Baking & Snack - May 2014 - 71

Icing, glazing and spraying
systems can put bakers
in first place with waste
management and targeted
application solutions.

by Mari Rydings

The marketplace success of a cake, cookie, cupcake or
even artisan bread often depends one subtle but telling
detail: its aesthetic appeal. From the smooth surface of
a cupcake with its curly-Q string of icing to the shiny
sheen of a hamburger bun to the cracked and shimmery
surface of artisan bread, bakers use icings, glazes and
sprays to impart a sense of decadence and added value,
not to mention flavor and eye appeal. The finishing
touches are the final steps that push bakers across the
finish line.
But creating that eye-catching end product is anything
but easy. When working with icings, glazes and sprays,
the challenges bakers and their suppliers encounter are
multiple and varied. Simply maintaining a level of consistency in the production process requires a race that
involves regulating the temperature and viscosity of each
material, ensuring a continuous, trouble-free flow rate,
minimizing breakage and achieving an accurate application rate.
Any hiccup in the process can lead quickly to out-ofcontrol product waste, interrupted production flow and
inconsistent icing or glaze application, which can vaporize any value-added benefits and result in wasted time,
money and effort. To compete in today's market, bakers
need flexible finishing equipment that provides optimal flow control, reliable and uniform application and
waste-reduction solutions. And they want it with minimal downtime and maximum return on investment.

Hitting the target
As ingredient costs creep higher, bakeries need practical
solutions for reducing waste. Accurate dispensing and

application is the first line of defense in controlling ingredient costs. "The goal is to have most of the icing or
glaze taken away with the product," said David Moline,
sales and marketing manager for Moline Machinery,
Duluth, MN, which manufactures systems that serve
double-duty as icing and glazing stations.
That's easier said than done, especially with the 60-in.wide belts used in high-production facilities. One way to
improve accurate application and curtail waste
is to adjust the amount of space between products on the conveyor belt. "Minimizing the
gap between products on the belt, especially in
front-to-back situations, can help bakers avoid
giving away product,"
suggested
Bob
Peck, vice-president of engineering at Hauppauge, NYbased ET Oakes,
which manufactures string and orbital icers. "In rightto-left applications,
we use adjustable
accuracy, meaning
we loosen the nozzle
and shift it so we can
better centralize the icing
application."
To provide more consistent product coverage, Amherst,
NY-based
GOE-Amherst
Stainless

Recirculation systems
collect, filter and
rework unused icing
back into the system to
reduce product waste.
Hinds-Bock

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Baking & Snack - May 2014

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