Baking & Snack - April 2010 - 74

MIXERS

Developing

DOUGH
Mixer manufacturers continue to advance
their designs and options to assist bakeries in
creating consistent and workable doughs.

BY SHANE WHITAKER
ixing, the first processing step in making yeastraised baked foods such as bread and rolls, is the
act of combining ingredients into a homogeneous mass. The mixer initiates the interactions
between water, flour, salt, fats, sweeteners, yeast and a host
of other diverse components, and the development of the
dough plays a major role in making a quality loaf of bread.
Bakeries can use more than a half dozen methods
for creating doughs, including straight dough, spongeand-dough, liquid sponge and no-time dough, and they can
use continuous or batch systems. Numerous innovations in
the design, efficiency and flexibility of mixing equipment
have been made in the past year. Many of these and more
will be on display at this year's Baking Expo.

ADDING STRENGTH. Normal operating procedures
are seldom seen in bakeries, according to Matt Zielsdorf,
vice-president, sales and marketing for The Peerless Group,
Sidney, OH. Accordingly, the equipment manufacturer has
designed its latest systems to account for anomalies that occur
in operations. "When we sell a 2,000-lb mixer to mix 1,800-lb
batches of bread dough, we realize that in the real world the
customer might run an occasional 900- to 1,000-lb batch of a
different bread type, thus putting undue stress on the mixer,"
he said. "To meet the ever-changing needs of bakers, we redesigned our already strong mixing bowls to be even stronger,
using our patented z-profile designed channels."
Finite element analysis demonstrated that the new bowl
decreased bowl stress/deflection by 42%, and computational fluid dynamics analysis resulted in a 40% reduction
in pressure drop of coolant and a 60% reduction in flow re▲ This mixing bowl has been made even stronger using its manufacturer's
patented z-profile designed channels.
PEERLESS GROUP

circulation in the jacketed bowl, according to Mr. Zielsdorf.
These new features allow Peerless' mixers to assist bakers
in creating better-developed and colder doughs, he added.
Peerless manufactures triple roller bar mixers with capacities ranging from 300 to 3,200 lb. What makes these
mixers unique, according to Mr. Zielsdorf, are its patented
bowl designs, sanitary designs including all-new shaft seals
and a variety of cooling options such the patented refrigerated triple roller bar agitator.
Horizontal mixers from Oshikiri Corp. of America,
Philadelphia, PA, feature a redesigned framework to minimize distortion and deflection during mixing, according to
Tim McCalip, national sales manager. Also, it made design
changes so that its mixers have better seals on the doors,
thoroughly locking in ingredients and minimizing leakage
for a more hygienic operation, he added.
AUTOMATING MIXING. AMF Bakery Systems, Richmond, VA, is starting to make its horizontal agitator bar
mixers in smaller sizes, including 400- and 600-lb capacities, and the reason for this is twofold, according to Larry
Gore, vice-president of sales and marketing, AMF. First, it
meets the needs of bakers in emerging markets such as China and the Middle East, which are starting to make more
Westernized products. Second, bakers want fresher doughs
rather than have large batches sit in the hopper for a longer
time. "Even in the sponge-and-dough situation, they will
use a single sponge mixer and generally two final mixers to
produce fresher doughs," he said.
In addition to stationary bowl mixers, AMF also offers tilt and offset tilt bowl mixers to allow for a totally
automated mixing system. Its offset tilt bowl mixer tips
140° toward the front, dropping the finished dough in a
dough distribution system, whether it be an AMF dough

April 2010 / BAKING & SNACK

Baking & Snack - April 2010

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