How Jet Cook™ Helps Plant-Based Beverage Producers Overcome Production Challenges

The plant-based beverage category is rapidly growing. With demand rising and consumers seeking dairy-free alternatives, beverage producers are looking to meet this demand. Dairy-free alternative beverages such as soy, cashew, almond, or oat milk, however, have precise production requirements that make adding their creation to preexisting production lines tricky. To offer these plant-based beverages to their customers, producers must overcome new production challenges to meet the product standards for both taste and safety.  

Why Adding Plant-Based Beverage Production Can Be Difficult

As the plant-based beverage market continues to grow, product developers are under pressure to create products that mimic traditional animal milk. However, animal milk’s structural makeup determines its processing operation, which includes a multitude of steps from homogenization to thermal processing. The challenge plant-based beverage producers face is to match the desirable attributes of animal milk such as creaminess, texture, taste, and health.  

With different chemical makeups – fat, protein, carbohydrate, and minerals in milk versus oil bodies in plant-based products – creating a milk-like product from plant-based beverages requires additional machines, steps, and additives. Also, the raw materials needed to produce plant-based beverages can contribute to potential contamination of the processing plant and increase the entire operation’s risk. To mitigate risks, meet consumers’ demands, and deliver a product that can compete with animal dairy, the proper machines and operational process should be followed.    

Use The Right Tool For The Job

Although these plant-based beverages can be more challenging to develop, using the right tools for the job will reduce the risk factors and produce a product with consistently positive outcomes. The manufacturing process for plant-based beverages typically depends on the starting material (oats, cashews, almonds, etc.). While some variations do occur during processing, there are common steps that need to happen. For example, plant material is soaked in water to soften it, broken down, blanched, strained, thermally processed, and fortified with other ingredients.  

To reduce batch contamination, save time, increase quality and produce a safe product, use our patented Jet Cook™ steam technology for your plant-based beverage production.  Jet Cook™ is a revolutionary fluid processing solution that can reduce the risk of harmful contamination during processing and seamlessly add additional ingredients such as fats, stabilizers, thickeners, colors, flavors, or nutrients.  Jet Cook™ is a fast, flexible, and efficient liquid food processing solution. This product uses a steam system that simultaneously heats, mixes, and pumps the product earning substantial energy savings while not compromising on flavor.  

VIDEO: DC Norris Jet Cook™ System for Oat Milk

About the DC Norris Jet Cook™ System

With the plant-based beverage production growing – investing in Jet Cook™ or any of our industrial cooking equipment will help your business create delicious, safe, high-quality products. Food processing systems designed and manufactured by DC Norris produce great tasting products in less time than traditional cooking. Using Jet Cook™ or any of our industry-leading cooking equipment like our Steam Jacketed Kettles, Woks and Bratt Pans, Cook Chill or Cook Quench Chill systems will provide your operation with delicious batch cooked foods and beverages that are both safe and cost-effective.  

Helpful Links:

• Our Beverage Processing Solutions
• A Beverage Manufacturer’s Customer Testimonial
• More About Jet Cook™