Sweet Corn Processing Line for Frozen and Canned Kernels
A complete Bigtem sweet corn line: truck reception, husk loosening, husking, nubbin separation, automatic cutting, kernel washing and aspiration, blanching and IQF freezing or canning.
- Heavy-duty reception hopper and layer shaker
- Huskers with waste conveyors
- Automatic corn cutters with hand-feed cutters for rejects
- Belt or steam blanching, never water dipped
Line flow
How the line works
Cobs are dumped from trucks into a heavy-duty hopper and fed evenly over a layer shaker into a tunnel that loosens the husks. Elevators and distribution conveyors feed the huskers, where husking rolls grip and peel the husks off. Short cobs and nubbins are separated out.
An index feeder delivers selected cobs to the automatic corn cutters. Kernels go through a flotation washer and aspiration cleaner, then to blanching and cooling ahead of IQF freezing, or to canning.
Questions
Why are kernels steam blanched instead of water dipped?
Multi-zone belt or steam blanching heats kernels gradually without soaking them, which protects sweetness and texture.
What happens to husks, cobs and rejects?
Husks, cut cobs and nubbins are collected on waste conveyors and can be crushed for animal feed.
What happens to cobs the auto cutters reject?
They go to hand-feed cutters, so good kernels are recovered.
How is the line sized?
By the number of cobs per hour you need. Each automatic cutter runs up to 130 ears per minute (Bigtem brochure), and several run in parallel.
Related: Automatic corn cutter · Sweet corn applications · Blanchers
Tell us your crop, capacity and timeline
A Bigtem USA engineer will review your project and follow up with a recommended configuration and a utilities outline.