The Rendering Process
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The process of making fats and meat and bone meal begins when the raw material enters the plant. Once there, the material is discharged into underground containers (called hoppers) to undergo rigorous sanitary control.
After this point, the raw material is crushed and transferred to a buffer hopper that feeds a continuous digester. There, the material is dehydrated and the tallow is melted using indirect heat at a firing temperature of between 271ºF to 282ºF (133ºC and 140ºC) for 45 to 60 minutes. Once it leaves the digester, the first separation of solids and liquids occurs.
The solid material is sent to a loading hopper that feeds a pressing system where the excess tallow is extracted.
The sterilized expeller then enters a cooling hopper before being transported to the grinding sector. There, the material passes through a hammermill to be packaged in 55.11 lb. (25 kg.) bags and 1.3 ton (1200 kg.) big bags
Finally, samples are extracted and analyzed in the factory’s quality control laboratory, where they undergo exhaustive physical, chemical and bacteriological analysis of the product.
On the other hand, the liquid material, called tallow, passes through a purifying system composed of vibrating screens and decanter centrifuges where the solids are totally eliminated and reincorporated into the circuit.
The tallow undergoes a brine washing and drying process before being deposited in heated storage tanks, where an antioxidant is added, awaiting shipment.
The production process culminates with a physical-chemical analysis, after which the product, which has different characteristics according to the destination and use required by the customer, is ready to be fractioned.