Electric walnut crackers range in price from $ 490 to $ 10,000. In this case, there may be the same performance and approximately the same declared output of the whole kernel. What is the catch and what you need to know about nutcrackers in order not to face a situation of “expectation-reality”.
There are nutcrackers with two different cracking principles:
– Roller nutcrackers work by rotating one or two shafts that grip and crack the walnut. Walnut crackers with a roll principle of operation have small dimensions and a fairly high productivity.
Before cracking walnut on roller nutcrackers, the walnut must be calibrated. Since the distance between the shafts / shaft and the metal plate is set depending on the size of the walnut. Without preliminary calibration, a walnut with a small diameter will fall off the shafts and remain intact, and large walnuts will crack too much. Accordingly, the yield of the whole kernel will be minimal, and for a part of the walnut, a second cracking will be required.
Roller nutcrackers are used at home and when there is no need to obtain a whole kernel (for example, the kernel is handed over to confectionery factories).
Also, roller nutcrackers show excellent results in the processing of hazelnuts.
In an industrial setting, or when the goal is to produce a whole butterfly kernel, roller walnut crackers are not used.
– Cone nutcrackers work by compressing two cone-shaped plates. The conical nutcrackers are larger and have an average and high performance.
They can work without prior calibration of the walnut. The walnut, falling into the conical plates, remains at a height that corresponds to its size, and the small compressive force does not allow the walnut to be crushed. When using a calibrated walnut, the nutcracker is fine-tuned to the size of the nut and provides an even more gentle splitting. Conical nutcrackers give a high yield of whole kernels, comparable to manual processing – up to 80%.
Conical nutcrackers are used in industrial walnut processing plants.
A separate category is nutcrackers with a drum principle. In the processing of walnuts, they are used as breakers for low-quality walnuts, since they are not at all designed to obtain a whole kernel.
Drum nutcrackers show excellent results when processing hazelnuts and almonds to obtain a whole kernel.