A vacuum fryer for "greenshell" mussels meat

Abstract

The Appropriate Technology Center of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Agriculture, Central Philippine University, Iloilo City, in collaboration with the Assosasyon sang Magagagmay nga Mangingisda sang Roxas City (AMMARO), had carried out a design and evaluation of a vacuum fryer for frying “greenshell” mussels meat. The project was carried out from May 15, 2002 to November 29, 2002.

The machine has a frying chamber having a diameter of 0.60 m and a height of 1.2 meter. This chamber is made of 1/8-in. thick stainless steel plate to prevent salt corrosion. The lower portion of this chamber is enveloped by another cylinder with a diameter of 0.8 m and a height of 0.7 m which serves as the heating chamber for the fryer. Inlet and outlet pipes are provided for both chambers for loading and unloading of oil. An exhaust pipe is also provided for the heating chamber to automatically release any pressure developed in the chamber during operation. An LPG burner is utilized to heat the oil. It is placed directly beneath the heating chamber to supply the heat needed for frying. Two vacuum tanks were used to generate the required vacuum pressure for the frying chamber. These tanks create vacuum while the water is transferred from one tank to the other.

Performance evaluation showed that the machine uses 160 liters of frying oil and 60 liters of heating oil. A vacuum pressure of up to 15-in. Hg can be generated by the system within 5 minutes. The temperature of the frying oil can be elevated to a level of 130 within 2 hours of continuous firing using the LPG burner. One to two kilos of “greenshell” mussels meat can be satisfactorily fried within 5 to 6 minutes. The products produced are crispy and less oily. Frying recovery of the product averaged at 32%. Electrical power and fuel consumption averaged at 1.27 kW and 1.06 kg per load, respectively.

The initial investment required for the vacuum fryer is P205,000.00. The computed cost of producing vacuum fried green shells meat is P129.96 per kilogram. Assuming a P150.00 cost per sack of “greenshell” mussels, a recovery of 8 kilos of “greenshell” mussels meat per sack, a frying capacity of 15.36 kg/day, and a selling price of P700.00 per kilo of the vacuum-fried product, the total net income that can be derived from the operation is P508,253.18 per year. The return on investment is 247.9% while the benefit cost ratio is 4.27. The computed payback period is 0.40 year.