FLAKE-ICE is said to be improving the quality and market value of both salmon and salmon eggs produced by the Irish division of one of the worid's biggest salmon producing groups, Hydro Seafood.

Hydro Seafood Fanad, on the north coast of County Donegal, treiand, uses Geneglace flakeice machines supplied by Capital Refrigeration Supplies of Dublin, the Irish agent for equipment made by Frigofrance of Nantes, France.

With a capacity of 10.5 tonnes every 24 hours, the first flake-ice machine was installed by Fanad in 1989 to replace its previous water cooling based ice maker.

This switch to flake-ice, says the company, improved the appearance and market value of the salmon, as the previous method could result in a column of ice which broke into lumps causing bruising to the fish. In addition, the air-cooled Geneglace system resulted in significant water savings.

In 1997, Fanad installed a new Geneglace F600 ice maker with an additional 12.5 tonnes a day capacity. "it was well worth the investment," says processing manager Pat Conners.

"Also, we found that there was less downtime and maintenance required when compared to the pre-Geneglace equipment."

During the main season the plant works from Sunday to Thursday with two machines running 24 hours throughout.

After the salmon have been anaesthetised with C02, and bled to improve texture and shelf life, the salmon are chilled down to between 0 to -5degC. The fish are then packed for market with flake-ice.

The Fanad/Mowi strain of salmon eggs is also an important part of the company's products, and in the export of these flake-ice has also been found to have a beneficial effect.

Even by air, the transportation of these eggs to important markets such as Chile can be as long as 48 hours. Using flake-ice, Hydro Seafood Fanad reports it has developed a method of keeping them moist i the right condition throughout the journey.

Flake-ice is used In the top section of the egg boxes which have four polystyrene layers. The top layer has small drainage holes for the flake-ice to melt at an appropriately slow rate to keep the eggs moist throughout transit time. Any other form of ice melts too quickly, creating too much moisture and liquid in the egg trays below.

Geneglace supplies 30 models of flake-ice machines throughout the world.

www.geneglace.com

* Details..  FrigoFrance, place de la Bastille, les Couets 444340, Bouguenais, France. Fax: +33 2 40 65 04 88.