Combination blancher and cooler

A food processing apparatus, comprising:

• a) a tank having an inlet end and a discharge end;
• b) a baffle which divides the tank into a heated compartment and a cooled compartment;
• c) a first drum rotatably mounted within the tank heated compartment, and having a helical auger therein, wherein the auger advances food product from the tank inlet toward the baffle;
• d) a second drum rotatably mounted within the tank cooled compartment and having a helical auger therein, wherein the auger advances food product within the second drum to the tank outlet,
• e) a chute which extends between the first drum and the second drum;
• and
• f) at least one lifting flight located within the first drum and rotatable with the first drum to elevate food product from within the heated compartment of the tank to deposit the food product in the chute to be discharged into the cooled compartment of the tank, wherein a food product introduced at the tank inlet end will traverse the tank and be subjected to both heating and cooling.

A food processing apparatus, comprising:

• a) a tank having an inlet end and a discharge end;
• b) a baffle which divides the tank into a heated compartment and a cooled compartment, wherein the baffle prevents mixing of water in the heated compartment with water in the cooled compartment;
• c) a heated water manifold disposed within the tank heated compartment;
• d) a cooled water manifold disposed within the tank cooled compartment;
• e) a perforated cylinder mounted rotatably within the tank so that water contained in the tank will enter the cylinder, the cylinder having an inlet opening near the inlet end of the tank for receiving introduced food product and a discharge opening near the discharge end of the tank where food product which has moved through the cylinder can be discharged therefrom, wherein the cylinder is divided into a first segment which extends within the heated compartment of the tank and a second segment which extends within the cooled compartment of the tank;
• f) an auger positioned substantially within the perforated cylinder to rotate with the cylinder, the auger having portions which define a helical surface, wherein portions of the auger extend axially within the first segment of the cylinder and portions of the auger extend axially within the second segment of the cylinder;
• and
• g) means for conveying food product from the first cylinder segment to the second cylinder segment, wherein a food product introduced at the tank inlet end will traverse the tank and be subjected to both heating and cooling.