage of steam-injection heating of fluid foods is primarily its speed. Other benefits are the simple, small apparatus involved, and its low maintenance when properly operated. Objections to the method have included dilution of the food, contamination by dirty steam, and noisy or unstable operation. Each of these objections can be overcome by suitable design.

Current commercial uses of steam injectors comprise killing microorganisms in fluid foods, destroying undesirable enzyme systems in fruits, heating for miscellaneous purposes, pumping, and mixing. A special case of heating involves warming of a product under pressure, followed by flash cooling through sudden reduction of pressure on the combined feed and condensate (1).

¹ Presented at the Third Milk Concentrates Conference, October 16, 1958, at Madison, Wisconsin.

² A laboratory of the Western Utilization Research and Development Division, Agricultural Research Service, USDA.