Talk:Alberger process

• Thermal E. : Heating a container of the brine to drive off the water.
  
• Vacuum E. : Pumping the air out of a sealed container of the brine, allows the water to evaporate more quickly at near room temperature.
  
• Mechanical E. : ? Perhaps it is mote formation by evaporation of mechanically formed droplets? (See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_salt Cyclic Salt])
  Wikidity (talk) 22:42, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

:None of this is really secret. I've been working on a rewrite of this article. Three sources come to mind:

:*[http://www.cargill.com/salt/products/food-manufacturing/alberger-brand-flake-salts/index.jsp Alberger® Brand Flake Salts Cargill]

:*The Diamond Crystal Salt company began in 1886. That's when John and Louis Alberger, together with Charles Moore and Horace Williams patented a new process for making salt in St. Clair, MI. This Alberger® salt process made it possible to create unique-shaped crystals with numerous facets. The result was an amazing salt with extraordinary adherence, blendability and flavor. [http://www.diamondcrystalsalt.com/About-Us/About-Us.aspx Diamond Crystal® Salt... A rich heritage since 1886.]

:*[http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/2242/why-do-some-recipes-recommend-kosher-salt title=Why do some recipes recommend Kosher salt? work=Seasoned Advice]

:Hope that helps. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 23:02, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

::Those sources all contain good information but I do not find any of them presenting an explanation of what mechanical evaporation is. I am also curious as to what this process is which makes strangely shaped hollow salt, and would love to see a good source. Blue Rasberry (talk) 10:45, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

:::The article might have be wrong about the shape. In one of the photos in the sources, they claim it is "pyramidal" (and stepped) and "flaked" and there is a photograph to that effect. The Cargill plant dries and mechanically manipulates the salt as a part of their unique process, which dates back over a century. How they do that may be considered proprietary, so I won't go into it further. Having seen the operation, that's as far as I am willing to go. I assume that there is more in the patent application, which could be considered to be a good source. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 11:45, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

::::[http://books.google.com/books?id=AO05AQAAIAAJ&lpg=RA2-PA68&ots=Tf4y1Sh9z9&dq=Patent%20application%20alberger%20process&pg=RA2-PA68#v=onepage&q&f=false Bulletins, United Sates Bureau of Mines, Alberger Process] 7&6=thirteen (☎) 11:57, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Mechanical Evaporation is also referred to as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapor-compression_evaporation

This is also a similar physical process used in Air Conditioners and modern Refrigerators for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vapor-compression_refrigeration - It has been too long since my school days to define the "physical" in this case with accuracy. But if I recall somewhat all of these processes involve heat, however, in these cases we are also needing energy/work from a compressor to do the actual concentration {crystallization or chilling}. Hope this helps. 80.5.219.60 (talk) 18:26, 22 January 2016 (UTC)