Sliello dull the develriur Iznives wiiich l0'.;:?rn the efficiency of 

 the machine and malcoc frequent blade changing nece3sar;y. The flow of 

 cliriiiip must be stopped vhcn such charij^eG are ciade. 



The slirimp di'op from the inspection belt into the receiver of 

 a food pvunp, which elevates them to the top of the deveiner. Tliis machine 

 first cuts the back muscle to expose the vein atid removes it in a second 

 operation. The food pump discharging into the deveiner should be 

 equipped with a bypass for diverting shrimp which are not to be deveined. 



h. Blanching: The shrimp are discharged from the deveiner 

 or the bypass into a dewatering device which di'ops them into the auto- 

 matic blancher. A number of different types of automatic blanchers 

 have been perfected in recent years. Most blanchers are rather costly 

 pieces of equiiaient, but accurate controls are needed at this point 

 since yields are materially affected by the blanching. In the blanching 

 operation the shrimp are either carried or propelled through a boiling 

 saline solution. The strength of the f^olution used is ordinarily 

 about 25 degrees salinoraeter. Blanching times are varied dependent 

 upon the size of the shrimp. Tlie usual time range is from 1-1/4 to 3 

 minutes for canning shn' p and 2 to 5 minutes for cooked and peeled 

 shrimp. Blanching extracts vrater and certain solubles, sets color 

 pigment and curls the shrimp. Unless the shrimp are properly curled 

 tlioy cannot be graded with the type of equipment now extant in the 

 industry, 



5. Cooling and grading: The shrimp are discharged, from the 

 blancher into a cold water vat. Tliis iirauediately stops thr- cook, pre- 

 vents loss of volatile flavors, increases firmness and helps control 

 yields. A food pump removes the shrimp from the vat and dirjcharges them 

 onto a drying belt where they pass under a series of blowera to remove 

 excess surface \7ater. The shrimp are discharged onto an inclined vibrat- 

 ing metal plate which tlirough a series of graduated size holes grades them 

 into five categories. The graded shrimp are caught in trays placed 

 ijijcedlately beloi? the holes in thj plate. 



6. Inspection: Tlie trays of shrimp are manually removed from 

 beneath the grader and placed on a table. At this point workers remove 

 by hand any remaining shell, waU<:ing legs, swiirmerettes or antennae and 

 cull out broken shrimp. 



7. Packing and weighing: TI12 trays of inspected shrimp are 

 carried to the iiacking table where workers hand fill and weigh each can. 

 The put-in weiglvt is varied according to size, length of blanch, \7aters 

 of origin, specie, and seai^on of tlie yeai-. llie high cost of raw material 

 necessitates very close supervision at this point. Too great a put-in 

 weight will result in heavy monetary loss. Too small a put-in weight may 

 result in failure to meet the United States Food and Drug Administra- 

 tion "Standard of Fill", and consequent seizure if the merchandise is 

 not labeled according to the standards specifications. There is no auto- 

 matic fillinij and weighing equipment that has been demonstrated to the 

 industry which fits its peculiar needs, (see figure V - 65) 



290 



