Vertical cookers

Linrie Cooking Open Vessel, Steam Kettle, Vertical Cooker 85-100 C, 15-45 min... 

FIGURE 9.3 Equipment commonly used for the industrial production of table tortillas, (a) Open cooking vessel (courtesy of Casa Herrera, Inc.), (b) Vertical cooker, (c) Nixtamal washer (courtesy of Heat and Control, Inc.), (d) Commercial stone grinder. 

Maize is usually batch cooked in fresh masa operations and continuously cooked in dry masa operations. In fresh masa operations, three basic types of cookers are commercially used open vats, Hamilton steam-jacketed kettles, and vertical closed cookers (Sema-Saldivar et al. 1990). The open vat is the oldest and most intensive in terms of energy expenditure, labor, and control. The Hamilton steam cooker is widely used, and the maize is indirectly cooked with steam and the heat transfer enhanced by mechanical agitation. The vertical cooker employs direct steam... 

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