Baking & Snack - July 2017 - 84

DIVIDERS

Volumetric dividers suit doughs for specialty products with a portioning hopper
above the divider hopper.
Gemini/KB Systems

thus, the dough quality would eventually suffer.
"There's a preconception that machines make everything worse," Mr. Giacoio said. "But that goes against
Rheon's philosophy that if we can't make it better, we
shouldn't be doing it."
Water isn't the only ingredient to consider when dividing. Inclusions such as seeds or grains require dividers to take it easy on the dough. Handtmann dividers
handle doughs and inclusions gently enough to minimize
any breakage.

Relationship building

Making a clean break
Like every other aspect of dough development, bakers are demanding dividing systems with sanitary
design at the forefront.
"With food safety regulations getting tighter, it's
critical that the divider can be fully washdown," said
Cesar Zelaya, bakery sales and technology manager,
Handtmann. "Our dividers are 100% washdown,
which eliminates the risk of contamination during
changeover and when running product with allergens." The company also offers dividers with quickrelease design to reduce downtime.
Reiser is also seeing increased customer demand
for dividers with sanitary design. "Allergen changeovers enter into many of our conversations," said
John McIsaac, vice-president, strategic business
development, Reiser. "We believe a divider must
come apart easily and simply for sanitation and
inspection." He added that Reiser never assumes a
customer is relying on a kill step downstream but
rather designs all its equipment as "ready to eat."
And a divider that's easy to clean is one that will ultimately have a longer shelf life. "Even a great divider can
become a bad divider if it's not maintained well," said
Patrick Harp, business development engineer, Gemini/
KB Systems. "Selecting a divider that is easy to clean
will be beneficial to your personnel and the operation."
To support this, Gemini designed its TWS divider
line with "water-friendly" options, including closedframe tubing, Mr. Harp said.

84 Baking & Snack July 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

When matchmaking dough with a divider, a baker must
also consider how the two fit into the overall context of
the bread's production.
"Optimum development of the dough is key to any
baking process, so matching the divider technology to
the level of development is critical. Some dividers will add
positive development to the dough in the dividing process," Mr. Campbell said. "An integral dough developer
with variable speed adds a high degree of flexibility to
match the divider to the product."
Performance requirements for downstream equipment
such as proofers and ovens are also important to consider. For example, sheeting technology can be considered in the dividing process, depending on components
like proofing, forming and setting units, according to
Mr. Breeswine. "For even enhancing production output,
dough sheeters can be an option and can operate with 150
strokes per minute," he said.
Mr. Breeswine suggested that as dividing from a dough
sheet gains popularity, products like bun doughs can be
divided on the Menes line, especially when matched with
subsequent proofers and stamping and forming stations.
When considering an extrusion divider for stickier
dough, Mr. Sanchez advised bakers to consider how the
divider will interface with downstream equipment if the
process requires rounding, flour dusting or sheeting.
It's true that times are changing. For today's commercial bread, bun and roll production, it's time to throw old
assumptions on dividing out the window. New technology is paving the way for new, longstanding relationships
between doughs and their dividers. "All in all, as bakers
innovate their dough, they should seek a machinery combination that can be engineered to make those products
for many years to come," Mr. Harp said.

Find resources for dividers by visiting
www.esourcebaking.com. Browse by category under
Equipment, and click on Makeup/Deposit/Form for listings.

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Baking & Snack - July 2017

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