Cooking & Thermal Processing RFQ template & spec checklist

Cooking and thermal processing equipment brings product to a target temperature for texture, safety, or reaction: steam-jacketed and scraped-surface kettles, continuous cookers and coolers, batch and continuous ovens, fryers, blanchers, and steam tunnels. Buyers move into this category to launch a cooked product, add capacity, improve yield and consistency, or replace a hand-tended kettle line. Heat-transfer area, agitation, and temperature-control uniformity set product quality and cycle time, while cleanability sets uptime. Because vendors solve the same cook curve with very different geometries, three quotes let you weigh energy use, cook uniformity, and cleaning burden rather than just tank volume.

What to include in your request

• ▢ Product, batch or continuous operation, and working volume or mass throughput per hour
• ▢ Cook curve: start and target temperature, ramp rate, hold time, and any controlled cool-down
• ▢ Product characteristics: viscosity, solids, particulates, and fouling or scorch tendency
• ▢ Agitation or scraped-surface needs and any shear limits on the product
• ▢ Contact materials and finish, and whether 3-A hygienic design and CIP apply to the wetted vessel
• ▢ Utilities: steam pressure and flow, or electric and gas heat input, plus the cooling medium
• ▢ Venting, hooding, and floor space, including clearance for tilt or discharge

What drives the quote

• Heat-transfer area, jacket rating, and heat source
• Agitation or scraped-surface mechanism and drive
• Contact-part finish and hygienic certification
• Controls: recipe management, uniformity mapping, and data logging
• Continuous versus batch design and any integrated cooling stage

Common spec mistakes to avoid

• Sizing on volume without the ramp and hold time that actually set cycle length
• Ignoring scorch and fouling tendency, so a plain jacket bakes product on between cleans
• Underrating steam supply, so the kettle cannot hold its ramp rate under full load
• Overlooking product shear limits when a scraped-surface or high-agitation unit is proposed
• Specifying heating carefully and leaving cool-down to chance, which stretches the cycle

Lead time

Lead time depends on whether it is a catalog kettle or an engineered continuous cook-and-cool system with custom scraped-surface exchangers and controls. Jacketing, specialty finishes, and gas-fired burner packages add to it.

How to use this template

Fill in the bracketed parts, delete what doesn't apply, and send the same version to every supplier so the quotes come back on the same terms. Or start a request and our agents send it for you.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get quotes for Cooking & Thermal Processing?

Start a request and describe what you need once. Our agents shortlist Cooking & Thermal Processing suppliers that list it, email each one your request from a PostRequest address, follow up once, and line up price, minimums, lead time and terms side by side. No account or password needed.

Are the suppliers on this page vetted?

They're directory listings from public sources, not endorsements. Before our agents send your Cooking & Thermal Processing request, they check that each supplier actually offers what you need. During early access, a person on our team reviews every comparison before it reaches you.

Can I include suppliers I already use?

Yes. Add them and we'll request quotes from them alongside new options, so you see how they compare.

Do suppliers see who I am?

No. When our agents send your Cooking & Thermal Processing request, suppliers see the spec and roughly where it ships. Your name, company and contact details go to a supplier only after you choose to connect.

What does it cost?

Free during early access. No card needed.