HOW TO DO NOVEMBER TIP: Cutting squares of peppers with the belt cutting machines GS 10-2 or GS 20

Cutting squares of peppers with the belt cutting machines GS 10-2 or GS 20

Target: To cut peppers into squares of e.g. 20x20 mm, 30x30 mm, 40x40 mm
Machines: Belt cutting machines GS 10-2 or GS 20 with the 2D square cut knives for different square sizes
Result: Pepper squares which can be processed further as skewers, antipasti or pickle
Capacity: Using the GS 10-2 to produce 30x30 mm squares, up to 500 kg of peppers can be processed per hour. Using the GS 20 to produce 40x40 mm squares, up to 4000 kg of peppers can be processed per hour.

Process:
Basic conditions for the process are:

• Two methods can be utilized to prepare the peppers:
• Method 1: each the top and tail of the peppers are cut off, the peppers are cored, cut open with one cut lengthwise and opened up to create a surface as flat as possible
• Method 2: the peppers are cut in halves lengthwise and cored
• The 2D square cut knives are available for the production of squares of different sizes, e.g. 20x20 mm, 35x35 mm or 40x40 mm
• The 2D square cut knife with the respective size is mounted on the GS 10-2 respectively GS 20
• When using the GS 10-2 for squares of 30x30 mm: belt speed is set to 70, knife speed is set to 50 and the downholder is set to 50%
• When using the GS 20 for 25x25 mm: belt speed is set to 83, knife speed is set to 50 and the downholder is set to 85%
• The prepared peppers are placed on the infeed belt so they lie as flat as possible

 Depending on the preparation method, the yield varies when processing the peppers: in comparison to method 2, the yield is higher when using method 1 as the peppers are placed flat on the belt, creating a bigger surface and even square, while by avoiding to cut the peppers in halves causing less small pieces being produced during cutting. The resulting squares of peppers can be used for skewers, pickle or –in the case of grilled peppers – antipasti.

The squares of peppers can be separated from undesired small pieces during a washing process, e.g. using the washing machine Paprika-GEWA 3850 V PLUS with vibration outfeed, employing a vibration screen with suitable hole size. The undesired small pieces can then be processed further e.g. with a cube, strip and slice cutting machine KUJ V as small cubes. 
More about the belt cutting machine GS 10-2
More about the belt cutting machine GS 20