One of the important stages of preparation of raw materials for wine production is crushing of berries. Special crushers are used for this. With the help of such devices, the raw material is brought to the consistency required for the next stages of production.

Depending on the selected power and productivity, crushers can be used in home and industrial winemaking.

What are the advantages of using crushers?

The exception of manual labor, of course, allows you to speed up the process of processing grapes, increase the volume of processing and production. But, in addition to this, the automation of the berry crushing process allows:

- Get raw materials of the highest quality;

- To ensure the maximum yield of processed material.

The design of the crusher is simple, clear and easy to maintain. This does not require special skills and abilities. And with proper use and maintenance, the equipment will last a long time.

What should you pay attention to when choosing a crusher?

The task of the crusher is to grind and press the berries to obtain the pulp - the necessary raw material for wine. Let's consider in more detail how to choose the right equipment, which parameters to pay attention to.

Design features and type of shredder

There are crushers:

Valkovi Berries are crushed by horizontal rollers with opposite rotation. The gap between them can be adjusted to achieve maximum processing efficiency. Rolls can be smooth, embossed or with special blades for grinding raw materials. Such crushers work carefully and do not damage the bones. With their help, you can get a very high-quality wine without sediment, with a rich aroma and taste.
Centrifugal In such installations, the grapes are crushed thanks to the blows of the rotor mechanism, which rotates at a high speed (450-500 rpm). At the output, we get a pulp with high phenols. Centrifugal crushers are used in the production of red wine.

Presence of comb separator

The final taste of the wine (astringency, richness, strength) is affected by the ridges and pits that fall into the pulp. If there are a lot of them, the wine will be bitter and cloudy due to the high concentration of tannins. Therefore, a very important factor when choosing a crusher is the presence of a comb separator. Especially for processing white grape varieties. Crushers with comb separators (roller and centrifugal) are equipped with a special shaft, which separates the combs into a special container, and sends the berries further, for processing.

Productivity

For a small amount of grapes, you can use a manual (mechanical) crusher, but in industrial conditions, powerful installations with an electric drive are used, which are able to process a large amount of raw materials.

When choosing, pay attention to the following indicators:

Loading hopper capacity. With a small harvest (500-1000 kg per season), a plant with a hopper of about 25-50 kg is suitable. The larger the planned volume of grapes, the larger the loading unit should be.
Plant productivity and engine power. The higher it is, the faster you can process all the harvested grapes.

Overall dimensions and design features.

The size of the equipment, as a rule, depends on the power of the installation and the principle of operation. Sometimes the crusher and the comb separator are two separate machines with independent drives. In some cases, this can be an important advantage, depending on the grape variety being processed. In any case, it is important to consider production volumes and production areas.

For example, a 7.5 kW industrial centrifugal crusher with comb separator for grapes TsDG-20 is capable of processing 20 tons of grapes per hour. The VGD roller crusher with comb separator consists of two devices with separate drives - comb separator and crusher. It allows you to process 20 tons of berries per hour and at the same time perform various technological operations as needed:

- separate the ridges with or without crushing the berries;

- crush the berries without separating the ridges.

Choosing and buying the right grape crusher will allow you to increase the efficiency of the wine production process and improve the quality of the finished product.

We will help you in the selection of equipment for grape processing, we will advise on prices and configuration. And we will also select other equipment for winemaking: pumping units, drainers, mixers, presses, and more.