Baking & Snack - October 2017 - 78

PRETZEL TECHNOLOGY

Embracing change and innovation
Having flexible equipment is always a
good idea - equipment that can quickly
and easily accommodate different sizes,
shapes, dough consistencies and even
changing between various products. It's
important for bakers and snack producers
to think ahead to what their product portfolio might look like in the future. "You
don't want to get yourself into a piece of
equipment that's not versatile enough for
you," said John Giacoio, vice-president,
sales, Rheon USA.
While some of Rheon USA's coextruders are versatile, some have specific
functions. "If you have a customer who is
purchasing a cookie coextruder but down
the road wants to do filled pretzels, that
machine may limit them because it's not
capable of handling the stiffer or more
elastic doughs," Mr. Giacoio said.
When it comes to managing different
shapes and sizes, changeovers are largely
just a switch of the nozzle. Handtmann
offers tool-less removal of different size
nozzles for quick and easy changes.
Reiser's Vemag system also only requires a nozzle change to switch between
sizes or shapes. When it comes to shapes,
John McIsaac, vice-president of business
development, said the company is only
limited by the customers imagination.
"We 3-D print nozzles, so the customer
can try different sizes and shapes," he
noted. "We can produce virtually any
shape: oval, square, triangular, heart,
shark, shamrock, etc."
Rheon USA enables snack producers to
go beyond coextrusion into triple or even
quadruple extrusion. Each additional
material extruded requires a separate
hopper, but the company's equipment
can accommodate that. For standard
changeovers between flavors, hoppers
can be removed and changed in about
30 seconds.
"We also do solid filling extrusion where
we take a whole piece of any material,
such as a hot dog or cocktail frank and
drop it into a sleeve of pretzel dough and
encapsulate it," Mr. Giacoio explained.

78 Baking & Snack October 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

an oval, but the filling is extruded in a round shape, the
thickness of the dough jacket will be inconsistent.
"You're going to have a heavy mass of dough on the
top or bottom and very little mass on the opposite side,"
Mr. Eshelman explained. "That lower mass of dough is
going to bake much faster than the heavier mass, and
that's where you start to burn, blister or have blowouts."
Matching the filling shape to the dough jacket shape is
an easy way to avoid this issue.

Choosing the right pumping
mechanism is a different
animal. Not all pumps work
with all fillings, and testing is
critical for finding the right
pump for each product.
The last defense
At the end of the day - dough and filling consistency,
accurate weights, aside - a proper seal is critical to preventing leaks and blowouts. Without a proper seal, it's
all moot.
"Most people are boiling those pretzels in a caustic
bath and then they'll bake it, and you don't want that
product to open up in the boiling process or the oven
because it makes a mess," Mr. Giacoio said.
Rheon USA features a cutter that keeps pace with the
material as it's extruded, which enables a secure seal that
doesn't damage the product. According to Mr. Giacoio,
if the cutting mechanism is stationary, product will build
up as it closes and damage the product.
With leakage being the No. 1 issue, Vemag's Coex system extrudes around the entire circumference of the product, resulting in no seams. Reiser also features an array of
crimping mechanisms to seal both sides of the product.
When it comes to filled pretzels, having the proper
processing systems in place not only creates a tasty
product but also keeps everyone safe. Moisture content, over-filling and poor seals can all lead to leaks and
blowouts that can result in a bakery fire. But this product
doesn't have to be risky with accurate filling scaling, the
right pump, consistent dough and filling extrusion, and,
of course, a secure seal.

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

http://www.esourcebaking.com http://www.bakingandsnack.com

Baking & Snack - October 2017

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