At a century old chocolate workshop in Brussels, Belgium, engineer Jacques is adjusting parameters through a touch screen. Almond kernels on a metal conveyor belt pass through a 5-meter-long chocolate curtain at a constant speed, instantly donning a 0.3mm thick golden coat. This magical moment is the masterpiece of modern chocolate coating machines. From manual impregnation in the 19th century to today’s intelligent production lines, the innovation of coating technology has completely changed the form of the chocolate industry.
1、 The Industrial Revolution of Coating Technology
The first waterfall coating machine invented by Swiss engineers in 1923 marked the transition of chocolate production from workshops to industrialization. This cast iron structure equipment forms a continuous chocolate flow through gear transmission, which increases coating efficiency by 40 times. Modern coating machines have evolved into three major technological schools:
-Waterfall Coating System: Using a constant temperature circulation pump to form a 2-3 meter wide chocolate curtain, suitable for regular shaped products such as nuts and cookies, with a processing capacity of up to 2 tons per hour
-Immersion Precision Device: Controlled by a servo motor, the clamping robotic arm achieves 0.01 second precision immersion in a 58 ℃ chocolate tank, specializing in fragile ingredients such as strawberries and dried fruits
- spray type intelligent equipment * *: use high-pressure spray nozzle to realize 3D three-dimensional coating, especially suitable for making complex shapes such as hollow chocolate balls.
2、 The core technology of Sweet Production Line
In the chocolate coating workshop, the temperature control system determines the success or failure of the product. The equipment is equipped with 7 independent temperature zones, ranging from 45 ℃ for raw material melting to 18 ℃ for coating formation, with temperature differences controlled within ± 0.5 ℃ for each stage. The new ultrasonic vibration plate technology developed in Switzerland enables chocolate liquid to form a stable β – V crystal structure during cooling, creating a unique texture that melts in the mouth.
Intelligent transformation is reshaping the production line: a factory in the Netherlands has achieved full process data connectivity from cocoa bean roasting to finished product packaging through IoT technology. The AI quality control system for its coating process can analyze 2000 coating thickness data per second in real-time and automatically compensate for 0.1mm level deviations.
3、 The infinite possibilities of cross-border applications
Modern coating machines are breaking through the traditional candy industry and demonstrating their skills in special industries such as healthcare and aerospace
1. Pharmaceutical companies use micro coating machines to wrap bitter pills with chocolate protective layers, increasing children’s medication compliance by 73%
2. Aerospace food factory develops vacuum microgravity coating technology to provide shatterproof chocolate shells for space nuts
3. A Michelin restaurant in Tokyo customizes a desktop art coating machine to create chocolate decorations with customer initials on site
Under the trend of healthy consumption, low sugar coating technology has become a new track. The SugarRedux system launched by German machinery manufacturer B ü hler controls sugar penetration through nanoscale fiber membranes and can produce healthy chocolate with a 50% reduction in sugar.
Post time: Feb-13-2025