Baking & Snack - April 2009 - 73

SEASONING SYSTEMS

Season toTaste...
A C C U R AT E LY

Control usage costs for toppings
by selecting the right seasoning
equipment for your products.
BY LAURIE GORTON
sanding of sugar, a dusting of flour, a coating of
seasoning, a topping of seeds - the extra touch
that helps "sell" the product can be the most
expensive ingredient in the formula. For operators watching costs, the job is to not only make attractive
baked foods and snacks but also produce them as efficiently and economically as possible. Accurate dispensing of expensive toppings and seasonings is essential. In
other words, the equipment for applying toppings and
seasonings must "put the seasonings just where the product is," as Mark Hotze, director of operations, Burford
Corp., Maysville, OK, stated.
Because sodium content is under increased scrutiny,
labeling issues are also involved. The truth is, as pointed
out by James E. Tiefenthaler Jr., president, Tiefenthaler
Machinery Co., Inc., Waukesha, WI, sodium occurs naturally in many ingredients, but it is the salt on top of the
potato chip that provides a visual reminder to consumers. Nevertheless, as Randy Fielding, president and owner,
Christy Machine Co., Fremont, OH, observed, "The ability to accurately dispense seasonings (comes into play)
when sodium labeling is an issue."
Even with salt, appearance holds sway over consumer
acceptance. "Remember, customers generally don't titrate
sodium out of a pound of chips (to determine its content)," said Michael Green, vice-president, Americas,
TNA North America, Inc., Coppell, TX. "They look at the
first chip and subconsciously allow its visual appearance
to build their expectation of the flavor burst and crunch
to decide whose bag of chips they'll buy tomorrow."
Current engineering developments in seasoning and
topping equipment center on accuracy and efficiency.
While speaking only for his company, Mr. Green expressed a viewpoint common to equipment manufactur-

ᮡ Proportional diversion gates on this accumulating system ensure
consistent uniform flow to each seasoning system.
HEAT AND CONTROL

ers: "If we can build a better mouse trap, we'll do it."
TOP AND DUST. Equipment choices for topping and seasoning are well-established, but engineers continue to tailor these technologies and adapt others to fit exacting customer needs. For example, dusting, a method used more
often ahead of makeup, is now being employed to handle
topical application of fine powders such as potato flour
and cinnamon sugar at pre- and post-oven stations.
Topical application of seasonings involves a number of
depositing methods: rotary, vein, screen and belt. "The
most common is the rotating shaft, or mandrel, where
shaft speed controls the volume of seasoning being put
down," explained Norman Searle, c.o.o., AXIS Automation Group, Inc., Waterloo, WI. "Vein is a metering method, where the size and depth of the veins are critical to

April 2009 / BAKING & SNACK

Baking & Snack - April 2009

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