Company: Baker Perkins

Website: www.bakerperkins.com

Equipment Snapshot: Baker Perkins will introduce a new bread dough forming system, the Multitex4, at IBIE in Las Vegas. A key feature is flour-free operation, eliminating dust from this part of the bakery, with a reduction in operational, cleaning and maintenance costs, and the elimination of cross-contamination risk.

The system comprises divider, rounder, flour free conveyor/resting system, and a Multitex4 moulder. The system will be shown with a Baker Perkins Accurist2.1 ram-and-knife divider and conical rounder but is equally compatible with an extrusion divider and bar rounder.

No flour dusting is required on any part of the process. Even the stickiest dough pieces are prevented from adhering to the rounder, conveyors and moulder by a combination of process conditions, equipment design and choice of materials.  Not only does this reduce ingredient, cleaning and maintenance costs it also removes a hazard from the bakery atmosphere.

The Multitex4 handles the dough pieces very gently which gives bakers precise control over the final structure of the loaf. Gentle handling preserves the cell structure developed in the mixer so the dough proves and bakes well to achieve the required shape, volume, colour and softness but with less yeast and improvers. With the same recipe these quality characteristics may be improved.

Hygienic operation and rapid repeatable changeovers contribute to exceptionally high operational efficiency. Production costs are further reduced because gentle handling eliminates the sticking and smearing that lead to jams, and means that a lot less cleaning and maintenance are necessary.

The Baker Perkins' range of integrated dough forming systems has been well proven in numerous demanding, high-output applications. Precise mixing, accurate weight control and gentle dough handling all contribute to performance that drives bread quality up and production costs down.