Treatment, such as cutting, soaking and/or washing, of organic material

A method of treating an organic material rising cutting, soaking and/or washing said organic material, said method comprising:

• operating an apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
• a receptacle comprising wall elements defining a container adapted to contain fluid and material to be treated,
• a discharge element in upstream fluid communication with the interior of the receptacle and in downstream fluid communication with a fluid connection,
• a vortex generator for forming a vortex in the fluid, wherein the vortex comprises angular and axial flow components,
• an infeed device for feeding material to be treated into the vortex formed in the fluid,
• a pump arranged downstream of the discharge element in order to pump fluid with material from the infeed device towards the discharge element and into the downstream fluid connection,
• a user operable pump controller operably connected to said pump to control a rate of pumping of said fluid by said pump,
• the vortex generator and pump in combination being adapted to generate a vortex in the form of a conic helix in the fluid that traverses the entire length of said receptacle in an axial direction when in use, wherein the axial flow component of the vortex flows in a direction from the infeed device toward the discharge element, and wherein a flow rate of the axial flow component of the vortex is controlled by controlling the pump,
• the method further comprising:
• controlling the pump and the vortex generator so as to establish a vortex in the receptacle in the form of a conic helix, and so that substantially no recirculation internally in the receptacle is generated,
• feeding material to be treated into the vortex, such that the material is trapped within the conic helix, and
• controlling the pump so that the flow rate of the axial flow component of the vortex is controlled, thereby controlling the speed at which the material is pumped from the infeed device towards the discharge element and into the downstream fluid connection, thereby controlling the retention time of the material in the receptacle.