FEATURE


CONSISTENCY IS MIXING KEY E


very step in the baking process is crucial and combining or eliminating some of these, or experimenting with ingredients


can prove to be an expensive waste of time and product. The recent Bakery Technology Conference


held by Campden BRI in the UK May stressed the importance of the mixing phase during baking. Rob Francis, chief engineer for bakery


system at Baker Perkins spoke about advances in moulding technology aimed at creating a finer crumb structure. Fine texture and a resilient crumb, he said,


were important to final bread quality, pointing out that the optimum cell count was achieved in the mixer and cannot be improved after that stage. In the area of improved mixing, German


company Reimelt have come up with the Codos system which uses continuous mixing and kneading, which reduces energy and product costs. This compact system is comprised of a pre-mixer for ingredient


integration, a continuous metering and scaling system for all kinds of ingredients (solid or liquid), a mixer and a kneader. The required hardware and software to control the system complete this innovative system. Other strong players include French firm VMI. The company has been focusing on two sectors. Thierry


Guichard, Marketing VP, explained that sliced bread has a growing 5­


market share in the bread sector. This is why many local equipment


manufacturers and foreign companies supply horizontal mixers. Horizontal mixers are particularly well suited for this type of bread as they are capable of delivering a high level of energy to the dough in a minimum amount of time, making them highly efficient in cutting the gluten network. Reimelt’s Hans-Dieter Lehnen, project


engineer and product manager for dough technology, says that with the company’s innovative system it is possible to continuously produce doughs in bakeries. “The separation of the process steps


‘mixing’ and ‘kneading’ increases the profitability and the dough quality, resulting in baked goods with improved freshness,” said Lehnen.


“No matter if rolls, French white bread or other baked goods


are to be produced, the goal is consistent high quality. In any case, a pre-requisite is optimum dough preparation. “And exactly such optimum dough is provided by the


innovative mixing and kneading system called Codos.” The system is characterised by two features: the continuous


operating mode which provides, particularly for medium and large throughputs, very consistent dough preparation and constant dough fermentation prior to the baking process. “Thus, this system avoids variations in quality and scaling


European Baker Magazine - Digital Digest • www.worldbakers.com 5­


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