Seasoning plays a critical role in differentiating snacks from the competition. This section of production allows snack manufacturers get creative in product development, so it’s imperative that these systems provide an even coating that adheres to the snack. 

“Producing a consistent, evenly coated finished product requires several design features working together,” said Tim Nanney, technical sales manager, North America, Heat and Control. “The flow of uncoated base product that goes into the coating drum should be metered. The product should have sufficient dwell time within the drum, and the properly configured liquid and dry application equipment should be coordinated with the other parts to create a uniform finished coated product.” 

The coating drums for seasoning snacks are engineered based on product throughput, bulk density and the shape and size of the product. Mr. Nanney said a properly designed coating drum should gently lift and fold the product, exposing each piece to the product bed repeatedly for both the liquid and dry seasoning applications. 

“Within the coating drum, proper design and placement of liquid and dry ingredient application equipment are also important,” he said. “To achieve this with the liquid ingredients, the Spray Dynamics Soft Flight coating drum uses a multi-nozzle spray bar. A curtain of seasoning produced by a vibratory scarf plate is used to apply dry ingredients. The two-zone AccuFlavor tumble drum uses a two-stage system which doubles dwell time and provides consistent flow through the seasoning curtain over various throughputs.” 

When it comes to whole grain and gluten-free snacks, Blake Svejkovsky, general manager, product handling systems, Heat and Control, said they often see snack manufacturers adding more seasoning to their products. This requires them to increase the amount of applied oil that serves as the bonding agent. 

“In some applications, oil and dry seasoning are blended and applied as a slurry,” he said. “Some slurry-coated snacks also received a dry seasoning after the slurry to add further taste and texture to the product.” 

When it comes to BFY snacks, precision is critical as well on the seasoning side.

“To remain healthy, snacks that have a whole grain, gluten-free or fruit and vegetable base require exact quantities of fluid to be applied to ensure the seasoning adheres to the snack,” said Elwyn Cope, group solution specialist, seasoning and spraying, TNA solutions. 

TNA’s intelli-flav OMS 5.1 uses a mass-based gravimetric spraying and dry seasoning control method to ensure the exact amount of seasoning or oil is applied based on the pre-programmed recipe. The system’s monitoring software and controls collect data across the seasoning process. By doing this the intelli-flav OMS 5.1 can detect irregularities and adjust accordingly.

“The system is able to maintain an accurate control of product, oil spray and seasoning powder flow and combined with its responsive variable mass seasoning system, ensures consistent and even flavor dispersion,” Mr. Cope said.

Computer controls allow for precision application, but they can also keep production moving throughout. 

“Burford Corp. uses computer-controlled dispense rates and an easy-to-use interface to allow output adjustment if desired without interrupting product flow,” said Josh Hughes, group marketing coordinator, Burford Corp., a Middleby Bakery company. “The addition of servo-controlled dispensing can add another level of precision and speed to the application of seasonings.”

The spraying system can also help with seasoning adhesion by lightly misting snack pieces with the appropriate amount of water necessary to provide the correct amount of adhesion assistance.

This article is an excerpt from the August 2023 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Snack Processing, click here.