Materials and viscosity

FoodJet depositors handle a wide range of liquid and semi-liquid foods, from thin sauces to thick pastes, creams, cheese, batters and chocolate. Whether a product runs well comes down to how it behaves: how it flows, its temperature, and whether it carries pieces. You can get a first impression yourself with the self-check below, and because behaviour varies from product to product, we always confirm the fit in a trial with your own material.

FoodJet depositors are used across several material families:

• Sauces: smooth or chunky, such as pizza and pasta sauces.
• Creams and cheese: whipped cream, creme fraiche, cream cheese and cheese pastes.
• Pastes and batters: tiger paste, pancake and waffle batter, and similar mixes.
• Chocolate and compound: for decoration, surface filling and filling pockets.
• Oils and emulsions: for spraying or depositing a controlled film.

You do not need lab equipment for a first impression. Take a spoonful of your product at the temperature you normally process it, and run through five checks:

• How does it flow off a spoon? A slow, steady stream or a gentle slump is the sweet spot. Runs off like water, or barely moves, is worth a closer look.
• Are there hard pieces in it? Smooth or soft bits such as herbs or soft fruit are usually fine. Hard pieces such as seeds, nuts or crystals need to match the nozzle size.
• Is it sticky or stringy? Sliding off clean is fine. Clinging, stringing or tailing needs extra attention at cut-off.
• Does it change when it cools or warms? FoodJet runs products between 5 and 65 degrees Celsius. Products that thicken, set or solidify when cooler, such as fat, chocolate or gelatin, need their temperature held.
• Does it stay mixed? Staying uniform is fine. A watery layer or settling solids may need recirculation, and sometimes an emulsifier.

Mostly good signs means your product is promising. One or two flags rarely rules it out, it just means we want a closer look. The definitive answer is always a trial with your actual product.

Three properties matter most. Viscosity, how thick or thin the product is, decides how it flows through the nozzle and whether the deposit spreads or holds its shape. Temperature matters because many products only flow well in a certain range, and FoodJet runs products between 5 and 65 degrees Celsius. For products that need to stay warm, such as chocolate and compound, FoodJet offers heated depositing so the viscosity stays stable through the head. Pieces and inclusions matter because the nozzle and valve have to pass the largest piece without blocking or breaking it. Stickiness, air content and separation can play a role too, which is why we look at the whole product, not one number.

Because these properties interact, behaviour on the line is hard to predict on paper. So we test. Share your product and how it is prepared, send a sample of around 2 to 5 kilograms for an initial evaluation, and we run it on our own equipment. You see the deposit, the pattern and the speed on your actual material, and you get a configuration matched to your product rather than a generic setting.

Run through the self-check, then share your product and how it is prepared. We will run a trial on your own material and advise the right configuration.