METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SHREDDED CHEESE

摘要

A method and apparatus for producing shredded food products, such as cheese, is disclosed. The apparatus of the present invention comprises a sheet former (10), a casting line (20), and a shredding assembly (40), all of which function as a single unit. The shredding assembly first slices the incoming sheet of cheese into ribbons and then cuts each of these ribbons to length. The sheet of cheese may be sliced into ribbons by passing the cheese through a pair of rollers (51, 52) having grooves or slots machined into their surfaces, the width of the slots (55) corresponding to the desired width of the cheese ribbons. The cheese ribbons are presented to a plurality of transversely mounted elongate blades (211), each of which revolves about a common axis. Each blade cuts off segments of desired lengths from the cheese ribbons.