MIXING AND PROOFING


of advice? “When looking to upscale artisan bakery production, achieving product consistency is critical. I believe that an automated mixing solution that can mimic a traditional bakery process is essential to achieving this. By investing in an automated system, bakeries can ensure constant high-quality production, with much higher throughputs than is possible with manual methods. The consistency of dough, in turn, will help ensure that other aspects of the bakery also work optimally.”


Continuous mixing Continuous mixing solutions are also gaining popularity, for high-volume operations in particular. When properly implemented, continuous systems can offer consistent hydration, reduced need for labour, and improved integration with automated downstream processes. Despite this, many industrial pizza lines still prepare the dough in large discrete batches. While this approach does offer simplicity and flexibility, it also introduces physical limitations that make full uniformity difficult to achieve, according to Sobatech. One of these limitations relates to


hydration. When water is added to a large mass of dry ingredients in a batch bowl, distribution is not instantaneous. Flour particles absorb moisture at different rates, and liquid must migrate through an increasingly dense dough. Even with intensive mixing, small under- or over- hydrated regions can remain. A second limitation of batch mixing


processes comes from the uneven distribution of mechanical energy. Mixing tools can apply shear and elongation forces more strongly near the tool than in other regions. As a result, gluten development within a single batch can vary, producing a range of rheological states rather than one clearly defined condition. Temperature behaviour adds another


layer of variability to the mixing process. Mechanical work generates heat – often unevenly – while local temperature differences of only a few degrees can affect relaxation behaviour and fermentation activity. Once established, these differences tend to persist. Batch mixing also introduces time-


related variation. Dough leaving the mixer first has a different history than


dough leaving last. Because dough continues to ferment and warm during these waiting times, its density and temperature can change before it reaches the line. While Sobatech agrees that there


are ways to compensate for this – for example, longer mixing or downstream


different perspective, with ingredients being combined in a constant flow under defined and repeatable conditions. The objective here is not higher intensity, but reduced variability. Ingredients are dosed continuously in


ONE OF THE MOST


IMPORTANT ADVANCES IN DOUGH PRODUCTION IS THE EVOLUTION OF CONTINUOUS MIXING TECHNOLOGY, WHICH IS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGING HOW DOUGH


CONSISTENCY AND CONTROL IS ACHIEVED


adjustments – these solutions can often only reduce extremes but cannot fully eliminate internal heterogeneity. The challenge is therefore not to mix more intensively, but to ensure more uniform conditions during preparation. Sobatech went on to argue that


continuous mixing approaches dough preparation from a fundamentally


fixed ratios, forming a stable formulation over time rather than a sequence of individual batches and, in continuous pizza dough production, the mixer is able to precisely control how much mechanical energy each kilogram of dough receives, rather than simply how long it is mixed. This leads to much more consistent and uniform gluten development when compared to time- based batch mixing. Temperature management can also be more precise. Gradual movement through the mixer allows heat generation and removal to be guided, reducing any local hot spots and delivering dough within a defined temperature range. In addition, continuous mixing


features a lower product-to-tooling ratio, meaning that a greater proportion of the mixer volume is occupied by the mixing elements rather than free product space. Consequently, the dough has a larger contact surface with the tooling, enabling more efficient energy transfer which results in reduced mixing times. While continuous mixing cannot


remove all variation – raw material and environmental influences will always remain –it can prevent deviations from being amplified during mixing. Downstream processes therefore receive


28 • KENNEDY’S BAKERY PRODUCTION • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026


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