Five tips for avoiding common homogenization mistakes
How you can achieve an optimum production setup with your homogenizer? Here are five tips to avoid the most common mistakes.
- Choose your product properties first! Homogenizer pressure and capacity are important. But before focusing on the details, think what product properties you want to achieve with homogenization. This is especially important if you are about to develop a new product for the first time. Feel free to send samples free of charge to one of our two food technologists working full time on homogenizer application development. They can advise you.
- Don’t over-homogenize! When homogenization pressure is too high, cream loses its whipability and there is an added risk of in-package separation. High-fibre products like tomato will gain viscosity with shear, but at high homogenization pressure the shear is too high and viscosity is lost. Consider the remote continuous setting option if you are planning to run several products in your homogenizer. This allows you to set the pressure remotely from the control room, thereby ensuring the right pressure for each product while eliminating the risk of human error when changing product.
- Don’t believe claims of less than 1 micron in particle size! It is statistically impossible for all particles to be below 1 micron and any supplier claiming to offer less than 1 micron should not be taken seriously. Check if your supplier offers performance guarantees that can be tested.
- Go hydraulic! Experience has shown that a hydraulic system is more repeatable and accurate than a pneumatic system. Pneumatic systems can result in higher production costs or uneven product quality.
- Choose an accessible supplier! Choose a supplier that will be there to support you when needed. Does your supplier have offices in your region you can turn to if, for whatever reason, you’re not satisfied with your product quality, so that they can optimize both your homogenizers and your entire line?
