Crushing machine for a food product that is frozen in blocks, or in IQF form, and plant comprising such a machine for making puree, or juice, from a food product

A machine for crushing a vegetable food product frozen in blocks, or in IQF form, to obtain a crushed product consisting of a plurality of fragments of predetermined size, said machine comprising:

• a container body having a box structure, and defining a crushing chamber, said container body having:
• an inlet port, through which said frozen food product is placed in the crushing chamber and an outlet port through which a crushed product is discharged from said crushing chamber;
• a cover associated with said inlet port and arranged to pass from an open position, in which said cover allows the access to said inlet port, and then the introduction of said product in said crushing chamber, to a closed position, in which said cover blocks said inlet port;
• sealing elements located between said cover and a boundary edge of said inlet port, said sealing elements arranged to pneumatically insulate said crushing chamber from the outer environment when said cover is in said closed position;
• an adjustment member arranged to adjust the pressure in said crushing chamber, said adjustment member arranged to keep a predetermined void ratio, or a predetermined pressure higher than atmospheric pressure in said crushing chamber;
• a crushing unit mounted in said crushing chamber, said crushing unit comprising a plurality of crushing rollers, each of which is arranged to rotate about a respective rotation axis and having, peripherally, a plurality of teeth arranged to cut said product frozen in blocks, or IQF form, for splitting it into said fragments of predetermined size;
• a distribution valve associated with said outlet port, said distribution valve arranged to adjust the amount of crushed product discharged from said machine through said outlet port;
• a selection means adapted to select a working configuration chosen among:
• a first configuration, where said machine is configured to treat said frozen product in blocks, and a second configuration, where said machine is configured to treat said frozen product in IQF form.