Cooling Tunnels – the old way
Cooling Tunnels and MACS Coolers are both forced-air cooling methods of precooling fresh produce. The similarities end there. Because the MACS Cooler is automated, you don’t have to worry about handling tarps or checking temperatures.
Cooling Tunnels (“tarped tunnels”) require manually loading the pallets in two rows to make a “tunnel”. When the tunnels are built, a tarp must be laid across the gap between the pallets. When a cooling tunnel has finished cooling a batch of pallets, the tarp must be lifted so the pallets can be moved to storage. But how do you know when the product is actually finished cooling? And the real hassle is if you want to reverse air-flow through the product. Then you have to take the tarp off, move the pallets off of the tunnel, and rebuild them again.
Request a quote to see if a MACS Cooler is a good replacement for your cooling tunnels.
MACS Cooler, like an Automated Cooling Tunnel, but better
The MACS Cooler is an automated, flow-through, forced-air cooler. Customers who have MACS Coolers and cooling tunnels prefer the MACS Cooler hands down. With MACS, there is no tarp to handle. Cooling tunnels require that you probe the produce periodically to see if it’s finished precooling. MACS uses recipes (product codes) to determine the appropriate amount of time to cool.
When the MACS Cooler is finished cooling, the product exits and waits on the Outfeed Conveyors. No guesswork. MACS can even cool different product types at the same time. This is because our cooling zones are discrete.
MACS Coolers have inflatable seals, which expand and retract automatically in seconds. Cooling tunnels can’t compete, even with motorized tarp systems.
A single MACS Cooler can replace 6 cooling tunnels (tarped tunnels) while saving floor space!