JBT Debuts Electric TwinDrum Spiral Oven Offering New Way to Heat

As a global technology equipment supplier to the food processing industry, JBT has announced the launch of the new, electric version of its successful Stein TwinDrum Spiral Oven, offering a range of features including simpler maintenance and connectivity to JBT’s iOPS platform, as well as giving customers the opportunity to better meet their green commitments.

The TwinDrum Spiral Oven is the latest spiral oven cooking technology from JBT that builds on decades of oven engineering by adding a uniform temperature and excellent roasting capabilities via an efficient two-zone spiral system. The TwinDrum spiral oven’s design enables processors to increase their processing yield compared with existing ovens, while at the same time ensuring consistent cooking of food items by uniformly distributing the hot air flow across all tiers.

But with the introduction of the electric TwinDrum, JBT is offering customers a new way to heat by foregoing gas and oil-based heating systems, and plugging directly into the grid, according to Stefan Paulsson, JBT’s Director of Value Stream & Global Product Line for Cooking & Linear Freezers. “Through the electric TwinDrum, we are offering a new way to heat,” he said.

“We come in contact with a lot of new food producers in the world wanting to cook and fry alternative proteins, but often, for these small scale start-up producers, investing in a thermal fluid system can be quite expensive. Having an electrically-heated fryer and oven is a good and more affordable alternative for this group.”

Double Savings

Until now, the TwinDrum was heated by an oil-based thermal fluid system that made use of either natural gas or electricity to heat air inside the oven. With the electric TwinDrum, Paulsson continued, customers are able to save twice: by having one single rather than two heat transformations, and by not having to invest in a separate boiler and piping.

“Instead of having to pay for a thermal heating system, you just have cables that go directly into the machine,” he said. “The electric heater is fixed in the machine, so it can be easily accessed for cleaning and maintenance, while having fixed wiring means better reliability. Electric heating also gives processors the ability to use renewable sources of energy that could help them to achieve their environmental goals or commitments.”

Temperature Controls

Additional features available with the electric TwinDrum include proportional control for the heating elements to achieve more accurate temperature control, plus built-in connectivity with JBT’s own IoT (Internet of Things) platform iOPS, which enables the monitoring of temperature fluctuations and energy consumption across systems, meaning areas where energy savings can be made can be easily identified.

The Stein TwinDrum adds to a growing range of electrically-heated cooking solutions from JBT, including fryers, Double D Revoband ovens and the Formcook Contact Cooker. “The TwinDrum offers all the benefits of a thermal fluid-heated system: it looks the same, it’s just electrically-heated,” Paulsson added.