Baking & Snack - May 2021 - 70

CAKE PROCESSING

New, improved
technologies such as
rotary positive cut-off
spouts accurately
deposit sticky glutenfree and other difficultto-handle batters.
Middleby Bakery

" If the mixer had 15 horsepower before, it now needs
20 horsepower to produce the same amount of the
newer products, " Mr. Peck pointed out. " We see a lot of
bakeries wanting to upgrade their equipment to get that
additional horsepower for these viscosity and formulation changes. "
Any formulation changes that affect flowability and
viscosity also may cause depositing difficulties. In addition to greater horsepower, several companies switched
to servo-driven motors from pneumatic actuators that
use compressed air for depositing.
" Pneumatics are OK, but they do lend themselves to
more variations when the line's air pressure drops and due
to frictional losses, " Mr. Peck said. " By going to servo motors, we eliminate all of those variables. Servo motors give
us increased deposit accuracy when the valve opens and
closes with the same amount of time exactly every time.
With pneumatics, it can open more slowly at times due to
drag or pressure drops in the air line. "
Hinds-Bock offers a wide range of custom positive
cut-off nozzles on depositors that handle viscous batters.
" A traditional muffin, cake or brownie batter contains
sugar that's typically very flowable and really easy to cut
off, " Mr. Gregg said. " It doesn't have a sticky consistency
like clean label and vegan batters. "
Specifically, shearing or blow-off style, cut-off spouts
work well with gluten-free and other better-for-you
(BFY) batters.
" It basically has a nozzle with an internal piece that's
moving in and out and cleanly shearing the batter off
each time along with a very low-surface area, so you
don't have room for any product to stick to it and not be
able to cut it off, " Mr. Gregg added.
He said traditional nozzles often won't work because
the batter builds up on the bottom of them, causing inaccurate deposits or tailing. Moreover, these nutritional
batters may require nozzles on systems that move vertically to assist in the process of a clean cut-off.
" They dive down and lift up because that will also

70 Baking & Snack May 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com

help break the surface tension of the deposit and the
batter will release off the nozzle, so it's more of a positive, cleaner placement of the product in the pan, " Mr.
Gregg noted.
In many bakeries, Ms. Bal said, automation reduces
repetitive tasks, human error and injuries while providing better food safety protocols. For consistency on BFY
products, servo-controlled systems also automatically
adjust to each recipe programmed into the PLC, providing quick optimal spread control due to constant speed
regardless of pressure with a reduced need for touch-up.
Customers can build and recall recipes, while the system
also conducts performance monitoring, collecting useful data on production rates, cycles and deposits.
" Understanding the properties of the specific product
being processed is crucial to overall production efficiency, " she pointed out. " The best way to ensure a seamless
depositing process is to become equipped with proper
equipment know-how, and an understanding of your
product recipe including viscosity, inclusion size, deposit
volumes and more. "
Mr. Gregg noted that batter depositing varies, depending on the formula.
" Formulas have different mixtures, different ratios
and one may be stickier than another, " he said. " It's very
important to test the products from bakery to bakery
and recipe to recipe prior to determining the correct depositor and cut-off nozzles on these types of machines. "

Deftly decorating desserts
With icing, frosting and more sophisticated decorating,
the slightest error will ruin the appearance of the snack
or dessert.
" The degree of accuracy is governed by the design of
the system, components used, and the properties of the
liquid or slurry being applied, " Mr. Searle said. " Today's
systems have considerably improved accuracy due to
improved measurement devices and improved control of
variables such as flow, pressure and temperature. "

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Baking & Snack - May 2021

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