Alberger process

Last updated

The Alberger process is an industrial method of producing salt from rock salt.

Contents

Method

The Alberger process begins by heating brine under high pressure with a series of heaters. Impurities are removed using a tank filled with granite cubes called a graveler. When the pressure is released, salt crystals form in a steam heated evaporation pan. [1] This results in a three-dimensional pyramid-shaped flake salt, which has low bulk density, high solubility, and good adhesion. [2] According to a scientific article from 1946, the process results in salt of high purity but "is the least economical method for the production of a given quantity of salt." [3]

Production

Cargill operates a plant in St. Clair, Michigan that is the only place in the United States that manufactures such salt using the Alberger process. Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is a brand of salt produced using the Alberger process. [4] Because of its shape, density and flavor characteristics, it is often a preferred choice by snack food manufacturers. [5]

History

The method was patented by Charles L. Weil on June 8, 1915. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphite</span> Allotrope of carbon, mineral, substance

Graphite is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on a large scale for uses in pencils, lubricants, and electrodes. Under high pressures and temperatures it converts to diamond. It is a good conductor of both heat and electricity.

Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the term that in Sephardic or Modern Hebrew is pronounced kashér, meaning "fit". Food that may not be consumed, however, is deemed treif, also spelled treyf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cubic zirconia</span> The cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide

Cubic zirconia (abbreviated CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). The synthesized material is hard and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4). It is sometimes erroneously called cubic zirconium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potassium chloride</span> Ionic compound (KCl)

Potassium chloride is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt-like taste. Potassium chloride can be obtained from ancient dried lake deposits. KCl is used as a fertilizer, in medicine, in scientific applications, domestic water softeners, and in food processing, where it may be known as E number additive E508.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freezing</span> Phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid due to a decrease in thermal energy

Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid or the liquid content of a substance, usually due to cooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popcorn</span> Type of corn kernel which expands and puffs up on heating

Popcorn is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyethylene terephthalate</span> Polymer

Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, and thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fibre for engineering resins.

Field corn, also known as cow corn, is a North American term for maize grown for livestock fodder, ethanol, cereal, and processed food products. The principal field corn varieties are dent corn, flint corn, flour corn which includes blue corn, and waxy corn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synthetic diamond</span> Diamond created by controlled processes

Lab-grown diamond is diamond that is produced in a controlled technological process. Unlike diamond simulants, lab diamonds are composed of the same material as naturally formed diamonds—pure carbon crystallized in an isotropic 3D form—and share identical chemical and physical properties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cargill</span> American-based international food conglomerate

Cargill, Incorporated, is an American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held company in the United States in terms of revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt</span> Mineral used as food ingredient, composed primarily of sodium chloride

In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as rock salt or halite. Salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and is known to uniformly improve the taste perception of food, including otherwise unpalatable food. Salting, brining, and pickling are also ancient and important methods of food preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosher salt</span> Coarse additive-free edible salt

Kosher salt or kitchen salt is coarse edible salt usually without common additives such as iodine, typically used in cooking and not at the table. It consists mainly of sodium chloride and may include anticaking agents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icemaker</span>

An icemaker, ice generator, or ice machine may refer to either a consumer device for making ice, found inside a home freezer; a stand-alone appliance for making ice, or an industrial machine for making ice on a large scale. The term "ice machine" usually refers to the stand-alone appliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osmotic power</span> Energy available from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water

Osmotic power, salinity gradient power or blue energy is the energy available from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water. Two practical methods for this are reverse electrodialysis (RED) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). Both processes rely on osmosis with membranes. The key waste product is brackish water. This byproduct is the result of natural forces that are being harnessed: the flow of fresh water into seas that are made up of salt water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slurry ice</span> Refrigerant

Slurry ice is a phase changing refrigerant made up of millions of ice "micro-crystals" formed and suspended within a solution of water and a freezing point depressant. Some compounds used in the field are salt, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, alcohols like isobutyl and ethanol, and sugars like sucrose and glucose. Slurry ice has greater heat absorption compared to single phase refrigerants like brine, because the melting enthalpy of the ice is also used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish processing</span> Process from catching to selling fish

The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dry-ice blasting</span> Cryogenic surface cleaning method

Dry-ice blasting is a form of carbon dioxide cleaning, where dry ice, the solid form of carbon dioxide, is accelerated in a pressurized air stream and directed at a surface in order to clean it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish preservation</span>

Fish preservation is the method of increasing the shelf life of fish and other fish products by applying the principles of different branches of science in order to keep the fish, after it has landed, in a condition wholesome and fit for human consumption. Ancient methods of preserving fish included drying, salting, pickling and smoking. All of these techniques are still used today but the more modern techniques of freezing and canning have taken on a large importance.

Flake salt refers to a category of salt characterized by their dry, plate-like ("lamellose") crystals. Their structure is a result of differing growth rates between the faces and edges of the crystal, an effect that can be achieved in various ways. Flake salt may occur naturally but can also be produced by a variety of methods, including boiling brine over metal salt pans or evaporating it in greenhouse solar evaporators. The technologies used as well as atmospheric conditions can yield varying crystal structures. Flake salts can form as irregular shavings, pyramidal shapes, boxes, or potato chip-like laminated crystals. These salts tend to have lower trace mineral content than other salts, giving them a stronger salty taste. Most form as thin, flattened out crystals with a large surface area and low mass that give them a crunchy texture and relatively fast dissolution rate. Because of the salts' delicate structures, selmeliers tend to use them as finishing salts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink slime</span> Meat by-product

Pink slime is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to reduce the overall fat content of ground beef. As part of the production process, heat and centrifuges remove the fat from the meat in beef trimmings. The resulting paste, without the fat, is exposed to ammonia gas or citric acid to kill bacteria. In 2001, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the product for limited human consumption. The product, when prepared using ammonia gas, is banned for human consumption in the European Union and Canada.

References

  1. "Salt plant enhances safety, cuts costs with low-temperature hot melt". Adhesives Age. Access Intelligence. 39 (8). July 1996.
  2. Claudia D. O'Donnell (March 1998). "A short salt synopsis". Prepared Foods. BNP Media. 167 (3).
  3. Taft, Robert (1946). "Kansas and the Nation's Salt". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 49 (3): 223–272. doi:10.2307/3626079. ISSN   0022-8443. JSTOR   3626079.
  4. Tejal Rao (29 January 2019). "The Rumors Aren't True: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt Will Still Flow". New York Times . Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  5. "Alberger Flake Salts". Cargill . Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  6. European Patent Office: US 1141999 . For original patent drawings and description of the process see: Original document. Retrieved 28 May 2011.