Refining

PreFiner™ two-roll chocolate prerefiner.
To satisfy customers’ specific quality needs, the PreFiner™ chocolate prerefiners are always customized in terms of roll speeds, gear wheel differentials, and roll cambers. Mass fineness values between 80 and 300 microns can be achieved within a very narrow particle size range. The high shearing capacity of the PreFiner™ is characterized by maximum release of immobilized fat. Beside calibration (especially of crystal sugar particles), this allows also flavor development, wetting, and homogenization of the product in the roll gap. The PreFiner™ is optimally matched to the downstream final refiners in terms of product fineness and plasticity to ensure that they will achieve a maximum throughput with the desired end fineness.

Finer™ five-roll chocolate refiner - Specified to customer needs.
Buhler has accumulated unique experience in the processing of products of a wide variety of compositions and consistencies. This allows each Finer™ chocolate refiner to be specified to individual customer needs in terms of roll speeds, gearwheel differentials, and roll cambers. This ensures maximum throughputs while enabling the required product fineness to be achieved. Mass fineness values starting at 10 microns can be produced within a very narrow particle size distribution range. This is made possible by the stable intake roll gap, the high shear forces acting between the roll pairs, and the possibility of precise roll pressure setting.

In addition to size reduction, wetting and aroma development of the particles is crucial to the unique fineness of the products refined on the Finer™ . Up to 80% of the energy introduced into the roll gap is applied for this purpose.