FoodTrust - Connections

It’s been busy around here lately. I had intended to be diligent about posting at least 4 stories a week, but it’s been difficult. Between upgrading computers and assembling thermocouples I haven’t had an opportunity to write anything.

What are thermocouples, you ask? How do they relate to potatoes?

The Wiki should answer the first question.  But, It’s basically a method of measuring temperature using wire and a bit of physics. Fortunately, the recording device handles the physics part. The photo at the left is a length of thermocouple wire with a plug on one end and the wires twisted at the other end.

Temperature is very important for potatoes. During storage the temperature of the potatoes must be within a fairly tight range or the potatoes will begin to change chemically. These changes will result in potatoes that are undesirable, either in appearance or taste. Eventually they’ll look downright rotten!

So, William is using dozens of these thermocouples to monitor the temperature of the potatoes at various locations throughout the warehouse. The wires can go where no man can.

He places the twisted end of the thermocouples at various points throughout the pile as the warehouse fills up. The plug ends of the wires are routed to a central location where William can plug them into the recording device.

The recording device we are using is a single input unit. So William has to plug each wire into the machine one at at time and record the temperature on paper. More advanced recording devices allow several dozen thermocouples to be connected and record them automatically on a computer.

By monitoring the temperature in the warehouse we can be sure that we are supplying you with the freshest and best tasting potatoes possible.

Scott