Processing cabbage in a stainless environment

Twelve months after the design and installation of a unique cabbage processing system in Melbourne, the importance of quality stainless steel fabrication has never been clearer.

ASSDA-accredited fabricator Bridgeman Stainless Solutions (Brendale, Queensland) was commissioned to design the facility at Mrs Crocket's Kitchens, which was completed in October 2005.

The $500,000 project incorporated various plate, sheet, pipe and RHS stainless in grades 304 and 316, and was specified to reduce the risk of contamination in the handling processes for all coleslaws, pastas and food products.

Bridgeman's managing director Len Webb said there was previously no system available to perform the process that Crocket's required.

We engineered and designed the equipment with input from the Crocket's engineer. Always at the forefront of our minds was that the prevention of food contamination is paramount in commercial food preparation areas.

The design of the cabbage line was significant and a huge improvement to the current system set up at the head office site in Queensland. The new design incorporated all processes: tipping, coring, washing, dicing, hopper and outfeed, all in a compact line that now has significantly less labour attributed to it.

The stainless itself was rolled, formed, bent, welded, sanded and polished to meet food-grade requirements. Mrs Crocket's Kitchen's maintenance manager, Mark McGauley, says stainless was specified because it is easy to clean and maintain.

We know that the contact area and machinery is clean so this ensures any piece of food that comes into contact with these areas is safe.