Defeathering and evisceration
Binzhou Gaosheng’s poultry processing automation starts in the defeathering department, where Marel scalders and pluckers do an excellent job in delivering products which live up to Chinese expectations regarding skin and color. Scalding is fine-tuned for the best combination of epidermis presentation and white skin. Binzhou Gaosheng operates two complete Marel Eviscerating lines with a combined capacity of 27,000 bph [450 bpm].
They include Marel Opening Machines, Vent Cutters, Nuova eviscerators, Neck Skin Inspection Machines and Inside/Outside Washers and Final Inspection Machines. A fully automated evisceration process is a huge step forward in hygiene and consistent quality and results in a top quality product with the lowest risk of cross-contamination.
Giblet processing
Giblet products are very popular in China. Therefore Binzhou Gaosheng has installed a large number of automatic giblet harvesting solutions. After removal in the Nuova eviscerator, viscera packs are automatically re-hung to a separate processing line. They hang hygienically down from the viscera shackle and are ideally positioned for the automatic giblet harvesting operations which follow.
Edible giblets are harvested by the HLH heart-lung harvester, PLH automated liver harvester and the PI harvester which keeps the gall bladder intact. Marel Nuova offers the most effective way of harvesting giblets to give optimum yield, quality and hygiene.
Maintaining capacity
Mr. Han Baihuai, General Manager of Binzhou Gaosheng and Executive Director of the Xinsheng Group says, “We don’t sell whole chicken, as the market simply doesn’t ask for them. That’s why we send all chilled products to the cut-up lines. We’re talking about a large number of products, so we can’t do this without our reliable automatic equipment from Marel.”
To enable 100% cut-up at 27,000 bph [450 bpm], the Binzhou Gaosheng plant has two grading lines, four ACM-NT cut-up systems, and seven AMF filleting lines. In each grading line, an autocalibrating SmartWeigher is used for monitoring processed weights and deciding which products are distributed to the “lightweight” cut-up line and which to the “heavyweight” ACM-NT line.
High standards
Each of the four ACM-NT lines cuts a wide range of products. Amongst them are wing segments, anatomic legs, necks, leaf fat, spines and tails. The wing segments include the middle joint of the wing cut in the dedicated Second Joint Wing Cutter. Breast caps go to an AMF system where fillets, tenderloins, cartilage meat and residual breast meat are harvested.
“The end products produced by Marel Poultry’s automatic equipment have all the meat characteristics demanded by our culinary traditions. There is virtually no difference between our industrially produced poultry meat and that produced by artisans”, says Han Baihuai. “Besides, hygiene, food safety and traceability have all hit new heights, particularly when compared to the live bird markets”.
Milestone
Binzhou Gaosheng supplies its products to local markets and Chinese fast food companies. Its expansion project marks a crucial milestone in the development of industrialized poultry processing in China, as it is one of the first Chinese companies to automate the cut-up and deboning departments on this scale and at this capacity. It is expected that many other companies in the strategic region of Shandong will soon follow Binzhou’s example.