Yogurt Maturation Tanks with Integrated Heat Exchanger

Single‑tank inoculation, fermentation, and rapid cooling with tubular thermal agitator to preserve curd structure and viscosity The Yogurt Maturation Tanks with Integrated Heat Exchanger are process vessels designed to perform inoculation, fermentation, and post‑fermentation cooling within a single tank, eliminating the need for external heat exchangers that can damage yogurt structure. The tanks are available with conical or cylindrical sanitary bottoms and are optimized for both set and stirred yogurt applications. Each tank incorporates a patented tubular agitator that functions simultaneously as a dynamic heat exchanger, recirculating chilled water internally while gently mixing the product. During fermentation, the outer jacket maintains a stable incubation temperature, ensuring uniform acidification across the entire batch. Once the target pH is reached, chilled water is circulated through both the tank jacket and the tubular agitator, rapidly stopping bacterial activity. The geometry of the agitator blades and the fully drainable sanitary bottom ensures that the entire tank volume is cooled homogeneously at low rotational speeds, avoiding high shear forces that would break the yogurt curd. By performing the cooling step directly in the maturation tank, the system preserves natural body and viscosity, avoiding the need to pump hot yogurt through external plate exchangers that degrade protein structure. The result is yogurt with improved texture, higher apparent viscosity, and consistent sensory quality, ready for direct transfer to texturizing, mixing, or filling operations.