Baking & Snack - May 2015 - 41

crank out 180 to 920 pieces a minute. Following die cutting, the
pieces drop into pans via a retractable conveyor.
After traveling through a
Northfield single-spiral proofer
for several minutes depending
on type of crust- time, temperature and humidity vary dramatically depending on the type of
crust - depositors then apply oil.
Another docking station degasses
the dough pieces prior to entering
a Capway oven loader and a new
Senius proprietary-design directfired oven with six zones. Mr. Del
Rio noted temperatures per zone
vary - typically ranging from
300°F to as high as 700°F. Baking
times can be as short as two minutes or as long as 12, depending on
the type of crust.
After passing through a Capway
vacuum depanner, the crusts travel
through a JBT/Northfield spiral
freezer set at -32°F for several minutes depending on type of crust.
Crusts receive Safeline and Loma
metal detection before they are
manually stacked and cartoned.
On Line No. 2, Mr. Del Rio
said, the newer Rademaker 54-in.
makeup system offers 30% faster
speeds and 50% greater capacity. The mixing process is similar
to Line No. 1, with rework incorporated into the dough batches.
However, the second line uses an
extruder, not a chunker, to feed the
makeup line.
During Baking & Snack's tour,
Nation was making 6.5-in. deepdish crusts. Mr. Del Rio added that
a separate, second makeup line -
not in operation at the time - is
available for stuffed and other specialty crusts.
To create deep-dish crusts, the extruded sheet travels through an initial gauging station and cross roller,
then to three additional gauging
stations that gently reduce the sheet
to as thin as 2 mm. After docking to

ensure the products maintain their
shape during proofing and baking,
the crusts are die-cut and placed
into cavity or flat pans.
Depending on the product's size
and line speed, dough pieces may
run in either of two Northfield
proofers. "Some products just require much longer proofing times,"
Mr. Del Rio noted. Products are
baked in a Meincke oven with
nine zones to offer a blend of
high-capacity and versatility. Each
zone can be set at a different temperature to custom-bake the items.
Following a brief cooling, products
travel to one of two Northfield spiral freezers.

Topping it off
In a separate room, the four versatile, USDA-inspected topping
lines add a variety of ingredients.
"We can make almost any type of
pizza you want," Mr. Del Rio said.
Although the facility creates a
plethora of crusts, it also purchases several types of bread products
from other wholesale bakers to accommodate its customers' needs.
The topping lines include
Quantum topping and waterfall
applicators, Falco cheese shredders and Grote slicers and processing equipment. After topping, the pizzas travel through a
nitrogen freezer prior to packaging. Nation partnered with Linde
North America to supply the facility's nitrogen tank farm feeding its
various cryogenic tunnel and spiral freezers as well as its nitrogen
gas-flushed modified atmosphere
packaging (MAP) line.
For co-manufacturers, versatility in packaging is vital because of customer requests for
many different sizes and formats.
Mr. Nasti noted the packaging department houses an array
of Bosch Doboy flowwrappers,
a Conflex horizontal flowwrapper, GEA Tiromat PowerPak NT

In the USDA topping room, crusts pass through a waterfall
saucing machine before other ingredients are added.

Baking & Snack - May 2015

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