With a product value of about 8 cents a pound, losses would amount to 0.08 cent a pound for each I percent loss. If the loss were as high as 5 percent, the cost per pound would be 0.4 cent, about equal to freezing costs. For bulk freezing, the main cause of loss would be evaporation of water from the product. For freezing in the package, product loss would be from broken boxes and product spillage.
Plate freezing of freezing in bulk on belts in an air blast costs one-half cent a pound or less. The fluidizing technique apparently effects an important reduction in labor costs and also make possible a lower evaporation loss. Freezing time is also much shorter in the fluidized systems. The additional investment cost in automatic plate freezing is more than offset by a saving in labor, as compared with the costs of the manual method. The automatic method is nearly two-tenths of a cent less per pound.
The costs of plate and air-blast freezing as shown are so close there is little to choose between them on a cost basis only. These costs are doubtlessly lower than those experienced by most plants. The estimates assume less lost time than might be possible in most installations because of the many labor, raw-material, and operating problems a plant must experience.
