Baking & Snack - May 2015 - 98

GLUTEN-FREE PROCESSING

Rigorous cleaning for gluten-free
When it comes to gluten-free, sanitation is hands-down the No. 1 concern
bakers have. Maintaining a pristine
environment free from gluten is critical for gluten-free bakers to maintain
their products' reputations as safe for
those afflicted with celiac disease.
Ideally, these production lines
should exist in a building apart from
any area where gluten is present.
"Gluten-free products and ingredients
must not be co-mingled with regular
ingredients and have to be stored and
treated separately in their own specific areas, explained John McIsaac,
"
vice-president, strategic business
development, Reiser. "Due to the very
low limits in the range of parts per
million, it is highly recommended to
have independent production facilities for gluten-free products.
"
Even in a dedicated gluten-free bakery where contamination is minimal,
basic sanitation can be a struggle.
"The product is sticky and messy,"
said Eric Riggle, vice-president,
Rademaker USA. "The equipment
needs to be cleaned easily." Today's
production equipment for gluten-free
comes with the same sanitationfriendly design as conventional
equipment.
The Kaak Group, represented
exclusively in the US by Naegele,
Inc., builds all its equipment - bread
lines, proof boxes and dough makeup
systems - with washdown sanitation
in mind.
Likewise, Rondo's Astec line of
equipment, designed for advanced
sanitation technology, can be rolled
away to a cleaning station and wetwashed for optimal cleaning. "You can
roll it into a wash station and highpressure wash it, which is a lot faster
than having someone wipe it down
and clean it off, said Bob Marraccini,
"
vice-president, Rondo. "We cut at least
50% of the cleaning time for people
who swab after changeovers.
"

98 Baking & Snack May 2015 / www.bakingandsnack.com

As gluten-free formulations improve, often does the dough's machineability.
Minipan

more dough, less dough," he explained.
The lack of elasticity without gluten means the dough
sheet is vulnerable to tearing. Conveyors with height
changes or drops at transfer points can be an issue. Fritsch
USA, Cranbury, NJ, kept this in mind, so the dough sheet
is supported throughout the sheeting process.
Rondo also took this troublesome predicament seriously and eliminated elevation drops from its sheeting lines configured for gluten-free products. "Twenty
years ago, the equipment was very different," said Jerry
Murphy, president, Rondo. "You had very large drops
from one sheeting roller to the next." Today, Rondo's
equipment makes straight-through reductions without
dangerous elevation changes.

Letting go
Stickiness has always been - and continues to be - an
issue for gluten-free dough. Some new ingredients and
formulations seem to make dough more machineable,
but some make it worse. Although ancient grains may
enhance taste and nutrition in gluten-free baked goods,
they don't help with the stickiness.
"The incorporation of certain ancient grains into the
formula seems to be adding to the problem of the dough
sheet sticking to the gauge rolls," said John Eshelman,
director, pretzel and snack machinery sales, Reading
Bakery Systems, Robesonia, PA. "Some of these grains
are milled to a fine flour, and some are ground so you
get these coarser grinds. Holding it together during the
forming process can present some real challenges."
To keep a gluten-free dough together, bakers must
rely on starch, gums or other ingredients for binding.
However, these ingredients are stickier than gluten, creating a dough that has a hard time releasing from the
equipment. "That is the challenge we come across, 'How
do we handle it without it sticking to everything?' "

Baking & Snack - May 2015

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