Description
Retort trolleys take the hardest treatment in a food factory. Loaded, docked, cooked, cooled, washed down, then round again. A trolley that racks out of square costs you loading time, chamber space and eventually product.
Unitech Engineering designs and manufactures stainless steel retort trolleys, racking, cages and trays at our works in Burntwood, Staffordshire. Every unit is built around the retort you already run and the product you already make.
Built for the cycle
A retort trolley spends its life cycling between ambient and process temperature, commonly around 121°C under pressure, then straight into cooling water, several times a day. Anything that flexes, traps water, or relies on a plated finish will not last the pace.
So we build open frames that let steam and water reach the whole load, perforated or slotted shelves at the correct tier pitch for even circulation, free draining throughout with no closed sections, welds dressed for wash-down, and frames braced against the thermal cycling and knocks that fatigue lighter equipment.
Material
304 stainless as standard. 316 on request, where chlorides are in play: brines and cures, high-salt sauces, seafood, and aggressive CIP or hypochlorite cleaning. Tell us the product and the cleaning chemistry and we will advise.
The range
Retort trolleys. Wheeled multi-tier frames for manual, tug or train handling.
Retort racking. Fixed or removable shelves, adjustable pitch for mixed pack formats.
Retort cages and baskets. For cans, jars and bulk formats. Stackable and craneable.
Retort trays and dividers. Perforated or slotted, sized to your pouch, tray or pack.
Made to fit your process
Almost every unit is a one-off or a small batch, because chambers and pack formats vary. We work from your chamber dimensions, rail arrangement, loading method and pack format. A trolley that fills the usable volume of the chamber puts more product through every cycle. Space you leave empty is space you are paying to heat, hold and cool.
Options include castors, wheels and guide rollers to suit your floor and rails, tow bars and couplings for train handling, adjustable or interchangeable shelves, stacking features and lifting points, spring-loaded stainless plungers and latches, and stainless identification plates.
Example build
One of our current retort trolley builds. Everything is made to order, so treat these as an example of the standard rather than a catalogue size.
Overall size: 1051 x 860 mm, 1003 mm to handle top
Sub frame: 894 x 796 mm, stainless RHS 40 x 20 x 1.5
Frames and crossmembers: stainless sheet, 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm
Roller bed: six stainless skate wheels per side, 54 dia x 18 wide tread, at 142 mm centres
Castors: stainless swivel castors, 125 mm, double ball bearing swivel
Location: spring-loaded stainless plunger, M8 knob
Fixings: stainless throughout, M16 bolt and nyloc at wheel mounts
Repairs and replacement
We repair and refurbish existing trolleys and racking, and replicate units from a sample or drawing so you can add to a fleet and keep it interchangeable. Send us one trolley and we will match it.
Enquiries
Send us your retort make and internal chamber dimensions, your loading method, your pack format, and how many you need. An existing trolley, a photograph or a drawing will do just as well. We will come back with a design and a price.
